By Brian F. Keane, President of SmartPower

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate change, with its increasing heat index and rising sea level. One way to combat and reduce the harsh impacts of climate change is to improve energy efficiency at home and in your community.

Watch this short video where Brian explains how every one of us can be part of the energy solution:

Saving energy isn’t easy, especially for those already living without electricity for 6 to 10 hours a day, or more! Power cuts and load shedding are not uncommon in the region, which is why it’s important to use wisely whatever electricity is available. Here are some tips that can be used to conserve electricity, beat the heat and empower your community to combat climate change:

• Turning off your computer monitor for 1 minute when not in use can save enough energy to power a bulb for 2 minutes. This is important in places like India where brownouts frequently occur at peak energy hours.
• Do the same with your TV during commercials and in between programs.
• Live above sea level? Minimize your use of fans — you can still stay cool by keeping doors open.
• If you are using an air conditioner, keep it at an energy-saving, comfortable and efficient temperature: 26 degrees Celsius.
• Go to bed earlier each night to use less electricity in the later hours of the day. If you must stay up, then at least turn the lights off early.
• Use energy efficient public transportation whenever you can. Indonesia currently has, in some cities, electric scooters for rent.
• Refrigerators are one of the largest energy-wasting home appliances; keep yours at the optimum temperature of 3 degrees Celsius.
• Use light-colored window coverings; install external blinds or awnings to windows that face morning and afternoon rays to block out heat more effectively.
• You can also block out heat more effectively by planting trees around your home to shade it.
• Paint your house a light color so that it doesn’t absorb as much heat and can be cooled more quickly and efficiently.
• Make use of natural light and purchase appropriate bulbs — it takes two 60-watt incandescent bulbs or four 40-watt incandescent bulbs to provide as much light as a single 100-watt CFL bulb.
• Reheat or cook smaller portions of food.

Brian has a special energy message just for students in this short video:

For more energy-saving tips, visit SmartPower’s blog, SmartPress, or preorder SmartPower President Brian F. Kean’s book, Green Is Good — a no-nonsense guide to how you can easily make clean energy and energy efficiency part of your daily life, saving money, making money, and weaning your community off fossil fuels in the process.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.