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.
CLEMSON, S.C. -- A South Carolina startup company has found big business in helping local governments save money by streamlining trash pickup using global positioning technology.
Technology consultant Jim Oswald and friend Taji Richardson created the combination of hardware and software that comes up with daily computerized routes for garbage trucks. Workers check screens on their dashboard and icons pinpoint where yard waste, appliances or other debris needs to be picked up.
Clemson City Administrator Rick Cotton told The Greenville News the GPS-based system saves the city about 350 gallons of fuel a month and cuts down on the number of hours employees work.
Newberry, Greenwood, Union and Gaffney also are using the system and Spartanburg and Mount Pleasant will start this month. Dozens more towns in several states plan to buy the system this budget year, said Oswald, who is chief executive officer of the new company called PinPoint GeoTech LLC.
"It's going to roll out a lot larger than we'd originally planned," said Richardson, who is leaving his day job to work full-time with the new company.
The business recently received a $200,000 investment from SC Launch, a collaboration between three universities and South Carolina-based technology company SCRA.
The system could have a worldwide market and is an "expression of the entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well in this community," said Chris Przirembel, Clemson University vice president for research and economic development.
