This year’s Earth Day theme is Billion Acts of Green®. The campaign calls for people to commit to an act that helps reduce carbon emissions and promotes sustainability. 

Here are some helpful tips: 

1. Use CFL light bulbs. An average CFL bulb lasts 5 to 7 years, depending how it’s used. If every home replaced 5 high-use bulbs with ENERGY STAR® CFL’s, they could save more than $60 every year in energy costs.
2. Adults receive about 41 lbs of junk mail each year. Get off junk mail lists. Here’s a website that can help http://bit.ly/tHgxB
3.  Go paperless. Read newspapers & magazines online. Switch to electronic banking & credit card payments.
4. Make it a full load. The average washing machine uses 40.9 gallons of water per load. Wash in cold water. About 90% of the energy from the washer goes to heating the water.
5. Tests show that pre-rinsing doesn’t improve dishwasher cleaning & you’ll save as much as 20 gallons of water per load. Use the energy save option on dishwasher, allowing dishes to air dry.
6. Use a programmable thermostat. Studies show that use of one can save households up to 25% in energy costs.
7. In the summer, close blinds and drapes during the day to keep heat out.
8. In the average home, 25% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. Lots of appliances suck up energy even when they are turned off. TV’s, computers & DVD players are among the biggest culprits.
9. Shower power! A full bathtub requires about 70 gallons of water, but taking a 5 minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons.
10. Vacuum your refrigerator coils and don’t obstruct them. They need air space to work.
11. Use room fans to keep the air moving and reduce the feeling of heat.
12. Fire up the outdoor grill instead of using the oven.
13. When shopping use a reusable bag. Every year, the U.S. uses 100 billion plastic bags consuming about 12 million barrels of oil. All plastic bags can be recycled. Most stores have recycling bins for your use.
14. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Help ease the burden on our landfills. Give away or sell used items that you no longer want.  

Some facts to consider:

• If every American home swapped five incandescent bulb fixtures for Energy Star CFLs, it would keep one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of the air. 
• Each ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water. 
• If every American household purchased one package of 100% recycled napkins, it would save one million trees. 
• The number of gallons of gas saved if every commuter car in the United States carried just one more person: 8 billion. 
• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours. 
• Shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic

“The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity… that’s all there is. That’s the whole economy. That’s where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world.”  – Gaylord Nelson

The great news is that the total number of ENERGY STAR qualified homes in 2009 was equivalent to the following:

● Eliminating the emissions from 45.08 vehicles

● Saving 272,688 lbs. of coal

● Planting 74.52 acres of trees

● Saving homeowners $41,124 on their utility bills. 

American West’s homes are designed with desert living and energy efficiency in mind. Our architects design our homes while considering the environment and energy conservation. 

The environment and energy conservation are extremely important to us as a company which is why our energy-efficient features are included in our homes. These features include a 14-SEER natural gas heat and electric central air-conditioning with Puron®; radiant heat barrier roof sheathing; programmable setback thermostat; R-13 insulation in exterior walls and R-30 insulation in ceilings; Prime-Wrap® house wrap protects your home against air and moisture infiltration; fiberglass front-entry door; vinyl-framed, dual-pane low-e windows and sliding glass door; 50-gallon quick-recovery natural gas water heater; and Super-Flow water management system.

As a builder, we go beyond the ENERGY STAR® certification in that our homes are also certified as Energy Plus. This additional certification means that each home is at least 30 percent more energy efficient than current National Home Building Standards and 15% more energy efficient than homes that qualify only as ENERGY STAR®.” 

As we approach the celebration of Earth Day, rest assured that American West is doing our part in helping the environment.