Thoughout October, concurrent with SSF's annual fundraising campaign and membership drive, we'll be highlighting some things that you can do today to make your lifestyle more sustainable, all the way from A - Z. Being "sustainable" goes a lot further than just buying organic food or fair-trade clothing; it's all about the lifestyle as a whole, and thinking about everything you do from a sustainable point of view. Nobody's perfect, but we think there are lots of things that everyone should be able to do every day that'll make our planet better for us and everything else that lives on it.
A is for Alternative Energy. Wind, solar, biogas, hydroelectric, it's anything that isn't derived from fossil fuels. While once hard to come by, it's now available from utilities, retail green power products and renewable energy certificate products in states from Alaska to West Virginia and Alabama to Washington. Check out this map from the Green Power Network, a DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy project, to see if you can get renewable energy to help power your home or office. If competition for green power is already allowed in your state, you may have direct access to an alternative electricity supplier; if not, don't worry. Many utilities offer what they call "green pricing programs", which can help you support alternative energy in a different way. Green pricing helps you to support your utilities' investment in alternative energy by paying a couple cents extra per kilowatt-hour on your bill, in order to help defray the costs of acquiring renewable energy resources. Check this list to see what's available in your neck of the woods.
There are lots of ways to incorporate alternative energy into your sustainable lifestyle, even if you can't fit a wind turbine or solar panel in your back yard. Check back with us tomorrow for more Sustainable Lifestyle: A - Z.