The U.S. has just 5% of the world's population, but uses 25% of the earth's energy resources. Saving energy helps conserve these resources.

A lot of the energy we use at home, at school, and for our cars comes from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas. Most of our fossil fuel supply was created millions of years ago—much of it even before the dinosaurs were here. The earth has only a limited amount of these fuels and humans are using them up very fast. By saving energy, we can slow down the use of fossil fuels and make our supplies last longer.

Saving energy conserves other resources as well. It takes a tremendous amount of natural resources (like water, land, wood, and other building materials) to build a power plant. Saving energy delays the need for new power plants and postpones the use of these resources.

You Can Help

• Use energy efficiently at home, at school, and for transportation. Simple things like carpooling and turning off the lights when you leave the room can make a big difference, if we all pitch in.
• Learn about and use energy from renewable resources. Renewable energy is energy that doesn't get used up the way fossil fuels do. Renewable energy sources are sometimes called “green power” because they help keep our planet healthy. An example is solar energy, which uses renewable energy from the sun.