Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
Round Rock-based Dell announced Wednesday it will use green energy to power its entire Austin headquarters.
The computer company said it gets 40 percent of its power from Waste Management's Austin Community Landfill gas-to-energy plant. The rest comes from wind farms.
The company declined to say how much it will pay for the renewable power.
The contract is for 80 million kilowatt hours a year. Typically renewable power credits cost around half a cent per kilowatt hour, meaning Dell could pay about $400,000 extra to run on renewable power rather than fossil fuel or nuclear power.
More than 10,000 employees work at the 2.1 million square-foot Dell headquarters.
"It's time for our industry to take a lead role in creating a clean energy future," said Paul Bell, president of Dell Americas in a media release.
A facility in Twin Falls, Idaho is also completely green-powered.
Dell also said it will increase green power from eight to 17 percent at the Austin Parmer Campus. Previously, 8 percent of the campus’ power came from renewable sources.
The company said it is the latest step in meeting a 2008 carbon neutral commitment made last year.
Dell expects the renewable power to become cheaper than fossil fuel electricity during the next three years, saving the company almost $2 million per year and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by almost 12,000 tons.
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The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report
