[Judy Pino] 
Hello and welcome 
to Green Scene, 
a series of environmental 
podcasts that you can 
take with you.
I'm Judy Pino.
The EPA is encouraging all 
Americans to join millions 
of others who have pledged 
to take small, individual 
steps that make a big 
difference in the fight 
against global warming with 
a new campaign called 
"Change the World,
Start with Energy Star." 
And to tell us more about this 
campaign is our Maria Vargas, 
spokesperson for 
Energy Star.
Thanks, Maria,
for coming.
[Maria Vargas] 
My pleasure.
[Judy Pino] 
Always good 
to have you. 
Let's start by saying, well, 
why is this an important 
message for Americans and how 
can they do their part?
[Maria Vargas] 
The average home is responsible 
for twice the greenhouse gas 
emissions as the 
average car. 
Most people don't 
realize that.
And moreover, most people don't 
realize the decisions they make, 
both at work and at home, 
on how they use energy 
can make a big difference not 
only in their energy bills, 
how comfortable they are at 
home, and the bottom line 
is the environment, reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions.
[Judy Pino] 
So tell us about 
this pledge. 
[Maria Vargas] 
Sure, there is a pledge that 
EPA has been offering since 
Earth Day, and we're really 
now out in the marketplace 
trying to encourage 
people to take the 
"Change the World, Start with 
Energy Star" pledge. 
You can find it at 
energystar.gov.
And the pledge is really 
a series of action steps 
that you and your family can 
take in your home to do 
things that reduce their energy 
use and help our environment. 
[Judy Pino] 
All right, so, let's give 
some people a tidbit of 
information here.  
If you replace at least one 
light bulb in your home 
with an Energy Star-qualified 
one, what difference does 
that make? 
[Maria Vargas] 
It's huge.
If every household in 
this country did it, 
we'd save greenhouse gas 
emissions equivalent to 
that of 800,000 cars and 
we'd save $6 million on 
our energy bills.
It's huge and it 
all adds up.
And most people don't realize 
that lighting is such a big 
part of our electricity bills.
It's 20 percent of our 
electricity bills, 
with most homes having 
about 30-35 fixtures.
So replacing one, five, 
10 lights in your home 
can really help your home's 
energy costs but also really 
reduce greenhouse 
gas emissions.
[Judy Pino] 
And let's talk about our 
heating/cooling system. 
[Maria Vargas] 
Your home's heating and cooling 
is responsible for half of your 
energy bills, so doing things 
like scheduling a pre-season, 
because we are pre-season now -- 
scheduling a pre-season 
maintenance, making sure that 
you clean your air filters 
and making sure that you're 
using a programmable 
thermostat are all ways to 
make sure that your heating 
and cooling system is working 
as efficiently as it can. 
[Judy Pino] 
And of course, always keep your 
home well sealed and insulated. 
But we should also mention that 
Energy Star-qualified equipment 
is not only for the home, 
but also for the office.
[Maria Vargas] 
Absolutely.
So, Energy Star qualifies, 
as you know, 
over 50 different kinds of 
products in the marketplace, 
and a lot of them we use at 
home as well as in the office.
Things like computers, 
printers, fax machines, 
all of those can earn 
the Energy Star label 
and they make sense to purchase 
when you're out buying new 
products for your 
home and office.
But, Judy, I wanted to talk to 
you just for a minute about 
sealing your home, because 
that's really important, too.
What we mean by sealing 
your home is by looking 
at your walls, your windows, 
your attic, making sure that 
those parts of your home don't 
have the cracks that let the 
cold air in in the winter and 
the warm air that you're 
paying to heat out. 
So make sure that you 
seal up your home.
Use weather stripping, caulk, 
foam; do anything that it 
takes to make sure your home's 
well insulated so that the 
money that you're paying for 
your energy bills is staying 
in your home, 
not outside.
[Judy Pino] 
Okay, and of course all those 
wonderful Energy Star products 
for our kitchens 
and our laundry, 
but also really good qualified 
electronic products.
[Maria Vargas] 
I'm glad you brought that up, 
because the holiday season's 
right around the corner, 
and one of the products 
that we're really excited about 
is, starting in November, 
consumers are going to look 
for Energy Star-qualified 
televisions in the market, and 
those Energy Star-qualified TVs 
now ensure that consumers are 
getting televisions that 
are energy efficient while 
they're turned off as well 
as when they're 
turned on. 
So, this holiday season, 
if you're thinking about 
buying a new television, 
make sure that you look 
for one that's earned 
the Energy Star.
[Judy Pino] 
And technology's moving so fast 
it's always a good idea to look 
out for what's new in 
Energy Star products.
[Maria Vargas] 
Absolutely, and TVs are a great 
example this holiday season. 
[Judy Pino] 
So, let's talk about what EPA 
is doing to get the message 
out to consumers. 
[Maria Vargas] 
Yes, good point.
This fall we are very busy 
throughout EPA trying to get 
the message out about 
what people can do, 
how important this pledge is, 
and how simple it is really 
to make these changes 
in your home.
So, in addition to events all 
around the country that EPA 
is hosting, and what's nice 
about those events is that 
there's a home that people 
can tour that gives a sense 
of really how easy and 
how integral making 
energy efficient choices 
is to our lives. 
We also have a lot of partners, 
people, private corporations, 
nonprofits, schools, communities 
sponsoring events not only 
to change a light, because it's 
still Change a Light Day 
on October 1, but it's really 
Change the World events.
And so there's events going on, 
hopefully, in your community 
and we encourage people to look 
and see if they can participate 
in their own community in an 
event in which they can take 
the pledge and understand 
how easy this is to do 
in your home. 
[Judy Pino] 
And of course this is the 
fourth -- fourth year since 
Energy Star starting doing 
this Change a Light program, 
so it's really exciting; 
it's going very well.
[Maria Vargas] 
It is, it's very exciting. 
[Judy Pino] 
Well, fall is upon us. 
Let's talk about the change 
of the seasons as what we 
can start doing to save 
energy in our home with 
Energy Star products.  
[Maria Vargas] 
Because this winter 
it's a great time -- 
winter's not here yet, so it's 
a really great time to get 
your heating system checked, 
make sure it's functioning 
the way it should. 
We always like to remind people 
that dirt and neglect are the 
number one causes of system 
failure, so make sure your 
system's running the 
way it should.
Make sure you're using your 
programmable thermostat.
If you use a programmable 
thermostat correctly, 
your home can save about $180 
a year on energy bills.
That's a lot
of money.
And make sure that you are 
in a well-insulated home.
So there are all sorts of 
things that you can do, 
and we encourage people to go to 
energystar.gov and learn about 
those and other pieces of advice 
EPA has for making your home 
more energy efficient, 
more comfortable, 
and a home that's using energy 
efficiently as a way to reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions.
[Judy Pino] 
Perfect.
And of course, don't forget 
to take the pledge.
[Maria Vargas] 
Absolutely, take the pledge. 
We encourage everyone 
to take the pledge. 
[Judy Pino] 
Okay, well, thank you, 
Maria Vargas, 
our spokesperson for the 
Energy Star program.
So, take action and 
take the pledge.
Visit 
energystar.gov/changetheworld 
for more information.
See you next time 
on Green Scene.