Lifestyle
Dr. Sarah’s Hot Ideas for a Cooler Lifestyle
There are lots of easy ways to reduce our global warming pollution. And the easiest ways are free– just a matter of reducing waste and inefficiency saves big money.
Here are the biggest sources of global warming pollution—the way we heat, cool and power our homes and businesses, and the way we move ourselves and our stuff around.
Burning coal and petroleum are the biggest culprits.
Deforestation—cutting down or burning trees—is another big one that’s not talked about anywhere near enough. It’s a big part of the problem.
Did you know that 25% of the world’s global warming pollution comes from cutting down and burning trees? Deforestation actually releases global warming pollution into the atmosphere.
The way we grow crops and livestock is another big source of global warming pollution.
Did you know that organic farming produces 35% less global warming pollution than conventional farming?
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Related to moving ourselves and stuff around, we need to think about what fuel or power source is used to power the vehicle- the bus, the train, the truck, the car, the plane.
And we need to evaluate more than just the MPG for cars that are powered by gas. We need to look also at the emissions of a given vehicle—one of the great things about the Japanese hybrids is not just their fuel efficiency but their low emissions.
And since ethanol is pretty popular these days, we need to consider carefully how much energy it takes to produce the biofuel– not to mention how many forests are being cleared to grow the crops.
Did you know that once the energy it takes to create ethanol is factored in, ethanol is only 2% more energy efficient than gasoline?
Furnaces, ACs and Funny Lightbulbs
We need to think about how we can reduce waste and increase efficiency in the way we heat and cool our homes, and in the way we light our buildings, and in the appliances we use. And how much we use our heating and cooling and lighting and appliances and….
Did you know that in the average home we lose 60% of our heating and cooling energy?
Did you know that it costs us about $1 billion a year to leave our computers on when we’re not using them?
Did you know that if we all changed just three of our light bulbs to compact fluorescents, it would equal taking 3.5 million cars off the road?
Dr. Sarah’s suggested approach
Think in terms of doing a 360 degree scan of your life—your home, your shopping habits, your eating habits, your investments, how you get around, your workplace.
You’re scanning for waste and inefficiency.
“Energy efficiency isn’t just a free lunch, it’s a lunch you are paid to eat,” Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute
What’s waste? Waste is…
What ends up in the landfill that might have another use.
Global warming pollution that serves no purpose—like the cell phone charger left plugged in.
Heat that escapes through leaks in the building—we lose 60% of our heating and cooling to leaks.
And waste is… wasted money!
What’s inefficiency? Inefficiency is…
Not making the best use of the resources we have.
Flying a plane that’s half full. Running dishwashers and washers and dryers when they’re not full.
The fact that only half the power that leaves the socket on it’s way to our PCs gets there.
Running one errand that’s 10 miles away when we could combine errands.
Rriving an SUV with one person in it.
Where to start
There is so much great information out there about how to live green that Dr. Sarah is just going to highlight some ideas to get you started, then suggest wonderful resources for digging deeper.
Change those lightbulbs!
Drive less.
Recycle.
Buy organic.
Buy recycled products.
Get a “green” car.
Unplug.
Insulate.
Buy Energy Star appliances.
Dispose with disposables.
Eat less meat.
Use reusable shopping bags.
Cancel unwanted subscriptions and catalogues.
Rehab or build green.
All these actions add up! A lot!
A cool, fun way of learning how it all adds up is to play the Stabilization Wedges Game developed at Princeton University. The game illustrates the power of gradually reducing our emissions. Dr. Sarah thinks of this principle as similar to compounding interest—the benefits compound over time. See a link to their article below.
Want help going green? Dr. Sarah’s Eco-Action Lifestyle Coaching will help you learn the ropes, get started, and keep going.
And subscribe to Dr. Sarah’s email newsletter.
Want to calculate your environmental impact?
Our day to day activities generate global warming pollution in ways that can be quantified in pounds of C02. It’s quite an eye opener to learn how much we are generating without realizing it.
If we want to reduce our global warming pollution, it helps to know where we’re starting from, and what our biggest personal sources are.
It takes just a couple of minutes. Give it a whirl and see what you learn! Calculate now.
We also have a carbon footprint calculator that allows kids to figure out how much global warming pollution they create while going about their lives. It’s quick and easy! Just click. (link)
Want to learn more?
Check out these helpful websites:
http://www.globalwarmingsolutions.org/category/personal-action– Dr. Sarah loves this site because it gives you great information about the significant impact of small lifestyle changes. It covers just about every lifestyle category.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/index.html– Includes information on what you can do at home, at work, at school and on the road. Also includes information on what businesses can do.
http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/page.cfm?tagID=135 —Includes several categories of lifestyle changes, as well as a printable PDF brochure and handouts and an RSS feed.
www.energystar.gov– A government program that rates appliances for their efficiency. Also includes a variety of products from faxes to home heating systems.
www.metaefficient.com– A blog that keeps track of new developments in technology and eco gadgets, with an eye to energy efficiency.
http://www.princeton.edu/~cmi/resources/stabwedge.htm– An important article with good graphics about the idea that we can stabilize climate change by making incremental changes.
http://www.nrdc.org/greenliving/ –Tips on not just how to green your lifestyle your business as well. Includes information in Spanish and an RSS feed.
http://www.quantumshift.tv/specialreport/1/– On the benefits of organic farming for global warming.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads06/07ES.pdf– An overview of the sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the US.
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