The average American is responsible for about 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year. This per capita number is greater than that of any other industrialized country. In fact, the United States—a country with 5% of the world’s people—produces nearly 25% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Here’s what you personally can do to help solve the climate crisis: Save Energy At Home Saving energy is not only a good thing to do for the climate crisis: It can also translate to real cost savings. Choosing energy efficient alternatives for the home can help families cut their energy bills by as much as a one-third, while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by a similar amount. While many actions can be taken at little or no cost, others may require a small investment up front that will pay for itself in reduced energy bills. Here are some specific ways you can conserve energy in your home: Choose energy efficient lighting.efi.org Lighting accounts for one-fifth of all the electricity consumed in the US. One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to reduce your energy use, energy costs, and greenhouse-gas emissions is to replace the regular incandescent light bulbs in your home with superefficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). CFLs fit right into most regular household fixtures and give off the same warm light, but they are much more energy efficient. (To purchase CFLs online, visit .) The conventional incandescent bulbs most consumers use in their homes are highly energy inefficient. Only 10% of the energy they consume actually generates illumination, while 90% of it is lost in the form of heat. While CFL bulbs cost more up front, they last up to 10,000 hours—10 times longer than incandescent bulbs—and use 66% less energy. If every household in the United States substituted even one conventional light bulb with a CFL bulb, it would have the same effect on pollution levels as removing a million cars from the nation’s roads. Choose energy-efficient appliances when making new purchases. One of the most significant opportunities consumers have to improve home energy efficiency is in the selection of new major appliances such as air conditioners, furnaces, water heaters, and refrigerators. Choosing models that have been designed to use energy efficiently will save you money over time and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. (The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Program website provides useful information to help with consumer decisions.) Properly operate and maintain your appliances. While buying energy-efficient appliances is a good first step in helping to reduce your long-term greenhouse-gas emissions, you can also improve the energy efficiency of older appliances. For example, refrigerators should not be placed next to heat sources such as ovens, dishwashers, and heaters that force them to overwork in order to maintain cool temperatures. A refrigerator’s condenser coils should be kept dust-free to ensure unblocked airflow through the unit’s heat exchanger. Any appliance’s filters should be regularly cleaned or changed. Another energy saving tip: Instead of running frequent partial loads in your dishwasher or washing machine, save energy by running only full loads. When you have time, wash your dishes by hand, and use a clothesline to dry your clothes instead of the dryer. Insulate your house. Properly insulating your house can save money by eliminating energy leaks that add to your heating or cooling needs. A drafty house lets warm air escape in the winter and lets cool air out in the summer, which puts more pressure on heating and cooling systems—and expends more energy—to keep the house comfortable. Check for drafts around windows and doors and seal up any leaks, or consider installing higher-efficiency windows. Make sure to seal all attic vents and ducts. Insulate your water heater and hot-water pipes to help keep the heat in the water, where it belongs. (For more specific information, visit simplyinsulate.com.) Get a home energy audit.The typical household spends an average of $1,500 per year on energy and can save as much as $450 or more by implementing some simple energy-efficiency measures. There are also professional home energy auditors who can give you thorough home energy-efficiency assessments. (To find an energy specialist in your area, contact your utility company or state energy office, or visit energy.gov.) Conserve hot water. Heating water is one of the major draws on household energy. You can cut energy use by setting your water temperature no higher than 120°F. You can also conserve hot water by taking showers rather than baths, and by installing efficient low-flow showerheads. Consider the water requirements of appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines, as some use less hot water than others. For example, front-loading washing machines are much more efficient than top-loading machines. Washing clothes in warm or cold water, rather than hot, can be a big energy saver as well. Reduce standby power waste. Many appliances—including televisions, DVD players, cell phone chargers, or any other piece of equipment that has a remote control, battery charger, internal memory, AC adapter plug, permanent display, or sensor—use electricity even when they are turned “off.” In fact, 25% of the energy a television uses