On the eve of Earth Day, I'd like to share just a few of the many ways that the library can help you go greener this year!

1. Kill-a-Watts Available for Checkout

Did you know that there may be vampires lurking in your house? That's right, you likely have "energy vampire" appliances in your house that are sucking down energy, even when not in use. All 19 San José Public Library locations now offer Kill-a-Watt devices and instructions that you may borrow for three weeks. At West Valley, you can grab one in the Home & Garden section. Just check the Kill-a-Watt out and take it home, plug your appliances into it, and figure out how much energy each one uses. You can check out this article for some simple tips to banish the energy vampires. You'll save money on your utility bill AND help the planet!

2. Plenty of Books & Resources

We offer a variety of materials covering many aspects of sustainable living. You can green your cleaning, your construction, your business, your food, your family, and more! Come browse the shelves or check out our electronic resources online.

3. Free Events & Workshops

Prefer to learn in person? Keep an eye out for the various green-themed events that we offer at our libraries. On April 22 at 4pm, Hillview is hosting a timely Green Spring Cleaning Workshop, and on April 30 at 2pm, West Valley is offering an Eating with Seasons Workshop. If you're feeling lost and don't know where to start, try Simple Steps to Going Green, offered at Edenvale on May 7 and Vineland on May 28.

4. Simply Using the Library!

Whether you check out books about green living or not, just using the public library can help you go green. Why buy lots of books that you and your family may only end up reading once or not at all when you can borrow them and share them with other members of our community? Our physical and electronic materials get plenty of use (almost 15 million total last year in circulation!) by the 1 million+ people in the San Jose area. That's a lot of sharing!

So whether it's just remembering to unplug your cell charger when not in use or giving your whole lifestyle a green makeover, we hope that the library will help you to go and stay green this year. Happy Earth Day!

If you have checked out one of our Kill-a-Watt energy meters, please help us improve this program by taking a short survey.

If not, check one out next time you're at a San Jose Public Library. You can plug the device into any of your household appliances to see how much energy each one uses, and how much it costs you on your monthly utility bill.  This is also a great way to find out how much energy your TV and microwave use even when you're not using them - a phenomenon called phantom load.

You can check out a Kill-a-Watt free of charge at any of our nineteen locations for three weeks, the same loan period as a book.