Conservation supplies are essential additions to the home in order to protect the environment and also to help a family keep to a budget. Purchasing supplies such as power strips and programmable thermostats can help reduce energy usage, and devices such as specialized shower heads can help to reduce water usage. Likewise, using a refillable water bottle instead of prefilled bottles of water can help to reduce waste.
A programmable thermostat is important to include in conservation supplies.These can be used to cause a home's heat and air conditioning system to turn on and off automatically at a precise time. Without this device, homeowners may forget to turn down the heat when they go to work or at night, which can waste resources in heating a home that is not occupied or where the occupants are asleep in warm beds.
The power strip is another useful item to include in conservation supplies. Appliances can be turned off to save electricity, but some appliances and electronics continue to use electricity even when they have been switched off, a problem called "phantom energy use." In order to avoid this unnecessary energy usage, a number of appliances can be plugged into a power strip that can be switched off when not in use. For example, the television and DVD player can both be plugged into a power strip that can be turned off during the day when no one is home, avoiding excessive energy usage.
It is also possible to purchase special conservation supplies to save water. Activities such as showering as well as washing dishes can be a substantial drain on water resources. Special shower heads that use less water can be purchased, and filters that reduce water usage can be attached to faucets. Specific appliances, such as toilets, washing machines, and dishwashers, that are designed to conserve water are also available.
Among conservation supplies, a refillable water bottle is especially important to reduce waste. Drinking bottled water can be expensive and uses a lot of energy. This energy is consumed during the making and filling of the bottles, transporting them to the store, and disposing of or recycling them. Using refillable water bottles reduces all of this energy and waste. If the local tap water does not taste as good as the bottled kind, refillable water bottles are available with built in filters, to make tap water as pure and clean as bottled water.