Green Lifestyle Basics: Energy, Water, and Carbon

BACKGROUND ON THE ISSUE

In October of 2006, the U.S. population reached 300  million, nearly doubling since 1950. Our consumption of resources more than doubled in that time. Overall energy consumption nearly tripled, petroleum consumption for vehicle use rose more than 300%, wood consumption was up 171%, coal consumption increased by 128%, and water use was up more than 127%. Despite accounting for just 5% of the world population, Americans use at least ¼ of most natural resources globally. Interestingly, America is the only industrialized country in the world still experiencing population growth.

THE URBAN PARENT
Choosing the live in an urban area is one way as a parent to reduce your environmental impact.  This is because in cities people tend to need to drive less, resources—such as water—are shared, homes tend to be smaller, and waste can be dealt with in aggregate, making recycling and water treatment more viable. Interestingly, many parents think that if they moved to the suburbs, they’ll have a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle and their kids will be safer.  This is often not true, however, because the suburbs aren’t walkable requiring you to drive most placces, homes are often larger and use more energy, and they tend to have sprawling lawns (one hour using a gas-powered mower is the equivalent of driving 350 miles!).  And as for safety, because cars are the #1 killer of kids, children living in suburbs are often at greater risk than their counterparts in urban areas.

THE CITY OF CHICAGO’S GREEN PLEDGE
Chicago is working to be the country’s greenest city and they encourage residents to take the 2007 Environmental Pledge to help demonstrate the power of many people making small steps for the environment.

• ENERGY: By replacing 4 light-bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs), you can eliminate 1800 pounds of CO2 over the life of the bulbs. Together, all Chicagoans can prevent 2,558,262 tons of CO2 emissions (the same as removing 81,164 cars from the road).
• WATER: Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth and save 4 gallons of water a day. Together, we can save enough water to fill 33,000 Olympic-sized pools.
• AIR: Replace one car trip a month with walking, bicycling, or public transit and you can decrease CO2 emissions by 1,000 pounds. Together, all Chicagoans can decrease emissions by 1.89 billion tons (equal to 12 round trips to the sun).
• LAND: Help plant or care for a city tree by watering, mulching, and removing litter and you can help capture 3.6 pounds of CO2 yearly. Together, we could capture more than 10 million pounds of CO2 (equivalent of 515,000 gallons of gasoline).
• WASTE: Replace plastic shopping bags with reusable shopping bags and you can eliminate 208 bags a year. Together, Chicagoans can get rid of 601 million bags, saving 4,508 tons of waste from the landfill. (And a lot of energy!)

Whatever you do, everyday actions—like brushing your teeth or going to the store—can be done with less environmental impact and save money too!

THE GOAL

It is not possible for most of us to totally eliminate the environmental impact of our household. You can try to become carbon neutral by focusing on reducing your carbon-footprint (a way of tracking the impact in terms of CO2 of manufacturing, shipping, using, and disposing of everything in your life) and then buying carbon off-sets for what you can’t eliminate. For more information on carbon footprints and carbon credits visit www.carbonfund.org.

REAL WORLD OPTIONS

ENERGY

• Replace old bulbs with CFLs and turn off lights when leaving a room.
• Turn off items like your computer, iPod, stereo, etc. that use energy even when not on, try using a surge protector with on/off switch to help.
• Only run the dishwasher when full, don’t heat-dry the dishes, and don’t pre-rinse. Buy an energy-star model if buying new.
• Air dry your clothes when possible, when using a dryer be sure not to “bake” the clothes (a moisture sensor will help), keep the lint screen clean.
• The refrigerator is the kitchen’s biggest energy hog. To help its efficiency, turn fridge to 37 degrees and freezer to 0 and turn off the icemaker.

WATER

• Decrease length of shower, buy water efficient showerheads, faucets, and low-flow toilets (old toilets use 3-6 gallons, newer efficient models use 1.6).
• When washing your clothes, was full loads only, use cold water and cold-water detergents (90% of washing energy is spent heating the water). If buying a new washer, get a high-efficiency front-load machine.
• Disconnect your downspouts if possible.

AIR QUALITY

• Leave your car at home and take transit, ride a bike, walk, or carpool.
• Use a push lawn-mower.
• Don’t idle your car. With most gasoline engines, it’s more efficient to turn off the engine than idle longer than 30 seconds. Automatic transmissions don’t need to be warmed.
• Use natural, non-toxic products when cleaning your home. Some of the best cleaners are the safest: baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and soap and water.

LAND & WASTE

• Eliminate lawn and garden pesticides and herbicides.
• Reduce waste brought into your home. Avoid buying things with unnecessary packaging and buy packaging that can be recycled.
• Donate items when you are done with them: such as clothes, furniture, etc.
• Properly dispose of your household wastes: paints, batteries, CFLs, computer equipment are all hazardous wastes. Chicago has a year-round facility to take these goods.  Remember: DO NOT flush your medications!
• Recycle!  Learn more about Chicago’s blue bag and blue bin recycling system and if you have a private garbage hauler consider getting separate collection recycling either by demanding it of your waste management company or arranging it on your own (www.resourcecenterchicago.org).