JAMES ANDERSON / Scroll Photo Illustration
A light switch in an apartment at Aspen Village. In an effort to remind the tenants to save energy, at the bottom it says, “Just enough is enough energy. Stop energy waste.”

The United States consumes 23 percent of the world’s energy and generates 24 percent of the world’s electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Such figures make some students a bit wary about energy consumption in the country.

“After serving a mission to Germany, [I have seen that] a major stereotype of Americans is that we’re fat and lazy and we waste everything, and we aren’t doing anything to change that,” said Scott Haderlie, a sophomore from Rexburg.

Despite such stereotypes, 92 percent of consumers agree that business, government and consumers have an equal responsibility to reduce energy use, according to a 2003 market research poll conducted by the Alliance to Save Energy.

Some students feel energy consumption is not their problem.

“I don’t worry about [energy use] because it is included in my bill each month, so I don’t have to pay for it when my roommates leave all the lights on,” said Dustin Godshall, a freshman from Roseville, Calif.

While many students pay a monthly bill that includes all utilities, most households have to pay it separately, which can cost a lot. In 2005, the average household spent $1,900 on energy bills for the whole year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

This number is not expected to diminish in the future. In two decades, U.S. energy consumption is expected to increase by nearly 40 percent, the equivalent of the energy used today in California, Texas, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois combined, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Alliance to Save Energy.

Some students feel that a few improvements are needed to reverse this trend.

“Little things that we can do, we don’t do. We don’t turn off lights, we don’t recycle and by small and simple things we could definitely improve the world,” said Corinne Casperson, a sophomore from Twin Falls, Idaho.

David Eskelsen, spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power Company, suggested these small and simple things for conserving energy.

“The easiest thing that a student can do to reduce their electricity bill is to pay attention to the appliances that they are using, particularly televisions, gaming consoles and computers,” Eskelsen said. He added that many customers leave these appliances on all the time and that a person should turn off the ones they aren’t using.

Eskelsen also discussed the appliances that use the most electricity, the refrigerator and the heater or air conditioner, and recommended that students make sure those two appliances are clean and in good order.

“On the back [of the fridge] there is a coil where the heat from the fridge is dissipated into the room and it can become dusty. That decreases the efficiency of the refrigerator, so vacuum it and keep it clean so that it operates more efficiently,” Eskelsen said.

Finally, Eskelsen suggested that students check with their landlords to make sure that the heating or cooling systems are free of vegetation or trash. He also advised students to make sure that there is adequate weather stripping as winter draws near, because heat can escape through windows or doors, which can make electricity bills higher.

“One of the most common areas for heat loss is the bottom of the door. Until you can work with a landlord, a simple solution is to roll up a blanket and put it against the bottom of the door,” Eskelsen said.