my, what a big carbon footprint I have
PTK has created a great Website for calculating your carbon footprint and then reducing it once you see how shockingly out of worldwide whack your footprint is. For my household of 3, here are my results:
While I’m glad my household scores better than the American average, I am completely embarrassed and ashamed when I compare my household’s carbon footprint to the world average.
Changes to make:
- Replace incandescent bulbs in the kitchen with fluorescent. We already use fluorescents in the living room, dining room, and basement.
- Harass Lily more about turning lights off when not in use. (This is kind of tough because she’s going through an “I’m afraid to go into a room that doesn’t already have the lights turned on” phase.)
- Use shades and drapes to block out direct sun during the day in the summer.
- Close drapes and shades at night in winter.
- Grill more, use the oven less.
- Turn off appliances including computers and televisions when not in use.
Interesting activity. We compost all of our yard waste once it has been
mowed by a gasoline -powered lawn mower. But the hedge clippers are
electric. My next step is to cut down on the catalogs we get in the mail.
It seems to be neverending.
Joanna, the catalog thing is maddening to me. We canceled all of them a few
years back, and for about six months, our mail was beautifully light. And
then slowly, one catalog started arriving again, then two, etc. And now we
get so many--two of a couple!--and I guess I should cancel them all again.
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