is consumed when it is not even powered on. The only way to be sure your appliance is not using power is to unplug it, or to plug it into a power strip, which you can then switch off. Power strips do consume a small amount of energy, but far less than the phantom load appliances leak when plugged in directly. Improve the efficiency of your home office. Energy-efficient computers are equipped with a power management feature that, when enabled, causes the computer to go into a low-power mode. Because computers are commonly left on when not in use, enabling power management can save 70% of the energy normally used by a computer. Also be aware that laptop computers are 90% more energy efficient than desktop models. Inkjet printers consume 90% less energy than laser printers, and printing in color uses more energy than printing in black and white. When possible, choose multifunction devices that print, fax, copy, and scan, as they use less energy than individual machines would. (For more information on Energy Star computers, printers, and other office equipment, visit energystar.gov.) Switch to green power.eere.energy.gov Although most energy in the United States comes from fossil fuels, more and more people are electing to use energy generated by cleaner sources such as the sun, wind, the heat of the Earth, or the burning of biomass. (For more information about these various alternative sources of energy, visit .) In fact, wind and solar power are among the fastest-growing sources of energy, both in the United States and around the world. (For more information about solar energy, visit ases.org and for wind energy, visit awea.org.) There are a number of different ways to participate in this shift to renewable energy. Many homeowners have begun to produce their own electricity by installing solar photovoltaic cells, wind turbines, or geothermal heat pumps. It is estimated that some 150,000 households have become energy self-sufficient, removing themselves entirely from the energy grid. Many more have reduced their reliance on public utilities, using them only to supplement the renewable power they generate themselves. In some states, households that produce more electricity than they need for their own use can sell the surplus back to the utility. This is called “two-way” or “net” metering. In this manner, individuals can not only reduce their own carbon emissions, but also supply clean energy to the public utility. Many state and local governments, and some utility companies, offer personal tax credits or subsidies for renewable energy projects. (For more information, visit the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy.) For those who aren’t in a position to install their own renewable-energy systems, there is another way to participate in the shift to green power. In many regions, consumers can contract with their utility companies to receive energy from more environmentally friendly sources. There may be a slightly higher cost for green power, but in general the premium is negligible and will likely come down as more consumers elect this option. (For more information, visit epa.gov/greenpower or eere.energy.gov/greenpower.) If green power is not available through your public utility, you have the option of purchasing Tradeable Renewable energy Certificates (TRCs) to offset your energy use. (For more information, visit green-e.org.) Get Around On Less Almost one-third of the CO2 produced in the United States comes from cars, trucks, airplanes, and other vehicles that transport us from place to place, or are used in the course of producing and delivering the goods and services we consume. More than 90% of this travel is by automobile, which means that fuel-economy standards are of critical importance. Average gas efficiency for passenger vehicles has actually declined over the last decade, largely because of the increased popularity of SUVs and light trucks. Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling, or taking mass transit wherever possible. The average car in the United States releases about one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile driven. Avoiding just 20 miles of driving per week would eliminate about 1,000 pounds of CO2emissions per year. (For advice on how to lobby for better pedestrian conditions, visit americawalks.org, and for better biking conditions, visit bikeleague.org. A free national service is available to help you coordinate your travels with other commuters. For more information visit erideshare.com. For more information about how to use and support the expansion of mass transit, visit publictransportation.org.) Drive smarter. Some simple changes in driving habits can improve your vehicle’s fuel efficiency and reduce your greenhouse-gas emissions when you must drive. Avoid commuting in rush hour, if possible. You’ll waste less time sitting in traffic and your vehicle will consume less fuel. Observe the speed limit—and not only for safety reasons: A car’s fuel economy drops off sharply at speeds above 55 mph. Avoid unnecessary idling and keep your car in good running order. Regular maintenance improves performance and reduces emissions. And, as much as possible, plan ahead and combine different errands into one trip. (For specific information about maximizing the fuel efficiency of your car, visit fueleconomy.gov.) Make your next vehicle purchase a more efficient one. The recent rise in