It's electric
The convenience of electricity has made it an essential part of our modern lifestyle. However, electricity is generated by utilities that still depend primarily on burning fossil fuels, such as oil and coal. These utilities must then work hard to control the amount of harmful pollutants released into our air. These pollutants can cause smog, acid rain and global warming. By making your home more energy efficient, you will save money and also help reduce these air pollutants because less electricity has to be generated.

It's payback time!

"Payback" is the phrase used to describe the value of an investment based on the time it will take to pay for itself through money saved. Basically, your investment will pay for itself through dollars saved on expenses like your electric and water bills. Say you invest $100 in energy improvements that reduce your monthly electrical bill by $10; your investment will "pay back" in less than a year and start making money for you after that.

The savings may be substantial for some items that may take a while to pay back (like replacing major appliances with energy efficient alternatives), while other changes may take a very short period of time to pay for themselves, but have a smaller overall impact on your electrical usage (like changing your A/C filter). Thinking about "payback" helps us to make better choices.

Savings and payback time can be used to help you figure out the true long-term benefits of investing in energy and water conservation. By factoring in payback, you can actually see that your investment (whether small or large) will actually start to earn you money while lessening your impact on our environment.