July-August: Long Distance Travel

Reduce Your Travel Time and Your Emissions
Airplanes exhaust carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases high into earth’s atmosphere, where their impact is about twice what it would be if those gases were released on the earth’s surface. Moreover, contrails created by airplanes act like cirrus clouds, which are known to have a warming effect. You can add more than 1 pound of carbon dioxide equivalent to your climate footprint for every mile you fly, versus 1 pound per mile split by everyone in a 20mpg vehicle or less than half a pound per passenger on a train or bus. And that’s not to mention rising costs, the hassle of delayed flights, cramped seats, and jet lag! Teleconferencing gets easier and easier as technology improves. Friends, family and dream vacations may be far flung, but combining trips and cutting out the inessential flights can save money, stress and tons of greenhouse gas emissions!

Tips for Success:
1) Reduce the amount that you fly:  Cutting just one round trip cross-country flight can save almost 5000 lbs (over two tons!) of CO2-equivalent, not to mention time, energy and possible headaches. Try consolidating trips, much as you would when running errands. If you must take a long-distance trip, consider commuting by train rather than jet, which uses considerably less fossil fuels.

2) Use teleconferencing to conduct meetings rather than flying personnel around the world to save money and thousands of lbs of CO2 eq. Speak with the appropriate people at your firm if your company has not already invested in this emerging technology.

3) Get away close to home rather than traveling far and wide. Automobiles emit 1 lb of CO2-eq per mile traveled. If you want to go far from home, plan ahead to take the bus or train, or gather friends to share the ride.

4) Take the most direct route and fly during the day if you must fly. Take offs and landings are fuel intensive, as is flying to Dallas to get to the east coast. Night flights result in more contrails, or clouds of condensation, which may act like heat trapping cirrus clouds and contribute to climate change.

Additional Information and Resources for Long Distance Travel:

Use Amtrak trains to travel across the country in style.

Commuter Solutions provides employer programs, Smart Ways to School, car & vanpools, along with local transportation options.

40MPG provides hybrid advocacy, information about fuel effeciency of various vehicles, calculators, ect.

A comprehensive business directory to learn about teleconferencing technology and get quotes from multiple vendors.

"Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transportation and Other Mobile Sources" an Environmental Protection Agency report from April, 2007.

May-June: Food Emissions

Enjoy Your Veggies
Across the globe, 80% of all agriculture emissions (with agriculture making up 17% of total human-caused greenhouse gas emissions) come from raising livestock. These emissions come from methane burped out by the animals as well as the intensive energy used for meat processing, transportation and storage. Feedlots rely on antibiotics and grain production to increase meat yields, further increasing demands for fossil fuel inputs. Much of the large-scale meat production occurs in areas that have been recently deforested in order to produce more expensive commodities. The cost of meat production also embodies the loss of forests that absorb and fix CO2. You can diminish your contribution to the potent effects of meat production by simply gravitating towards a more vegetarian or vegan diet.  

Tips for Success
1) Eat less meat: Eating just one less beef hamburger per week can lower your carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 360 lbs in one year! You don’t have to cut out animal products entirely to make a difference; even moderate changes to your diet can be good for your health, your wallet, and can lessen your mark on the planet.

2) Fill up on more veggies:  A study at the University of Chicago compared the average American diet (which includes red meat) to the emissions produced by a Chevy Suburban. A vegetarian diet more closely matched the emissions of a Toyota Prius, a low emissions car. 

3) Buy what you need: Possibly the easiest way to avoid excessive food emissions is to cut down on food waste. Food is thrown away at every stage of processing in the industrial food system. We can cut out wasted emissions by eating more whole foods that don’t need processing and by buying what we need and eating what we buy. Wasted food equals pointless emissions.

Additional resources for making informed dietary and purchasing decisions:
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan.  This engaging tale of our food system provides a good overview for anyone who eats – that’s you!

Earth Save International, Plant-Based Diets.

"Diet, Energy and Global Warming” from the University of Chicago
Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2004: Richer, Fatter and Not Much Healthier. Online here.

Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

April: Yard Emissions

Big Changes Start by Planting Little Seeds!

Oftentimes, when we think about ways that we can reduce our ecological footprints, visions of large dollar signs and home improvements come to mind.  However, there are a number of things that we can do outside to significantly reduce our individual greenhouse gas outputs which cost only time and can save us a bundle of money!  Planting trees and raking leaves are a couple of things that we can do with our families that takes little time and effort, but reduces greenhouse gasses substantially while building healthy relationships at the same time.  Looking into our own backyards is a great place to start reducing our ecological footprint right now.

Trash produced by households emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere when it reaches the landfill.  This is because the process of decomposition does not work very efficiently at these large sites where all garbage is mixed together in one pile. Cutting down on our waste products is a simple action which can dramatically reduce the amount of methane our garbage emits as it decomposes in landfills.  Also, things such as food scraps and yard clippings can be saved and composted in our backyards to halt the release of greenhouse gasses altogether while creating a healthy topsoil for gardens which is rich in nutrients that help make plants grow!  Composting is just one of the many ways that we can reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses through working in our own backyards.

Did you know that…?
- Spending time in nature has been proven to relieve stress and lower blood pressure almost immediately.
- The average person wastes about 2 pounds of food every week!  That’s 104 pounds annually!
- For every tree planted, 26 pounds of carbon dioxide is captured and purified from the air!
- Worms love coffee too!  Put your used coffee grounds after your morning cup into the compost pile to invite them over for dinner!

