Don't fall for 'Eco-Bling': Turn down the AC before you spring for solar panels

I’ve added the term “Eco-Bling” to my vocabulary. According to the U.K. Guardian, Eco-Bling refers to any green technology or product that — while seemingly slick and cool — doesn’t actually do anything to help the environment. One prime example: That Prius in your neighbor’s diveway. It certainly looks good, but when it comes down to it, it doesn’t save energy or slash their carbon footprint. Here are three more Eco-Bling offenses to keep an eye out for:

Home wind turbines: A standard utility-scale turbine generates 1.5 megawatts at its peak, but operates at 20 to 40 percent capacity on average. A typical home turbine produces 2 kilowatts when the wind is traveling at 20 miles per hour. Below 5 miles per hour produces nothing. To make residential wind power practical, you would need two big turbines and a reliable storage device — unless you live somewhere freakishly windy. If you fall for urban wind turbine offers, you could find yourself spending $2,000 on hardware and installation for something that could occasionally power your TV at night.

Easy-install rooftop solar panels: Last year, the Lowe’s home improvement chain very proudly announced that it would be selling DIY solar panels for regular consumers. These models would pay for themselves (before tax) after three years of direct sunlight, assuming no maintenance — not exactly realistic. In reality, it would take more than 15 years for a rooftop solar panel to pay for itself, as is. That’s not counting counting the carbon savings. But bang for the buck, you can do better by your wallet and the planet.

Lawns for carbon capture: Green spaces may have mental health benefits, and they certainly are green, but a study from UC Irvine shows that the average lawn or urban green space — assuming regular maintenance — produces more Co2 than it takes in from photosynthesis. There’s also water demands to consider. Towns like Las Vegas and Los Angeles are siphoning water from rivers up to 200 miles away, losing a lot of it in the process and devastating watershed ecosystems. The solution? Xeriscape your yards and lobby for public spaces to do the same.

Solar panels and wind turbines may be the hallmarks of the clean energy revolution, but it turns out there are some less flashy things you can do to make an even bigger difference. Here are a few ideas that can really work:

Insulate your home: A surprising number of houses were built without insulation. Look at the Pacific Northwest — after the Grand Coulee dam was built, electricity was dirty cheap and houses and contractors didn’t want to shell out for insulation. Now we know better. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 50 to 70 percent of home power in this country is used for heating and cooling. When you add insulation, these costs have been known to drop as much as 30 percent. In my house, this add ups to savings of more than $80 a month on our utility bill. Considering that half the U.S. power mix comes from coal-fired plants, insulation could go a long way toward cutting down on carbon emissions as well. This sounds like common sense, but it’s still hard to make insulation sexy.

Think efficiency: If you haven’t done it already, replace every incandescent light bulb in your house with a compact fluorescent. CFLs use about 20 percent less power for the same output of light. And lighting accounts for 12 percent of home energy consumption. Improper installation of heating and cooling systems can also reduce efficiency by 30 percent. Rectifying these problems, and converting to CFLs, could easily save you 25 percent on your monthly energy bills.

Change basic habits: Set your thermostat lower or turn it off; wear more clothes around the house. Draw your curtains to cool a sunlit room rather than cranking up the AC. Turn the lights off when you aren’t in a room. If weather permits, you can even hang wet clothes on a line instead of running a power-hungry dryer.

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