Jul 2021

how to reduce daily energy consumption?

Eco-gestures are deliberate actions to reduce energy consumption – electricity, water, heating – and CO2 emissions, as well as to limit waste in all its forms.

ecogesture

Defining eco-gestures

Eco-gestures are deliberate actions to reduce energy consumption – electricity, water, heating – and CO2 emissions, as well as to limit waste in all its forms.

Whether at home, in daily life, and, therefore at the office, everyone can engage in eco-friendly actions that really make a difference, especially when they are shared and practiced by many to create a snowball effect.

Eco-gestures can seem like mere drops in the ocean to respond to the climate emergency. And yet, as the saying goes, small streams make great rivers.

Therefore, all efforts at home or at work matter to be as energy efficient as possible. Here are some eco-gestures you can easily implement at home and at work to reduce your energy consumption.

At home or at the office: the same eco-gestures

As individuals, we use appliances and enjoy a certain level of comfort. We can apply the same eco-friendly habits in our personal lives and in our professional lives. It's important to engage in eco-friendly actions all day and year-round to obtain results.

At home, eco-gestures have a personal dimension and can be ways to pass on these good practices to our kids when that applies. These actions aren't all based on energy consumption.

Environmental responsibility is a global issue and has to be shared to be effective. It is, of course, essential to consider the energy each one of us needs for our daily lives and for entertainment. But the more indirect aspects of consumption, which also have a real impact on the world, must also be taken into account.

Straightforward eco-gestures at home and at work

From morning showers to printing habits at the office... these examples show that each person can easily limit their environmental impact and their energy consumption. Electricity, water, heating: each action – or putting an end to a harmful habit – is important.

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Eco-gestures around electricity

The advice is the same for the home and for the office. However, in companies, some of these eco-friendly actions will be handled by maintenance teams.

  • Organise the refrigerator more efficiently and wash / defrost it every three months.

 

  • Don't leave devices on standby.

 

  • Put the computer on sleep mode when leaving momentarily and shut it down completely after an hour. You can set this up automatically in your computer's settings.

 

  • Don't leave chargers idly plugged in.

 

  • Fill the washing machine completely to avoid doing more loads.

 

  • Clean lightbulbs and optimise the brightness of a room. With connected sensors, you can now automate lighting according to the time of day and to weather conditions. This helps to manage energy efficiently.

 

  • Clear the windows to let in more light. Don't hang posters or set green plants near them.

Eco-gestures around heating

  • Install thick curtains in front of your windows and at the front door, but don't hang them over a radiator

 

  • Close the doors of rooms with little to no heating.

 

  • Set the temperature below 20 °C in occupied rooms. There again, with energy management solutions and connected sensors, heating can be automatically regulated depending on human presence in the building.

 

  • Bleed your radiators regularly.

Eco-gestures around water

  • Skip one shower per week and take showers that last less than 5 minutes.

 

  • Install a water saver in the shower and in the sink.

 

  • Turn off the shower water between washing and rinsing.

 

  • Install dual-flow flushes in toilets.

 

  • At work, ask employees to report lavatory leaks immediately. The leaks must also be repaired swiftly.

Eco-gestures to reduce waste

  • Print only when necessary and use black ink as much as possible. Avoid printing optional images. According to the ADEME agency,[1] a given employee still consumes three reams of paper each month, which represents 70 to 85 kilos per year.

 

  • Stop using plastic cups and bring your own mug instead.

 

  • At mealtimes, avoid food waste by serving the amount you are sure to eat. If you're unable to finish your meal, pack the leftovers in a container and bring them home or give them away.

 

  • Opt to work from home: it's a growing trend in companies today. This avoids commuting by car. Likewise, think of carpooling or alternative modes of transport (cycling, carsharing) to get to the office and to other activities.

Indirect eco-gestures in personal and professional spheres

Indirect eco-gestures are mainly related to the environmental impact of digital technologies in everyday life and at work. According to a study conducted in October 2019 by the expert firm GreenIT[1], the greenhouse gas emissions of digital technology that year amounted to 116 million car trips around the world. As for water, digital technology uses the equivalent of 3.6 billion showers. For electricity, it's the equivalent of 82 million electric heaters powered all year... Despite the boom of the circular economy, only 6% of smartphones are recycled.

 

  • Limit the number of open tabs to make browsing easier and to search for precise things. This avoids using up too many servers.

 

  • On the cloud, delete emails on your webmail interface as it uses the energy of servers. Use software instead and configure it in such a way that it retrieves emails from the server without leaving a copy.

 

  • Compress folders when sending documents and images.

 

  • Online servers are useful to collaborate with others, but they use up energy. However, when sending messages, it is more efficient to use a collaborative system instead of sending emails with heavy attachments.

 

  • Repair faulty hardware instead of replacing immediately.

 

In a business, in a community or at home, if everyone is involved in eco-friendly behaviour and in keeping track of waste. One’s environmental impact can be greatly reduced... and utility bills are also lighter in the process.

Whatever your structure, Datanumia is here to support you and offer energy management solutions to automate eco-gestures and to allow you to go even further.

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