gasoline prices has increased interest in our cars’ fuel efficiency. Driving a car that gets more miles to the gallon will not only save you cash at the gas station, it will also reduce your carbon-dioxide emissions from driving. Every gallon of gasoline burned puts about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So a vehicle that gets 25 rather than 20 miles per gallon produces 10 fewer tons of carbon dioxide in its first 100,000 miles. (You can look up fuel-efficiency estimatesf or most cars at the U.S. Department of Energy’s online Green Vehicle Guide or fueleconomy.gov.) Hybrids. Hybrid cars run on a mix of gasoline and electricity, and because the battery charges as you drive, they never need to be plugged in. Since the electric motor assists the regular combustion engine, hybrids consume far less gas and are much cleaner for the environment. Some hybrid cars get up to 50 miles per gallon. Demand for these vehicles is growing at a feverish rate, and many new models, including sedans, hatchbacks, SUVs, and pickups, are now or will soon be available. (For more information about how hybrids work and to compare models, visit hybridcars.com.) Alternative fuels. “The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like that sumac out by the road, or from apples, weeds, sawdust–almost anything. There is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented. There’s enough alcohol in one year’s yield of an acre of potatoes to drive the machinery necessary to cultivate the fields for a hundred years.” Henry Ford spoke these prophetic words in 1925. Some 90 years later we are seeing the application of such innovations, including the use of numerous biofuels derived from renewable plant materials, including corn, wood, and soybeans. The most commonly used renewable fuels today are biodiesel and ethanol. Fuel-cell vehicles. A hydrogen fuel cell is a device that converts either pure hydrogen or hydrogen-rich fuel directly into energy. Cars powered by fuel cells may be twice as efficient as similarly sized conventional vehicles–or even more, as new technologies advance efficiencies. A fuel-cell vehicle (FCV) that uses pure hydrogen produces no pollutants: only water and heat. FCVs, while exciting, are still several years away from reaching a mass market. (To learn more about fuel-cell technology, visit fueleconomy.gov/feg/fuelcell.) Telecommute from home. Another way to reduce the number of miles you drive is by telecommuting. You’ll spend less time and energy on the road and be able to devote more attention to business at the same time. (For further information about telecommuting, visit the Telework Coalition.) Reduce air travel. Flying is another form of transportation that produces large amounts of carbon dioxide. Reducing air travel even by one or two flights per year can significantly reduce emissions. Take vacations nearer to home, or get there by train, bus, boat, or even car. Buses provide the cheapest and most energy-efficient transportation for long distances, and trains are at least twice as energy efficient as planes. If your airplane travel is for business, consider whether you can telecommute instead. If you must fly, consider buying carbon offsets to compensate for the emissions caused by your air travel. (For assistance in planning green travel and purchasing carbon offsets, visit betterworldclub.com/travel.) Consume Less, Conserve More In America, we have grown used to an environment of plenty, with an enormous variety of consumer products always available and constant enticement to buy “more,” “new,” and “improved.” This consumer culture has become so intrinsic to our worldview that we’ve lost sight of the huge toll we are taking on the world around us. Consume less. Energy is consumed in the manufacturing and transport of everything you buy, which means there are fossil-fuel emissions at every stage of production. A good way to reduce the amount of energy you use is simply to buy less. Before making a purchase, ask yourself if you really need it. Can you make do with what you already have? Can you borrow or rent? Can you find the item secondhand? More and more Americans are beginning to simplify their lives and choose to reduce consumption. (For ideas on how to pare down, visit newdream.org.) Buy things that last. “Reduce, reuse, and recycle” has become the motto of a growing movement dedicated to producing less waste and reducing emissions by buying less, choosing durable items over disposable ones, repairing rather than discarding, and passing on items that are no longer needed to someone who can make use of them. (For more information about the three Rs, visit epa.gov/msw/reduce. To learn how to find a new home for something you no longer need, visit freecycle.org.) Pre-cycle—reduce waste before you buy. Discarded packaging materials make up about one-third of the waste clogging our landfills. Vast amounts of natural resources and fossil fuels are consumed each year to produce the paper, plastic, aluminum, glass, and Styrofoam that hold and wrap our purchases. Obviously, some degree of packaging is necessary to transport and protect the products we need, but all too often manufacturers add extraneous wrappers over wrappers and layers of unnecessary plastic. You can let companies know your objection to such excess by boycotting their products. Give preference to those products that use recycled packaging, or that don’t