Tips for Success
1) Composting is one of the most significant things that you can do to reduce your emissions.  By composting you can save about 500 lbs of CO2 equivalent (CO2 eq) annually, and when your compost is complete you can use it as fertilizer in your garden and yard to save about $10 per yard of compost!

2) Lawn Mowers have great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in your yard when you trade out your gas mower for a push mower. Plant native species which require less mowing overall!  You can save around 150 lbs CO2 eq annually, not to mention inches on your waistline from the exercise you will get outside! 

3) Leaf Blowers can be noisy and cumbersome, so next time you think about using a leaf blower to clear your yard of debris look to the rake instead!  Using a rake to collect your leaves for the compost pile could save a startling 70 lbs of CO2 eq every year, in addition to the benefits to your compost pile from the native leaf source. Take the opportunity to spend some quality time with your family and clean your yard at the same time.

4) Planting Trees in your yard can save you a bundle on your air conditioning bill and sequester 26 lbs of CO2 eq for every tree you plant too!

5) Landscaping services can work towards cutting your emissions as well. If you do use a service for your yard, ask them to follow these easy tips when taking care of your lawn. 

Rise to the Occasion!
We all have to take action now to reduce our climate footprints. Don’t wait; this week, start a compost pile in your backyard, regardless of the season.  If it is fall, compost should be ready for gardening in the spring time; if it is spring, turning compost regularly will have it done to put the garden to bed for the winter at the end of the growing season!

For More Information
http://www.compostguide.com/
This site is a very good place to get information about starting a compost pile from scratch and helpful troubleshooting tips with maintaining you pile!

http://www.co.douglas.or.us/recycle/
If this doesn't convince you that composting is easy and fun, nothing will!

http://greenguardian.com/
This is a recycling resource based out of Minnesota with a lot of great tips for reducing waste in your home!

http://www.bringrecycling.org/
Working on a new home project, or just a few odds and ends material?  Check out BRING Recycling center for a endless bounty of recycled building materials.

http://www.sanipac.com/
For information on reducing your weekly trash pick up in Eugene to bi-weekly or monthly, check out Sanipac's website to save a bundle!

http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~recycle/
The Campus Recycling Program at the University of Oregon is a host to a wealth of information for use by everyone.  For information on everything from the cycle of an aluminum can to the decomposition time of a baby diaper.

http://selfsufficientish.com/
This lively group has compiled a great resource for planting times, gardening tips, and some great recipes too!

March: Waste and Consumption

Everything we buy, use and throw away has "embodied emissions." It takes energy to grow, mine or otherwise gather raw materials. More energy is used in production, packaging and distribution of nearly everything we consume. All of this energy (unless it's renewable energy like wind or solar power) has associated greenhouse gas emissions. Waste also contributes to climate change through methane emitted from landfills. We can cut these emissions with more conscious purchasing and disposal of material goods.

Reduce your waste:
Buy durable goods with less packaging, reuse containers, and avoid disposable items.
- Buy items with recycled content to avoid emissions associated with gathering raw materials.

Compost food scraps:
Save about 100 lbs of CO2 equivalent annually. When your compost is complete, use it to fertilize your garden!

Recycle:
A three person household could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by more than half a ton by recycling newspapers, cans, glass and plastic.

February: Transportation

In the Eugene/Springfield area, transportation accounts for about half of our greenhouse gas emissions. This presents an enormous opportunity for reducing our climate impact through a variety of simple actions!

Commuter Solutions:
Reduce your vehicle miles:
- Throw on your raincoat and rainpants and try people powered travel. Stay fit and cut your greenhouse gas emissions by biking or walking instead of driving. Click here for a Eugene bike map.
- Find a friend or neighbor to share a ride with. Sign up for van and carpools at Commuter Solutions.
- Try out the new EmX or ride your local bus. Click here for schedule and routes.
- Try connecting over the phone or internet for long-distance meetings.
- Click here to get free bus passes, join or start a bike, walk or carpool through Commuter Solutions's Smart Ways to School.

Before you drive:
- Pick the most fuel efficient vehicle you own.
- Plan the route to prevent idling in traffic - idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting your car.
- Get rid of extra weight (every extra 100lbs weight decreases efficiency 1%)

On Highways:
Maintain a steady speed (use cruise control if you’ve got it). Fifty-five miles per hour is the most fuel efficient speed - compared to 75mph it saves 20-30% of your fuel!
- Accelerate and brake steadily.

January: Home Energy Use

Tips for your home:
1) Snuggle into a sweater and slippers and toss an extra blanket on the bed. Turning the heat down three degrees can shave 5% off your bill and associated greenhouse gas emissions.
2) Lower the temperature of your water heater to 120º or less. A reduction of 10 degrees can cut your energy use and related greenhouse gas emissions by 6%.
3) In an average home air leaks are equivalent to leaving a window open. Weatherizing by installing weather stripping, outlet insulators, insulating foam, window putty, and door sweeps can stop the waste.
4) Standby power accounts for up to 10% of home energy use. Unplug or use a power strip to switch off appliances, TV’s, printers, computers, etc. to cut out the waste.
5) Switch 5 lightbulbs from incandescent to compact florescent and save $35 dollars a year and a quarter ton of carbon dioxide.

December: Holidays

This holiday season, reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by reducing your waste. Most of the products we buy have greenhouse gas emissions associated with their production, packaging and transportation to your home. Those that end up in the landfill produce further emissions as they decompose. Visit BRING Recycling’s tip sheet to find out how to cut your carbon pounds for the holidays.
http://www.bringrecycling.org/no_waste.html