Resist seasonal luxury foods
Buy foods that are available locally, or decide to do without long-distance luxury foods during the holiday season. Unfortunately, many so-called luxury foods have a steep environmental and/or social footprint. Most seasonal delicacies travel enormous distances from the country of origin to your plate - prawns are shipped from Asia, champagne from France, Christmas oranges from Japan and chocolate from Switzerland. A simpler holiday palette will be much easier on the environment, the wallet and probably on the waistline too.
Hang curtains
The Consumer Energy Center reports that 30% of heating and cooling dollars escape through windows. To put that in perspective, the amount of energy lost through doors and windows in the U.S. every year is roughly equivalent to all the energy we get from the oil carried by the Alaska pipeline, according to The Consumer Energy Center. Ensure that all widows in the house have thick coverings to prevent heat loss during the winter months.
Calculate your carbon footprint
Just out of curiosity, take the time to calculate your carbon footprint. You might be surprised to learn just how much greenhouse gas you are producing and how many resources it takes to support your lifestyle. Discover Magazine reports that the average American creates roughly 22 tons of carbon dioxide every year. That is twice as much as someone in the U.K. and nearly 200 times the amount put out by a Tanzanian. Time for all of us to include a ‘carbon dioxide diet’ as one of our resolutions for 2009.
Go to bed earlier
The earlier you go to bed, the less energy it takes to keep lights on, run the television/computer, heat the house, etc. Each kilowatt-hour you reduce eliminates greenhouse gas emissions. However, not all kilowatt-hours are created equally, a coal fired electric plant creates more greenhouse gas emissions than electricity generated from a hydro plant.
Buy secondhand items
With most newly purchased items ending up in the landfill within six months of purchase, buying second hand items directly reduces waste in the landfill and the use of new materials to create yet more consumer items. Recycling 101 explains that to create just one kilogram of consumer goods, manufacturers create five kilograms of waste.
Wear your clothes for longer periods
It’s wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere and, for some people; it’s a bit more difficult to hang their clothes out to dry on a laundry line. So, during the winter, why not consider wearing clothes for a longer period of time. Most individuals wear their clothes only once and put them in the laundry. Change your socks and underwear daily, but wear the rest of the clothes for several days. Wearing your clothes more means less greenhouse gases generated from the laundering process.
Make some green resolutions
Maybe instead of focusing just on ourselves this year, we can make eco-resolutions for the planet. For 2009 make a resolution to get an energy audit for the home, to walk not drive, to eat locally (and less), to buy less, to want less, etc. We will have a much larger impact with green resolutions for the planet than just focusing on improving our appearance.
Get your news online
Newspapers (and all the associated flyers/advertisements) use a hell of a lot of trees. In fact, most newspapers are printed on virgin paper. It takes an entire forest – over 500,000 trees, to supply Americans with their Sunday newspapers every week, reports the City of Urbana. Using recycled paper instead of virgin paper for one print run of the Sunday edition of the New York Times would save 75,000 trees according to the Kingwood Green.
Get to know your community politician
Many decisions about our environment are actually made at a municipal or community-based government level. Some estimates suggest that up to 50% of greenhouse gas emissions are under the direct or indirect control of local governments in North America.
Ditch the beer fridge
A researcher at the University of Alberta, Denise Young, found that beer fridges are a significant source of greenhouse gases in North America. Many North American homes keep an extra fridge for keeping beverages (usually beer) cold. One in three households in Canada have a second refrigerator, and these second refrigerators are usually older models. New Scientist Magazine reports that the 65% of beer fridges that are 10 years or older, consume 1166 million kWh of energy each year - roughly equivalent to the annual consumption of 100,000 average U.S. suburban homes.
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