use excess packaging. When possible, buy in bulk and seek out things that come in refillable glass bottles. (For more ideas about how to pre-cycle, visit environmentaldefense.org.) Recycle. Most communities provide facilities for the collection and recycling of paper, glass, steel, aluminum, and plastic. While it does take energy to gather, haul, sort, clean, and reprocess these materials, recycling takes far less energy than does sending recyclables to landfills and creating new paper, bottles, and cans from raw materials. It has been suggested that if 100,000 people who currently don’t recycle began to do so, they would collectively reduce carbon emissions by 42,000 tons per year. As an added benefit, recycling reduces pollution and saves natural resources, including precious trees that absorb carbon dioxide. And in addition to the usual materials, some facilities are equipped to recycle motor oil, tires, coolant, and asphalt shingles, among other products. (To learn about where you can recycle just about anything in your area, visit epa.gov/epaoswer.) Don’t waste paper. Paper manufacturing is the fourthmost energy-intensive industry, not to mention one of the most polluting and destructive to our forests. It takes an entire forest—more than 500,000 trees—to supply Americans with their Sunday newspapers each week. In addition to recycling your used paper, there are things you can do to reduce your overall paper consumption. Limit your use of paper towels and use cloth rags instead. Use cloth napkins instead of disposables. Use both sides of paper whenever possible. And stop unwanted junk mail. Bag your groceries and other purchases in a reusable tote. Americans go through 100 billion grocery bags every year. One estimate suggests that Americans use more than 12 million barrels of oil each year just to produce plastic grocery bags that end up in landfills after only one use and then take centuries to decompose. Paper bags are a problem too: To ensure that they are strong enough to hold a full load, most are produced from virgin paper, which requires cutting down trees that absorb carbon dioxide. It is estimated that about 15 million trees are cut down annually to produce the 10 billion paper bags we go through each year in the United States. Make a point to carry a reusable bag with you when you shop, and then when you’re asked, “Paper or plastic?” you can say, “Neither.” Compost. When organic waste materials, such as kitchen scraps and raked leaves, are disposed of in the general trash, they end up compacted deep in landfills. Without oxygen to aerate and assist in their natural decomposition, the organic matter ferments and gives off methane, which is the most potent of the greenhouse gases—23 times more potent than carbon dioxide in global warming terms. Organic materials rotting in landfills account for about one third of man-made methane emissions in the United States. By contrast, when organic waste is properly composted in gardens, it produces rich nutrients that add energy and food to the soil—and of course also decreases the volume added to our landfills. (For information about how to compost, visit epa.gov/compost.) Carry your own refillable bottle for water or other beverages. Instead of buying single-use plastic bottles that require significant energy and resources to produce, buy a reusable container and fill it up yourself. In addition to the emissions created by producing the bottles themselves, imported water is especially energy inefficient because it has to be transported over long distances. If you’re concerned about the taste or quality of your tap water, consider using an inexpensive water purifier or filter. Also consider buying large bottles of juice or soda and filling your own portable bottle daily. Using your own mug or thermos could also help reduce the 25 billion disposable cups Americans throw away each year. (For more information about the benefits of using refillable beverage containers, visit grrn.org/deverage/refillables.) Modify your diet to include less meat. Americans consume almost a quarter of all the beef produced in the world. Aside from health issues associated with eating lots of meat, a high-meat diet translates into a tremendous amount of carbon emissions. It takes far more fossil-fuel energy to produce and transport meat than to deliver equivalent amounts of protein from plant sources. In addition, much of the world’s deforestation is a result of clearing and burning to create more grazing land for livestock. This creates further damage by destroying trees that would otherwise absorb carbon dioxide. Fruits, vegetables, and grains, on the other hand, require 95% less raw materials to produce and, when combined properly, can provide a complete and nutritious diet. If more Americans shifted to a less meat-intensive diet, we could greatly reduce CO2emissions and also save vast quantities of water and other precious natural resources. (For more information about cows and global warming, visit earthsave.org/globalwarming.) Buy local. In addition to the environmental impact that comes from manufacturing the product you are buying, the effects on CO2emissions from transporting those goods at each and every stage of production must also be calculated. It is estimated that the average meal travels well over 1,200 miles by truck, ship, and/or plane before it reaches your dining room table. Often it takes more