We can be Eco-Friendly and still keep our hobby. I have a few suggestion-
1) Lighting.
We have always been using our lighting schedule 7 days a week. Why not we choose a day in a week and switch off our lightset to lessen the usage of electricity. In the wild, coral do not have the luxury of daily sunlight as there are period where it rains. We can simulate the raining period for 1 day in a week. There is a thread in rc where the reefer did 3 straight day in a month without lights on.
Personally for me, I have not switch on my hall light when my tank light is on. I am consuming lesser electricity this way as I do not need the hall to be lit when no one is sitting there. The tank lighting illuminate the hall albeit not as what normal lighting does but it is sufficient. Only when I have friends or family over does the hall light is switch on.
2) Pump.
We need to lessen the usage of this equipment. Buying better equipment that uses lesser electric than the next brand should be the top priority for us. Of course, the pump that uses lesser electricity but provide better and higher flow is the one that we should aim for. No use if you buy pumps that uses lesser electricity and has weak flow, that you need to buy multiple pump to get the desired effect.
I have done this by removing 2 x 1260 and replace it with a red dragon 8m3. The 2 x 1260 consume more electric but provide less flow than what the 8m3 does. A great relief on the monthly bill.
3) Chiller.
This is another equipment that we need to look into. Currently, the chiller available to us require us to add a pump for it to work. This is the only equipment I see that need another equipment to make it work. Why not for go this and get one that has a drop in coil like I see in some US website. It does not need a pump to make it work and reefer uses less pump and even lesser electricity. We also have a local aircon compressor maker who also have a similar type of equipment mentioned. The coil can be placed in the sump and the return pump will do the rest.
For me, I am trying to save up to get 1. May not be using those pump requiring chiller in the future. Currently I am using a chiller so it's days are numbered.
In the end, to enjoy this hobby, we need to plan what equipment to get in order to lessen our electrical dependancy. Proper planning is essential !