Go green, save green: Turn off your TV

Brian Keane is president of SmartPower, a nonprofit marketing organization that promotes clean and renewable energy, and energy efficiency.

As energy prices rise, what can consumers do to conserve and save money this summer?

Everything from buying a new car or putting insulation into your house to things as basic as turning off the lights. Case in point: 75 percent of the energy that your computer uses, it uses when you think your computer is off. That's huge energy that's being wasted. The biggest energy drain in the house used to be the refrigerator, but now, the biggest is the flat screen television. When you turn it off with your remote control, it's still on, it's still drawing power of about $175 per year. The solution is easy. Plug your TV, cable box and DVD player into a power strip. You finish watching it for the night, flick off the power strip. And take beach towels - after you get out of the pool and dry off, they are not usually dirty. Hang them off of a chair for 20 minutes to dry. You will really start saving money, and it has no impact on your lifestyle. You don't have to buy anything to be energy efficient - just turn off what you've got.

Are longer-term solutions such as solar panels worth the money for typical Americans?

Money isn't the overriding issue. When you add solar to your home, you have a home that is always getting, in part, free power. Its value goes up. In many states, there are state and tax incentives that make installing it very affordable. It's expensive; you are probably talking $40,000 to do part of a house. But some states will pay almost half of that. Then, you are improving the retail value, so the cost really makes sense. It's real, it's there, it's working. Most people think of solar as the big panels on the roof, powering your house. Another type of solar is solar hot water. You can get a solar system that heats water to 100 degrees, and the cost of that is significantly less. Instead of $40,000 it can be $6,000 dollars, and it can be a real value for people.

Do you see the rise in fuel prices as a long-term trend?

I see it as a disturbing one, that's for sure. The rise is a huge burden for the American people, and it affects everything. That said, I think we will see adaptation. It's exciting, but we are in a tough spot now. Prices will go down, but we are never going to see them where they were two years ago. This will force creativity from people in their daily habits, creative technology. Hopefully we will adapt.

- Cassandra Crockett