How quickly we use energy is one of our biggest impacts on our world. The slower we consume energy, the better.

Measuring how slowly and wisely we use energy reveals how much progress we’ve made on the pathway to sustainable energy. But even before we know exactly how fast we’re consuming energy, we can be sure that taking practical steps to slow down is a good way to begin our journey.

Solar, wind, and water provide power without pollution. These clean, renewable resources are our sustainable energy future.

We’ll reach our destination much sooner if we start with practical steps for energy conservation and energy efficiency to increase our energy savings before we electrify everything. The good news is that harnessing clean energy is inherently efficient.

Here are a few affordable and practical steps to slow our use of energy as we transition to renewable power:

1. We can conserve energy by making choices that use less energy but require some sacrifices, such as riding a bicycle instead of driving a car.

2. We can be more energy efficient by making investments that allow us to use less energy without sacrificing comfort, care, or convenience, such as driving an electric car instead of an internal combustion engine car.

3. Energy conservation and efficiency give us a huge head start on the pathway to sustainable energy, allowing us to do more with every kilowatt hour of electricity we generate from the sun, wind and water.

Kudos to you if you can figure out how much total power your household demands. It’s quite helpful to know for both
environmental and financial reasons. But you’ll probably need to dig out utility bills and credit card statements to get a full picture.

Fuel economy is measured in miles per gallon. The higher our fuel economy, the better. Getting 50 miles to the gallon is better than getting 35 miles per gallon. Knowing how long we can operate our household per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity is also handy. This will become increasingly useful as we electrify everything and batteries become a bigger part of our lives. We’ll know how many kWh our battery storage system can store, and we’ll want to know how long that amount of energy will last to operate our homes and vehicles.

Developing a deeper understanding of energy empowers us to focus on sustainability actions that do the most good.

Looking ahead, we can anticipate replacing equipment that burns fossil fuel with equipment that uses electricity. Using kWh as our common unit of energy will allow us to make meaningful comparisons and smart decisions when planning upgrades.

We can get the best return on investment by focusing on saving energy when we heat and cool buildings and drive our vehicles, typically our largest energy uses. It’s easy to conserve energy if we’re willing to accept some lifestyle changes. We can:

• Turn down our thermostats in the winter—be a little colder but use less energy.
• If we have air conditioning, turn up our thermostats, open a window, or use a fan instead of running the AC.
• Walk, bicycle, carpool, or take public transit instead of driving our car.
• Combine trips to minimize driving distance.
• Drive at slower speeds to improve fuel mileage.
• Turn down the temperature of our water heater so it uses less energy.
• Take shorter showers to use less energy for hot water.
• Enjoy “staycations” instead of traveling to distant destinations.

Another way to save energy is more fun — increase our efficiency. We don’t have to sacrifice comfort or convenience if we use better technology to make our energy last longer. We can:

• Use a smart thermostat to turn down the heat automatically at night when we’re tucked under the covers.
• Install a more efficient heating and air conditioning system that uses less energy to deliver more heating and cooling.
• Insulate our homes so that less energy leaks in and out.
• Keep our car tires at the correct pressure.
• Upgrade to an electric car that uses less energy per mile than a fuel-burning one.
• Upgrade to a heat-pump hot water heater that uses less energy to deliver more gallons of hot water.
• Upgrade shower heads and faucets to EPA WaterSense standards to use less hot water.
• Install LED lighting with built-in motion sensors.
• Upgrade to Energy Star appliances.

With efficiency, we can enjoy a higher quality of life and greater energy savings.

Fred Horch and Peggy Siegle are principals of Sustainable Practice. To receive expert action guides to help your household and organizations become superbly sustainable, visit SustainablePractice.Life and subscribe to “One Step This Week.”