Goin' Green

Written by Bakersfield Magazine

Recently, it seems like everyone is giving more thought to how they impact the planet. The problem is, most people think they need to make large, drastic changes to their lifestyle to affect the health of our planet—to reduce their carbon footprint.

In order for us to truly realize just how big an impact we’re making, we first need to figure out just how big of a footprint we’re leaving.

If you think about how many resources you consume, how much you throw away, and the types of energy you use, you’ll have a good idea of your carbon footprint or the amount of emissions you’re putting out into the environment.

Naturally, there is a very scientific method biologists and ecologists use to calculate large-scale footprints of airplanes, cars, and homes. According to Nature.org, “home energy emissions are based on U.S. averages for household type and number of bedrooms. [The particular state rate] is used to determine carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per kilowatt hour of electricity and climate zone which affects heating and cooling energy usage.”

In fact, the same website shows that 246 million short tons of waste were landfilled in 2004. That amount of waste produces 2.1 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gasses per year, per person.

Wow.

In the past, we’ve told you how you can start doing your part to help ensure you’re being as earth-friendly as possible. You know, how to start a compost pile in your backyard; how to properly recycle household electronics and chemicals; how to conserve water.

And you might be actively doing those things. Good for you! Still, it’s a little difficult to come up with an exact number for your carbon footprint. It’s not like someone can walk around your house and tell you your carbon footprint is 42. And unless you have carbon dioxide-measuring equipment and want to spend your days and nights in your trash can and watching your meters, we suggest a more straight-forward approach to determining what your family’s carbon footprint is. Simply think about what you are doing to realize what you could be doing.

How many plastic water bottles do you go through in a month?

If the answer to that is more than one, you’re on your way to a bigger footprint. Plastics do not break down in landfills and so any bottle you toss will sit with refuse for a very, very long time, and pollute the area. To reduce, try getting everyone in your family BPA (Bisphenol A)-free reusable water bottles to use during workouts, on hikes, or even out on picnics. They’re inexpensive and trendy.

How often do you replace your home’s air filters?

The dirtier the filter, the less efficient your heating and air conditioning system works, causing it to work harder and use more energy (which also costs you more).

What are your driving habits like?

Chances are, you use your vehicle every day. You’ve got to get to and from work, go to the grocery store, pick up the kids from school. That’s a lot of driving for one person. But when you think that everyone on your street is doing the same thing, it puts hopping into your car to drive down the road to the store to pick up some celery into perspective.

If it’s a nice day, why not walk or ride your bike? Why not take the bus to the mall instead of driving? Carpool to work.

What aren’t you recycling?

Think about this—recycling household trash can reduce your overall waste stream, and thus emissions, by 42 percent (according to Nature.org). And composting can reduce emissions by 24 percent. Anytime you throw away a bottle (be it glass or plastic), food wrappings, styrofoam, cardboard, and other food-related products, you’re adding to your carbon footprint. How many times do you run garbage bags out to the dumpster? If it’s more than one a week, start thinking about ways to recycle more items. Pizza boxes can be recycled. So can milk cartons.

How long was that shower?

If you’ve got more than one person in your household, the water usage will be great. The showers, the tooth-brushing, the dishwashing, the hand-washing. There’s a lot of water used on a daily basis. Do you find yourself letting the water run while you brush your teeth? Do you spend a few too many minutes in the shower singing when you should be scrubbing? All of that water consumption adds to our footprints.

What aren’t you turning off?

Lights, computers...and anything that’s plugged into an electrical outlet—they all take energy. Turn off the light in a room if you’re not going to be in there for a while. Turn off your computer at night; even when in idle mode, it’s using power. Unplug appliances if you’re not using them. The more electronics you’ve got plugged in, the more chances you’re paying for (and wasting) vampire energy.

There are tons of tips for reducing your carbon footprint, but, if you’re anything like us, you won’t realize you’re impacting the environment as much as you are until you start taking a look at the finer details in your life. You might be composting, but are you recycling everything that can be recycled? You might be using solar energy at your home, but are you wasting too much water by leaving the sink running while doing dishes?

So what does your carbon footprint look like? More importantly, can you use any of these suggestions to reduce it? We bet you can.

image:©istockphoto.com/maica

Article appeared in our 27-6 Issue - February 2011