Quick and Easy Carbon Reductions

The UK magazine called the Observer published an article on January 21, 2007 called “The Low-Carbon Diet (or how to lose half a tonne in just one month)”¹ about reducing your personal carbon emissions. Some of the ideas have not been published here so I am going to convert them into US units for your enjoyment.

FYI-A metric tonne and a US ton are very similar- a US ton is 2000 pounds and a metric tonne is 2005 pounds.

Note that the savings are mixed in randomly.

For each piece of paper or bottle you recycle = .22 lbs CO2 each

For every aluminium can you recycle = .44 lbs each

Eight per cent of electricity used by appliances is used when they are left on standby. Turn off the following: phone charger 15.8 lbs/yr; stereo 13.2 lbs/yr; DVD 9.0 lbs/yr; TV 40 lbs/yr; amplifier 7.9 lbs/yr

Heating water costs CO2 emissions, so take a short shower (3 minutes is the optimum) which will use 7.93 gallons of water instead of a bath which will use around 20.3 gallons. You will save 203.3 lbs CO2/yr.

Change your computer to a less power-hungry laptop and turn it off when not in use. The screen saver uses almost the same amount of energy as powering the whole machine = 76.6 lbs/yr.

The average commuter drives 19 miles a day. Car-sharing with one other person can save money and about 1760.4 lbs of CO2/year (more if your commute is longer or if your car gets less than 20 mpg).

Never vacuum (some of us do this anyway) = 183.0 lbs/ year (I am not actually advocating this but it is funny).

Instead of throwing out 30.9 lbs of food packaging every week, buy unpackaged fruit and vegetables = 68.6 lbs/year

Heat up three meals a week in a microwave rather than in a conventional oven. 39.6 lbs/year

When cooking on the stove, match the pan to the size of the element. Too small a pan, and 40 per cent of the energy escapes = 37.0 lbs/yr

Reject umbrella heat lamps for the patio. Keep the al-fresco dining for summer 388.9 lbs/yr

Carbon criminals leave lights on. Turn them off, even if you’re only leaving the room for a short time = 348.5 lbs/yr

Do a weekly no-drive shop. Walk, cycle or use public transport to get to a farmers’ market or local shop = 528.0 lbs/yr

Do one less load of laundry per week = 364.0 lbs/yr

Divert your food waste from landfill where it emits methane. One quarter of the average trash can is made up of organic waste. Instead, put it in a compost bin = 1169.5 lbs/yr

Increasingly the home has an extra fridge, usually to store tins of beer and bottles of wine. This party fridge is often well past its maximum energy-efficiency. Time to retire it and transfer your booze to a cool place in the basement = 348.5 lbs/yr

The average home with loft insulation saves 20.9 lbs in CO2 emissions per week. If you have loft insulation, lose 1088.9 lbs/yr

If you don’t have a jacket for your water heater and main hot water pipes, get them now. It needs to be at least 75mm thick = 463.0 lbs/yr (I have to check into this – it seems like a major savings. The best way to tell if your water tank needs insulation is by simply touching the outside of your tank, and if it feels warm then it needs additional insulation.)

Lower the temperature of your water heater to make sure it’s no hotter than 140F (some places recommend 120) = 500 lbs/yr.

Impound your family car for seven days over the month. For an unleaded car lose 1539.1 lbs/yr; for a diesel lose 1238.1 lbs/yr and for a hybrid 1096.6 lbs/yr

Install a passive solar hot water heater. You will get around 70 per cent of your hot water free = 879.1 lbs/yr (my father has one of these and I can attest to its cost savings. More cost efficient than solar panels- go get one!)

Avoid driving a total of 40 miles by car each month. Substitute with walking, cycling or taking public transport = 469.4 lbs/yr

Turn your thermostat down in the winter and save 61.6 pounds CO2 per year for every degree Fahrenheit.

