JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Beginning April 1, Florida Power & Light Company kicks off a month of activities encouraging Floridians to treat every day – not just April 22 – as Earth Day.

Throughout April, FPL’s “Earth Day Is Every Day” campaign will offer a series of daily tips – 30 tips in all – for families who want to incorporate environmental stewardship into their regular routines and save money on their monthly utility bills. FPL will also host a number of community events in its service territory to boost environmental awareness and encourage adoption of environmentally friendly, energy-efficient practices.

“FPL is proud to be an industry leader in environmental stewardship, and we invite our customers to join us this month in implementing environmentally responsible lifestyle choices to help preserve our natural resources. While FPL’s bills are already the lowest in the state, as an added benefit, many of these actions can also save money on utility bills, so these really can be win-win actions for customers,” said Randy LaBauve, FPL’s vice president of environmental services.

FPL’s “Earth Day Is Every Day” Phase One
Green All Around: Ten Tips to Help the Environment – and Your Bottom Line

For the first 10 days of April, FPL reviews appliances and common habits in homes and businesses that can have a large impact on utility bills. Simple changes can also help conserve natural resources.

April 1 – Avoid hand-washing your dishes (as if you need an excuse) – automatic dishwashers consume one-third less water than hand-washing so you’ll reduce both your water usage and water-heating costs.

April 2 – Turn the ceiling fan off when you leave the room. Diligence at preventing fans from running unnecessarily can save you up to $7 a month in energy costs.

April 3 – Adjust your washing machine to the appropriate water level for each load, and use cold water to wash and rinse your clothes when possible. You’ll reduce your water usage, and you’ll also save the energy you would be using to heat the water.
 
April 4 – Replacing that old porch light with an energy-efficient compact-fluorescent bulb can save you up to $50 over 2 ½ years.

April 5 – For a standard one-horsepower pool pump, reducing the run time by two hours a day can save you about $9 a month in electricity. For larger pumps, the savings could be more.

April 6 – The U.S. Department of Energy recommends the following rule of thumb for computer usage: If you aren't going to use your PC for more than 20 minutes, turn off your monitor; if you're not going to use your PC for more than two hours, turn off both the CPU and monitor.

April 7 – Don’t forget to clean or change your air-conditioning filter once a month. Your unit won’t have to work as hard, and you’ll keep your indoor air cleaner.

April 8 – When using air-conditioning, the average home can save $4.50 a month just by raising the temperature a single degree.

April 9 – Replacing your showerhead with a water-efficient model can cut your hot water usage in half and save up to $50 a year on your electric bill. Don’t forget to repair dripping faucets and leaky toilets. According to FEMA, one drop per second wastes 2,700 gallons of water per year!

April 10 – Keep warm with a blanket…for your pool. Two-thirds of a pool’s heat escapes from the water's surface. Use a pool blanket to cut the amount of energy used to heat the water in half.

For more information on FPL’s “Earth Day Is Every Day” campaign, the full list of tips, links to videos and other information please visit www.FPL.com or www.twitter.com/insidefpl.

Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) is the largest electric utility in Florida and one of the largest rate-regulated utilities in the United States. FPL serves approximately 4.5 million customer accounts in Florida and is a leading employer in the state with 10,500 employees. The company consistently outperforms national averages for service reliability while customer bills are below the national average. A clean energy leader, FPL has one of the lowest emissions profiles and the No. 1 energy efficiency program among utilities nationwide. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE: FPL). For more information, visit www.FPL.com.