1. Carbon Dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas contributing to climate change and global warming. Combustion of fossil fuels from human activity pumps out more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere is able to handle. Trees help by absorbing carbon dioxide that it needs for energy, much like humans absorb carbohydrates. We can do out part by reducing the electricity we use in daily activities to produce lesscarbon dioxide, and by supporting efforts to conserve our forests and reduce paper waste.
2. Did you know that tax credits are available by purchasing some energy-efficient products, including:
• All Energy Star-labeled windows, skylights and doors, central air conditioning systems and insulation
• Gasoline-electric, diesel, battery-electric, alternative fuel, and fuel-cell vehicles
3. In the United States annual office paper consumption is enough to build a 10-foot wall from New York to Tokyo. Here are a few ways to cut paper waste in the office (helping to save trees, energy and water used to manufacture paper):
• Set print options to default to double-sided printing
• Use the option to print multiple pages on one sheet
• Reuse blank pages by placing them back in the paper tray
• Utilize technology to distribute information when possible
• Recycle used paper. It takes 40 percent less energy to manufacture paper with recycled content.
• Only print emails when absolutely necessary
4. Cutting down on your garbage by half of one large trash bag saves at least 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
• Reduce the amount of waste you produce by buying minimally packaged goods and choosing reusable products over disposable ones.
• Buy bottled water in large containers or fill-up from the water cooler. Every disposable water bottle takes 5 times the water it contains to produce it.
• Drink more beverages from reusable glassware. The average American consumed more than 400 beverage bottles and cans in 2006, leaving behind wasted glass, plastic, steel and aluminum. That adds up to excessive amounts of fossil fuels and hydropower for mining, processing, refining, shaping, shipping, storing, refrigerating, and disposing of those materials.
• Recycle as much of your waste as possible. Making products with recycled materials instead of from scratch with raw materials, uses 30 to 55 percent less for paper products, 33 percent less for glass, and a whopping 90 percent less for aluminum.
5. Every year Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags, only two percent of which are recycled.
Fifty years ago, there were virtually no plastics in the ocean. Now a sea of plastic floats in the Pacific ocean that's twice the size of Texas. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. Paper bags aren't necessarily better. It takes more the four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag. And it takes 92 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. The Solution? Pack your groceries in reusable bags, now available at most stores, many of which also offer cents-off your bill for each bag.
6. If you print one less email a day, you can save 36 gallons of water in one year. The process of making paper not only involves trees, but water and energy as well.It takes 20,312 gallons to produce a ton of paper. And reducing paper use by 10 percent in the US alone would prevent the emission of 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases — the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road.
7. Only 10 percent of the energy consumed by a normal (incandescent) light bulb generates light. The rest just generates heat. By switching your incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, you are using one fourth of the energy and they last up to 12 times longer. They also operate cooler. Other ways to conserve:
• Refrigerators account for about 20 percent of household electricity use. Use a thermometer to set your refrigerator temperature as close to 37 degrees and your freezer as close to 3 degrees as possible.
• Use less hot water by installing low-flow shower heads. They save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide per year for electrically heated water, or 80 pounds for gas-heated water.
• Wash your clothes using the cold cycle whenever possible. Almost 90 percent of the energy your washing machine uses goes to heating water.
• Make sure your dishwasher is full when you run it and skip the drying cycle. Not using heat in the drying cycle can save 20 percent of your dishwasher's total electricity use.
2. Did you know that tax credits are available by purchasing some energy-efficient products, including:
• All Energy Star-labeled windows, skylights and doors, central air conditioning systems and insulation
• Gasoline-electric, diesel, battery-electric, alternative fuel, and fuel-cell vehicles
3. In the United States annual office paper consumption is enough to build a 10-foot wall from New York to Tokyo. Here are a few ways to cut paper waste in the office (helping to save trees, energy and water used to manufacture paper):
• Set print options to default to double-sided printing
• Use the option to print multiple pages on one sheet
• Reuse blank pages by placing them back in the paper tray
• Utilize technology to distribute information when possible
• Recycle used paper. It takes 40 percent less energy to manufacture paper with recycled content.
• Only print emails when absolutely necessary
4. Cutting down on your garbage by half of one large trash bag saves at least 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
• Reduce the amount of waste you produce by buying minimally packaged goods and choosing reusable products over disposable ones.
• Buy bottled water in large containers or fill-up from the water cooler. Every disposable water bottle takes 5 times the water it contains to produce it.
• Drink more beverages from reusable glassware. The average American consumed more than 400 beverage bottles and cans in 2006, leaving behind wasted glass, plastic, steel and aluminum. That adds up to excessive amounts of fossil fuels and hydropower for mining, processing, refining, shaping, shipping, storing, refrigerating, and disposing of those materials.
• Recycle as much of your waste as possible. Making products with recycled materials instead of from scratch with raw materials, uses 30 to 55 percent less for paper products, 33 percent less for glass, and a whopping 90 percent less for aluminum.
5. Every year Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags, only two percent of which are recycled.
Fifty years ago, there were virtually no plastics in the ocean. Now a sea of plastic floats in the Pacific ocean that's twice the size of Texas. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. Paper bags aren't necessarily better. It takes more the four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag. And it takes 92 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. The Solution? Pack your groceries in reusable bags, now available at most stores, many of which also offer cents-off your bill for each bag.
6. If you print one less email a day, you can save 36 gallons of water in one year. The process of making paper not only involves trees, but water and energy as well.It takes 20,312 gallons to produce a ton of paper. And reducing paper use by 10 percent in the US alone would prevent the emission of 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases — the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road.
7. Only 10 percent of the energy consumed by a normal (incandescent) light bulb generates light. The rest just generates heat. By switching your incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, you are using one fourth of the energy and they last up to 12 times longer. They also operate cooler. Other ways to conserve:
• Refrigerators account for about 20 percent of household electricity use. Use a thermometer to set your refrigerator temperature as close to 37 degrees and your freezer as close to 3 degrees as possible.
• Use less hot water by installing low-flow shower heads. They save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide per year for electrically heated water, or 80 pounds for gas-heated water.
• Wash your clothes using the cold cycle whenever possible. Almost 90 percent of the energy your washing machine uses goes to heating water.
• Make sure your dishwasher is full when you run it and skip the drying cycle. Not using heat in the drying cycle can save 20 percent of your dishwasher's total electricity use.