Turn up your thermostat by 1 degree Fahrenheit in summer and save 55.2 lbs/year (and get a newer thermostat that lets you automatically program to lower your energy demand when you are not at home)

Change your showerhead to a low-flow unit = 284.2 lbs/yr
Make wash day a distinctly tepid affair. Eight garment washes (two per week) are allowed during the diet, but washed at 104 degrees F rather than 140 degrees F = 279.3 lbs/yr

Change your electricity supplier to a green supplier that invests in building more renewable capacity (or buy green energy tags), and you can strike off your electricity lbs = 6029.4 lbs/yr

Get wall insulation for your house = 440 lbs/yr

Install a photovoltaic system, which reduces your demand on the grid by a good 750kWh = 1027.5 lbs/yr

Move in with another person or get a housemate. In emissions terms, single households are responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gases = 5280 lbs/yr

Select the six light bulbs you use most in your house (there are 23 in the average home) and change for compact fluorescents (CFLs). CFLs emit 60-70 per cent less CO2 than their spectacularly inefficient, standard-issue counterparts = 600 lbs/yr (why not change them all?)

Replace an old gas or oil furnace burner in your house and save 4,151 lbs/year

Only buy local, seasonal vegetables. Food miles are growing exponentially in the US as local and seasonal vegetables are substituted for foreign, all-year-round staples, and each carries a substantial
carbon burden = 1056.0 lbs/yr

Want to cut down on your carbon footprint? Stop using so much electricity and gas. In Maryland, 1.37 pounds of carbon dioxide are released for every kilowatt hour consumed and 19.56 pounds are released for every gallon of unleaded gasoline you burn.

Curious about what a kilowatt hour really is or which appliances in your home use the most energy? Visit Michael Bluejay’s (aka Mr. Electricity) weird and awesome site¹ on saving electricity. The site includes a list of strategies to reduce electricity with the corresponding cost savings (who can argue with that?) as well as a calculator that helps you to figure out the electricity use of your home appliances based on how often you use them and what your cost per kWh is – plus a table with the highest energy consuming appliances in the home. The biggest energy consumers/CO2 producers in your home (keep in mind, ten 100-watt light bulbs on for an hour =1 kWh):

Oven: 5000 watts (on for one hour = 5 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 5 kWh = 6.85 lbs CO2 per hour of use – crazy!)

Electric dryer: 5000 watts (5.8% of the average home’s electricity. on for one hour = 5 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 5 kWh = 6.85 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Electric water heater: 3800 watts (9.1% of the average home’s electricity. on for one hour = 3.8 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 3.8 kWh = 5.21 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Central Air conditioning: 3500 watts (16% of the average home’s electricity. on for one hour = 3.5 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 3.5 kWh = 4.80 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Microwave oven: 1500 watts (on for one hour = 1.5 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 1.5 kWh = 2.06 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Toaster: 1500 watts (on for one hour = 1.5 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 1.5 kWh = 2.06 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)Dishwasher: 1500 watts (on for one hour = 1.5 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 1.5 kWh = 2.06 lbs CO2 per
hour of use.)

Space heater: 1500 watts (10.1% of the average home’s electricity. On for one hour = 1.5 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 1.5 kWh = 2.06 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Coffee Maker: 900 watts (on for one hour = 0.9 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 0.9 kWh = 1.23 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Range burner: 800 watts (on for one hour = 0.8 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 0.8 kWh = 1.10 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Garage door opener: 750 watts (on for one hour = 0.75 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 0.75 kWh = 1.03lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Window air conditioner: 500-1440 watts (16% of the average home’s electricity. On for one hour = 0.5-1.4 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour*5kWh = 0.69-1.97 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Security system: 500 watts (on for one hour = 0.5 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 0.5-1.4 kWh = 0.69 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Electric blanket: 400 watts (on for one hour = 0.4 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 0.4 kWh = 0.55 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Refrigerator: 200-700 watts (17.2% of the average home’s electricity. On for one hour = 0.2-0.7 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 0.2-0.7 kWh = 0.27- 0.96 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Light bulb (incandescent) each: 60-100 watts (8.8% of the average home’s electricity. On for one hour = 0.06-0.1 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 0.06-0.1 kWh = 0.08-0.14 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

Computer: 140-330 watts (on for one hour = 0.14-0.33 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 0.14-0.33 kWh = 0.19-0.45 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)

19” TV: 55-90 watts (2.9% of the average home’s electricity. On for one hour = 0.055-0.09 kwh. 1.37 lbs CO2/hour* 0.055-0.09 kWh = 0.08-0.12 lbs CO2 per hour of use.)