CCTV9英语新闻：Everyday tips to shrinking your carbon footprint（在线收听）

Earth Hour aims to encourage people to be energy-conscious all year, not just for one hour every 365 days. Here are some energy-saving tips we can all do every day.

First is turning lights off when they aren't needed. Making use of natural light during the day is a good way to save electricity. LED and CFL bulbs are ideal indoors. They often last longer and are more efficient.

Turning refrigerators off isn't an option for most of us, but there are still some handy tips for making food storage more environment friendly. One is keeping the temperature inside your fridge at around three degrees Celsius, and maintaining the temperature in your freezer at 12 degrees below freezing. Freshly-cooked food should also be allowed to cool down first before being put in the fridge.

There are also better ways of doing laundry. Doing full loads instead of running your washing machine half empty means you run the appliance less often, which helps save water and electricity. And if you're buying a new machine, make sure to check out energy-efficient models.