Happy Earth Day!

[ebonlock]

Here's how I've spent mine so far:

1. Went to the Carbon Calculator and worked out my average for the year which worked out to 4.75 tons. It might be below average, but it's still a helluva lot.

2. Went to Native Energy and invested in the 50/50 blend farm methane and wind energy projects to offset my carbon usage.

3. Then went to My Carbon Footprint to get more information on what I could do to lower my footprint even further. Found out some incredibly interesting things:

*Let hot food cool down to room temperature before putting it in the fridge and save about 6 kg CO2 per year.

*Reduce the temperature of your home by just 1°C and save up to 300 kg CO2 per household and year.

*Boil just enough water for your hot drink and save about 25 kg CO2 per year. If all Europeans boiled just the water they needed, thus avoiding 1 litre of unnecessarily boiled water per day, the energy saved could power one third of Europe’s streetlights. [Editor's note: This figure just blew me away]

*Use a reusable bag each time you go shopping and save about 8 kg CO2 per year. [Editor's note: How cool is that?]

4. Checked out Cool Driver and Ben and Jerry's Lick Global Warming campaign, both of which are really cool and easy ways to help the environment.

So how have you spent your Earth Day so far?

Comments

[ebongreen.livejournal.com]

Let hot food cool down to room temperature before putting it in the fridge and save about 6 kg CO2 per year.

I'm not sure this is such a good idea, especially with meat foods for those that eat that sort of thing. Doesn't that practice put food at a significant risk of post-cooking bacterial infection?

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

I suppose one would have to use common sense in this case, however I very much doubt that already cooked meats transferred from the pan they were cooked in once they were cool to a container and into the fridge would pose any more risk than putting them in while they were hot.

[ebongreen.livejournal.com]

Found some information here that clarifies things a bit.

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

Our Household 3.7 tons. There are three of us.
Already use CFLs, keep the house relatively cool, drive a Prius, use cloth and other reusable shopping bags and trying to use them MORE, we match the cooking unit to the thing needing cooking, wash full loads when possible, etc etc etc. In other words, we lead a fairly green life without changing from a standard lifestyle.
Next thing - We still need to insulate this 1920s house better. New Windows.
And SOLAR PANELS.
Then my carbon impact will be about as small as it can get.

[elenderel.livejournal.com]

Let's see. I drove to church while Steve rode his bike to work, and drove back. I did a couple loads of laundry, and since it's actually warm and sunny out I hung it all on the line out back. I'm putting together a grocery list and I'm thinking of walking the four miles round-trip, since riding my bike is unreasonably dangerous. If it were safer, I'd ride my bike far more often!

My carbon footprint is larger than average thanks to my daily commute. I've always been upset about that - I remember three years ago, when I rode my bike between my two jobs because each place was four, maybe five miles from each other along reasonably quiet two-lane roads. I was in great shape and rarely drove my car anywhere! But I can't get a suitable job closer to my house (and my house is too large for two people and a small dog), so for the foreseeable future I'm stuck.

I try to make up for it by recycling everything I can, using reusable bags at the store, using my laundry line whenever the weather cooperates, shopping at thrift stores and using those spiral fluorescent bulbs all over the house. Another thing I try to do is buy local foodstuffs - by definition, food that travels under 100 miles to get to me is going to use less fuel, hence cause the emission of less CO2, than something that was grown in, say, Chile or Argentina. Even better if it's organically grown. It's great in the summer when Wegmans' produce dept. is loaded with corn and other stuff from farms all located within 30 miles of the store. Which reminds me, minor plug for Wegmans - they're now marketing W-label reusable shopping bags, nicely durable and stylishly black. Steve brought home three; I've got an expandable cotton mesh/hemp bag and a couple of elephant grass baskets, and cashiers are generally puzzled but willing to play along with filling the bag/baskets instead of just grabbing another plastic bag.

Oh speaking of plastic bags - I dropped a bunch of old computer things (printer, mouse, a complete Commodore 64 system from the basement) at the county-wide computer/TV recycling event and as I drove off, I was appalled at all the plastic bags there that are stuck high in the trees, the chain link fence, the equipment, etc etc. Yikes. And that's just one recycling facility. Sure, it's great that grocery stores recycle their plastic bags, but why not avoid the problem by using reusable bags?

Okay, time to get groceries ...

[elenderel.livejournal.com]

Speakung of Earth Day, do you know about Better World Travelers Club? It's the green version of AAA. When I have two nickels I can rub togther, I'm going with them: www.betterworldclub.com

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

I had not heard of that, but I'll definitely check it out, thanks!