calories of fossil-fuel energy to get the meal to the consumer than the meal itself provides in nutritional energy. It is much more carbon efficient to buy food that doesn’t have to make such a long journey. One way to address this is to eat foods that are grown or produced close to where you live. As much as possible, buy from local farmers’ markets or from community-supported agriculture cooperatives. By the same token, it makes sense to design your diet as much as possible around foods currently in season in your area, rather than foods that need to be shipped from far-off places. Purchase offsets to neutralize your remaining emissions. So many things we do in our day-today lives—driving, cooking, heating our homes, working on our computers—result in greenhouse-gas emissions. It is virtually impossible to eliminate our personal contributions to the climate crisis through reducing emissions alone. You can, however, reduce your impact to the equivalent of zero emissions by purchasing carbon offsets. When you purchase carbon offsets, you are funding a project that reduces greenhouse-gas emissions elsewhere by, for example, increasing energy efficiency, developing renewable energy, restoring forests, or sequestering carbon in soil. Be A Catalyst For Change Our actions to help solve the climate crisis can extend well beyond the ways we personally reduce our emissions. By continuing to learn about the state of the environment and what is being done about it, we can inform and inspire others to action. We can bring awareness to our neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces, and find ways to implement programs in these and other communities. As citizens of a democracy, we can support candidates who show a record of environmental responsibility, and we can exercise our right to vote for leaders committed to sustainability. Learn more about climate change. There are many Web sites that will give you more information about climate change and global warming. A couple good places to start are: • climateark.org and ucsusa.org/global_warming Let others know. Share what you’ve learned with others. Tell your family, your friends, and your colleagues about climate change and what they can do to participate in the solution. If you have the opportunity, speak to a wider audience or write an op-ed piece or a letter to the editor of your local or school newspaper. Share this book or any other resource that will help others understand the importance of this issue. Encourage your school or business to reduce emissions. You can further extend your positive influence on emissions well beyond your own home by actively and directly encouraging others to take appropriate action. Think about how you might affect others in your workplace, school, place of worship, and elsewhere. Vote with your dollars. Find out which brands and stores are making efforts to reduce their emissions and to conduct their businesses in an environmentally responsible manner. Support their practices by purchasing their products and shopping in their stores. Make companies that are negligent aware of your objections. Let them know that until they change their energy-inefficient ways, you’ll take your business elsewhere. (For information about the environmental practices and policies of the companies you buy from, visit coopamerica.org.) Consider the impact of your investments. If you invest, you should consider the impact that your investments have on climate change. Whether you keep your money in a simple savings account at a bank or local credit union, buy stocks, invest in mutual funds for your retirement, or manage your child’s college fund, it matters where your money goes. There are resources for savers and investors that help ensure that money is being invested in companies, products, and projects that responsibly address climate change and other sustainability challenges. Moreover, considering sustainability issues when making investment decisions doesn’t mean lower returns on your investments—indeed, there is evidence that it can actually enhance them. Many of the largest investment organizations in the world have endorsed this view. Take political action. Climate change is a global issue, and your personal actions are a critical first step toward reducing greenhouse gases in the United States and throughout the world. For governments, this is fundamentally a political challenge, which means that individuals can make a difference by pressuring their elected representatives to support measures that have a positive impact on the climate crisis. At all levels of government, decisions are routinely made that have the potential to affect greenhouse gas emissions. Clearly, we must demand an even more dramatic commitment from our government. If we don’t express our views loudly and clearly, the corporate special interests who steadfastly oppose mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will continue to prevail. (To learn more about where politicians and candidates stand on global warming, visit icv.org/scorecard.) Get the facts and make sure your voice is heard! Support an environmental group. There are many organizations doing great work to help solve the climate crisis and all of them can use support. Do some research to find out more about each and then get involved. A few to start with are: • Natural Resources Defense Council • Sierra Club • Environmental Defense Fund
