My Own "Bright" Ideas

I recently wrote a message to my boss in Cairo, b/c she brought up the topic of reduce/re-use/recycle. Here is the slightly edited text of what I sent to her:

1) Refrigerators -- There are 2 things I know to do with these to reduce energy use. a) turn the temperature up so that items are kept "cool", not "cold". It's good enough for most people. b) Keep refrigerators full. It's more energy-efficient to cool a solid than it is to cool a gas (which escapes when the door is opened and then warm air must be cooled again). I'm not saying to buy more things, but something as simple as filling empty bottles with water and having them in the fridge will help with this.

2) Turn off all pieces of technology (speakers, monitors, computers) each night. If they are on power strips with small light bulbs (like one I'm using now), switch off the power strip. Also, if using a computer at night, turn off other lights in the room. Do you need more light than the monitor gives?

3) Toilets -- a couple of tips I've heard or seen in use, if you don't have a half-flush/full-flush option: (a) put a brick or something similar in the tank to take up space and reduce the amount of water used in each flush and (b) put a slight bend in the rod leading to the ball inside the tank. If you bend it down, then less water will come into the tank each time.

Also, something I'll always remember from the home of my grandmother's friends when I was a young child: "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." In short, don't flush unless it's really necessary.

4) Read in the morning, not at night. If you read at the morning, you use natural light...but reading at night requires electricity.

5) If it's an option, change the setting on your water heater so it heats water to a lower temperature.

Do you have ideas to add to this list? Or links to articles with tips?