Environment Tips

Our carbon footprint or the amount of carbon dioxide our daily actions produce is our own personal contribution to global warming. The average household produced 24.1 tons of carbon dioxide each year, including 12.4 tons from household operations and 11.6 tons from cars.

Here are a few simple things we all can do today to embark on an emissions-reduction mission to reduce global warming and save a few bucks!

FACT:

Neary 85% of energy used to wash clothes comes from heating the water.

http://www.ase.org

If every US household replaced just one bulb it would save enough energy to light 7 million homes and save $600 million in utility bills.

http://www.energystar.gov

231 miles/week is about average in the United States per vehicle. Driving even a little less helps lower emissions.

http://www.epa.gov

Hybrid cars are good for the environment. They can reduce smog by 90 percent and use far less gasoline than conventional cars. They are also economical. They can get up to 55 to 60 mpg in city driving, while a typical SUV might travel 15-20 miles per gallon, or use three times as much gas for the same distance!

http://www.care2.com

In the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off.

http://www.energy.gov

A half a gallon of gas is conserved for every laser cartridge recycled.

http://www.fundingfactory.com

An average family can reduce 4 tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions a year by purchasing locally grown food.

http://www.realmama.org

Trees help clean the air and water, filter polluted runoff, slow global warming and erosion, and provide habitat for wildlife.

http://www.americanforests.org

Low-flow showerheads deliver 2.5 gallons of water or less per minute and are relatively inexpensive. Older showerheads use 5 to 7 gallons per minute.

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org

You can lower your heating bill up to 3% for each degree you can reduce the temperature in your home.

http://www.gas-south.com

You can save hundreds of dollars in fuel heating costs and reduce greenhouse emissions by thousands of pounds in the first year.

http://www.missionvalleypower.org

Though harmful CFC's are no longer used in aerosol cans, the effects of many years of use still lingers. It is calculated taht a CFC molecule takes an average of 15 years to go from the ground level up to the upper atmosphere, and it can stay there for about a century, destroying up to one hundred thousand ozone molecules during that time.

http://weather.cod.edu