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.
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The South Carolina Insurance Department has awarded $70,000 in grants to help coastal residents make their homes more hurricane resistant.
Agency spokeswoman Ann Roberson says 14 families have received $5,000 each to pay for upgrades such as roof and window protection. Grant applications for another 20 families are under review.
The Safe Home program is part of a new insurance law intended to stabilize the skyrocketing cost of homeowners' insurance along the coast. The first grants went out in mid-October, just a couple weeks after the program's start.
The agency still has more than $2 million to dole out. The agency has not advertised the grants, but officials have traveled to the coast to spread the word.
