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What do you do to reduce your carbon footprint?
Posted by pinkmimosa • 2/11/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: carbon footprint, eco friendly, global warming, green
I've pledged on another site to report my efforts and am curious what others are consciously doing.
I'm switching from throwaway bottled water to keeping purified water in a refillable 5 gallon jug.
I've switched brands of yarn for my crochet work to one that is made up of 20% recycled plastic bottles too.
Little things add up to a lot!
What else can I do?
User Comments
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I ride my bike to work. Been doing so for eight years, figure I've saved 15,000 euros that way.-
That's awesome!
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Never did buy bottled water. We keep the ones we get at restaurants and refill them with filtered water from home. I try to run lots of errands at once rather than making several separate trips in the car. I've always been one to have a car that got good mileage anyway. Biking is not an option where I live. I have to cross highways to get to any kind of store or business. I'll probably go hybrid or electric with my next car.-
Yes, I do that too. Plan my errands for one day a week and map the route.
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I ride my bike or walk when the weather is nice. I always take cloth bags to the grocery store so I don't use theirs. I recylcle absolutely everything (seriuosly, I have big bins right next to my kitchen for cardboard, bottles, cans, & glass) and also have a compost that I use. I drive a small car that gets a lot of miles to the gallon and every spring, my husband and I plant a tree.-
We do a lot of the same things out at our place.
We've also changed all our lights to CF and are conscientious about turning them off in the daytime and whenever we leave a room.
It's good for our electric bill and better for the environment.
(now, if I could just use my computer a little less...) -
Yes! Thanks! I need shopping bags and to replace more lights.
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Hey MM--I knew you would be doing things to help. We also changed all our lightbulbs too. And last year, we put in a new hot water heater and did energy efficient windows. The savings we see from those things is very significant.
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Well, you could take a look at my blog, (will not shamelessly promote here with a link) But one of the things that I am about to put up on there is a link to an organization www.Plant-Trees.org which has programs to plant trees and offset carbon footprint.
There are as many ways to reduce your carbon footprint as there are to create carbon.... so just have to look around a bit. My blog is still very new, and content is coming, but I write all of my own stuff, I do not syndicate feeds or use other authors work. Lots of good stuff in the works. Just finding time to properly research the numbers and verify details is time consuming.-
Excellent! Please check into 'living walls' too. The more people write about them them sooner they will be in schools.
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I have three links to "Carbon Footprint Calculators"
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html
The Nature Conservancy
www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/
BP
www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9015627&contentId=70...
The results will vary, so I will go ahead and give you a preview of the what I will be putting into an upcoming blog post.
The MadScientist Carbon Footprint for the only month I had handy numbers for
EPA - 111,471 pounds or 55.7 tons of CO2/year
Nature Conservancy - 80 tons of CO2/year
BP - 28.5 tons of CO2/year
Now who is right is anyone's guess. I do tend to beleive that BP will have a slightly skewed perception and calculation methodology to paint a little brighter picture being an "energy provider" and "OIL company" specifically.
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I joined a vanpool for the commute to and from work. The van holds 7 of us, and the ride has become a favorite part of my day. My current car gets good gas mileage, and I plan to get a hybrid as my next car in a few years. I don't buy bottled water. I try to buy locally-produced foods when possible, and prefer to buy foods that aren't too processed or overly packaged. We have our thermostat on a timer, so the temperature is turned down during the times when we're not home, or when we're sleeping. We recycle and compost.-
Another pro! I'm learning a lot here! Thanks! We have a garden and compost.
Oh and we have rabbits and use their poo for fertilizer. Less harmful than cow manure.
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My sis is always on about reducing carbon footprint. I said 'glad you doing all that, means I can leave my lights on that much longer' LOL
Have reduced my carbon footprint a lot this winter as weather has been too rubbish to go out and trade, therefore the van has only been out half the time. Also haven't been on holiday for three years so no planes. I really miss the sun.
Anyhow, while the little folk are thrashing around trying to reduce footprints, be enviro friendly etc, the government imports a load of toxic waste, mmm, logical as ever.-
I hear ya. I have a serious case of cabin fever too.
We live just below the TVA coal ash spill that has arsenic, other heavy metals and radiation in it. A disaster 40 times worse than the Alaska spill.
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I have stopped farting!!:D-
LOL I assume that has prevented a huge dent in the ozone!
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I walk to/from college. I save the money that would be spent on public transport, and it's just good exercise.-
That's awesome! Frugal AND eco friendly
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There is a really cool carbon foot print calculator here ...
www.acore.org/carbon_footprint
I discovered it for our friends at www.benzair.blogspot.com/-
I love that! Greenopolis is where anyone can pledge to make changes.
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In no particular order...I changed out all my lightbulbs to CFLs, do all my laundry in cold water, unplugged all lamps, clocks and appliances when not in use, plugged the TV and DVD player into a power strip that I can turn off completely, plugged stereo into outlet controlled by light switch, turned off clock on stove, stopped buying bottled water, stopped using dishwasher, recycle everything I can, use my own mug and water bottle at work, convinced work to change from styrofoam cups to a greener, recycleable option, limit hair dryer use to cold weather only, not more than twice a week, not longer than 2 minutes each use, keep my winter thermostat at 65 when awake, 62 when asleep and 60 when nobody's home, keep my summer thermostat at 75 when awake and 80 when nobody's home, cancelled my magazines and newspaper delivery, switched to electronic billing and online bill pay, cut way back on meat and poultry consumption, keep my car tuned and my tires inflated, turn car off instead of letting it idle when waiting for friends, bring lunch to work rather than drive somewhere to eat, bring my own bags to the supermarket, stopped using plastic bags for produce, try to buy stuff with less packaging. Whew! That's all I can think of right now.-
Oh wow! You are the woman! I'm taking notes
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It's been a gradual process. Small changes, a little by little, add up over time. :^D
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Beginning in 2009 I have become a lot more environmentally active and my actions reflect that. I have chosen to ride a bicycle or take public transportation instead of driving a car of my own. I no longer litter and have been very diligent in my effort. I have also began purchasing organic and all natural foods as often as possible. I have actually in some ways documented this at my blog www.drawlin.com-
I'm so thrilled to meet young people like you and I hope you get to see the world!
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Wear smaller shoes?-
LOL
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Solar panel and water tank -
We recycle as much as we can at home and we drive a Hybrid car.
Rick -
wear smaller shoes, or ones made of non carbon based materials.
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