Easy Ways You Can Save Energy, Money

Change Your Bulbs

Fluorescent light bulbs have been around for decades. They use much less energy and last much longer than conventional incandescent bulbs.

But fluorescent bulbs tend to give off a depressing, sickly light. Technology has changed over the years, and there are many newer fluorescent bulbs that provide warmer light.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are available in a variety of styles, including warmer light for living spaces and more traditional fluorescent light for work spaces.

CFLs fit in standard lamps and come in many shapes, ranging from ones that look like traditional bulbs to "squiggly" models that take traditional fluorescent tubes and bend them into spiral shapes.

Compact fluorescent lights are more expensive -- at first. They cost around $4 to $15 per bulb, while standard incandescent will cost about $2.50. But Energy Star-endorsed light bulbs last up to 10 times longer than conventional bulbs.

Perhaps most importantly, the CFLs use two-thirds the energy of incandescent bulbs in the same amount of time. This means energy savings for your family and about 300 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, according to ClimateCrisis.net, the Web site associated with the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

Unplug

Even when TVs, computers and other electronic appliances are off, they use energy. According to ClimateCrisis, 5 percent of all domestic energy use is wasted this way. That translates to 18 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year.

Unplugging appliances when they are not in use can save you money in energy bills, especially if you have many appliances.

Look For Efficient Cars

You have probably heard about this one. Simply having a car with better gas mileage is a major boon to the environment. ClimateCrisis puts it into numerical terms: Improving gas mileage only 3 miles per gallon saves about 3,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released each year.

If you are in the market for a new car, there are several types available that use fuel-efficient technology. Hybrids that have gasoline engines and electric motors are the most popular, because they tend to get the best gas mileage and are widely available.

Buying a hybrid probably won't save you money, however. The Kelley Blue Book puts most hybrid sedans at $20,000 to $25,000, while comparable nonhybrids often cost around $15,000 to $20,000. You might get some of that money back in savings on gas, but probably not all.

For many families, the size of hybrid cars has been a concern. The two most popular and fuel-efficient hybrid cars, the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid, can each fit only four people comfortably.

But there are alternatives. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid seats 7 passengers and is rated at 32 miles per gallon on the highway and 27 in the city. That's nothing compared to the 51/60 mpg found in the Toyota Prius, but much better than SUVs of comparable size.

Reuse Your Food

If you have a garden, unused food and leftover food products can be a great resource. You can collect them in a pot indoors and then empty the pot into a compost bin each night.

Composting not only reduces the food waste you have to throw out, it also makes for nutrient-rich soil, which means you will have to buy less soil for your garden.

Bring That Bag Back

This idea is pretty simple. Instead of choosing paper or plastic at the grocery store, bring your own tote bag. That way, you don't have to use and then throw away quite so many disposable bags.

And when you see other shoppers' flimsy plastic and paper bags break away under the weight of their groceries, you'll be glad to have yours in a sturdy satchel.

Episode 5 - Ed's Perfect Birthday

It's Ed's birthday! And just like everything else in the Begley house, it's far from conventional. For starters, Ed wants to forgo eating out at a fancy restaurant to cook his own birthday dinner. He plans a vegetarian feast, which he cooks in solar ovens. While the birthday boy is busy in the kitchen, Rachelle gets new air purifiers installed and plans her surprise gift for Ed —- a tech-y and green gift she normally would never think of.

But she's also in for a surprise when Ed decides to switch the typical birthday cake to something a little bit strange.

Episode 4 - Point/Counterpoint

Rachelle has found the perfect home renovation that even Ed will approve of — kitchen countertops made of recycled material — and you'll never guess where they came from! While the construction turns the house upside down, Ed and Rachelle end up doing dishes in the most unlikely of places.

Episode 3 - Jay and the Big House

Ed takes an interesting assignment and speaks to his counterparts — muscle car fans — about the future of electric cars. Speaking of muscle cars, he then stops by Jay Leno's garage. While they check out Jay's collection of old and new cars that run on alternative energy, unbeknownst to Ed, Rachelle checks out a spacious new (and not solar-powered!) house for sale.

Episode 2 - Beauty and the Barrel

In this episode Ed wants to start collecting rain water to use around the yard. This is a great way to save on public water. I do think Ed is missing a golden opportunity here. He wants people to recycle but does tend to make things look trashy. Being green does not mean that things need to look ugly. There are plenty of rain barrels out there that look good. He should be showing people the you can be green and not look like the crazy person on the block.

Rachelle puts her foot down about adding extremely hideous rain barrels to their backyard and wins for now. Round two, however, goes to Ed as he squeezes another contraption into the backyard. After putting himself up on the auction block in the name of charity, Ed takes not one but two winning environmentalists out to lunch. Rachelle can't believe people pay to hang out with Ed.

Episode 1 - Meet the Bagleys

In this first episode we get a early look at how crazy Ed can be at times, and how his wife deals with him. Ed begins to show all of the different methods he uses to reduce and reuse items.

From his electric car to his white picket fence made out of recycled milk jugs to his outdoor oven powered by the sun, Ed Begley, Jr., isn't just an actor — he might also be the greenest man in Hollywood. Green living is easy for Begley, but for his wife Rachelle, it's another story. Sure she cares about the environment, but if she wants a long, hot shower, Ed times her and what seems like a normal task is anything but in this household. Want toast? Ed's stationary bike is connected to his solar-power supply, so each morning he rides to make more electricity. Meet the Begleys and laugh out loud as you get a glimpse of what it's like Living With Ed.

Living With Ed

Kermit was right — it's not easy being green. TV and movie actor Ed Begley, Jr., perhaps the greenest man in Tinsel Town, rides his electric car to the Academy Awards and powers his home with the sun and his stationary bike. But Living with Ed and his environmentalist passion isn't always a walk in the park for wife, Rachelle. This first-of-its-kind reality green show chronicles life with an earth-friendly fanatic with humor and heart. Check out this fresh unscripted docu-soap about the lifestyle of a diehard activist who puts his money and his time where his mouth is 24/7. Definitely not recycled TV.