There’s an article in the Globe today about two studies on consumer contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. I would have expected this kind of article to generate a little bullet list in a sidebar, of the 50 Things You Can Do To Save The Earth variety, but it didn’t.
So, let’s make our own.
The article acknowledges that Canadians are good at some things:
1. Use your local recycling program
2. Install fluorescent bulbs (those curly ones)
3. Install low flow showerheads
And less good at a few others:
4. Compost
5. Install low flow toilets
6. Turn down the thermostat in winter (furnace)
7. Turn up the thermostat in summer (air conditioning)
And pretty crummy at a bunch of others, particularly automobile-related:
8. Use public transit
9. Walk instead of drive
10. Carpool instead of drive alone
11. Buy a smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicle
There are also consumer issues with food:
12. Buy local produce instead of from faraway places
13. Buy in bulk to avoid packaging
14. Buy raw ingredients and cook
15. Eat at home instead of in restaurants (I think this must be related to the shipping and packaging elements of chain restaurant food.)
One study said that consumers contribute to global warming because of our use of “motor lubricants”. I asked Mr. C., and he immediately said “small engines”, because they pollute like crazy.
16. Use a push mower or an electric one for your lawn instead of a gas mower
17. Use a shovel instead of a snow blower
18. Use a rake instead of a leaf blower
19. Use shears instead of a weed whacker – or use an electric weed whacker
The article said that households use too much electricity – and in Ontario, we generate a bunch of that with coal-fired generator plants. That makes pollution, so we could:
20. Use fewer lights, turning them off when we don’t need them
21. Unplug appliances and gizmos that are “vampires” i.e. that suck juice whether they’re on or not – old tv’s are big on this
22. Use light timers
23. Use LED Christmas lights – on a timer!
24. Run appliances when they’re full – only full loads in the dishwasher or washing machine, for example
25. Choose energy efficient appliances with the Energy Star rating
26. Choose energy efficient settings – you can choose air dry for the dishwasher, for example, or run your wash with warm water instead of hot.
27. Insulate your hot water tank with a hot water tank blanket
28. Turn down the setting on your hot water tank
29. Use a clothes line instead of a dryer
30. Replace old refrigerators and get rid of the old one instead of keeping it in the basement. In some areas, the electrical company will take it away for free.
And the house itself can use less energy to stay warm or cool:
31. Insulate your attic
32. Insulate the top of the foundation in your basement – this is a trick for old houses
33. Ensure that all windows close fully – another old house bugaboo
34. Install storm windows on old windows
35. Weatherstrip around exterior doors and windows
36. Use draught-stoppers at the base of exterior doors and on window sills
37. Install window treatments that cover the glass – blinds that can be pulled down, and/or drapes that can be drawn over the glass make a big difference
38. Get your furnace serviced regularly
39. Check your electrical sockets for draughts. Hardware stores have little die-cut insulation layers to install under the plate that stop these draughts.
Wow, a list of 39 items right off the top of my head. That’s not too bad before a second cup of coffee!
Ooo, here’s another:
40. Get a bike and ride it.
What ideas can you add to my list?
Deborah Cooke: Author 
7 responses to “Emissions”
I vote for telecommuting to work (for those of us on corporate payrolls). Technology today would let me work from home and still have full access to my office, but instead I have to get to work everyday.
Otherwise, I’d point out that some ideas aren’t practical (yet) for suburbia. My town isn’t laid out for walking or biking unless you like playing chicken with cars going 50mph.
Buying local produce means driving farther to get the local produce because only two places sell it. Is that worth the savings, I wonder?
And I wonder – if we’re using electricity to power the mowers and weedwhackers and such, and in our neck of the country we’re using coal power to generate the electricity, how much savings is there?
I believe we should be smart, but I’m not totally convinced that the global warming issue isn’t a large part of the living nature of this planet. Aren’t we incredibly arrogant to think that Earth isn’t heading for another phase of its journey – like any other ice age or warming period?
Just saying…
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And another smart-aleck comment: Does carpooling to work really save emissions if I have to get in my car and drive to the store to get milk after I get home? (A task I would normally do on the way home from work.)
Ah, the quandry!
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I’m like The Pam – can’t practically walk/take the bus or carpool. I DO however, try to bundle errands and accomplish them all (whenever possible) with one trip.
We do a lot of the other things you suggested already and I imagine as the economy worsens, others will stay home to cook with real ingredients rather than go out all the time. Though, I suppose, some will still choose convenience food.
We’re hoping to have a laundry line in by next summer. I do hang as many of my clothes as I can in the little laundry room and the majority of our wash is done on cold in a front-loading washer. But a laundry line will definitely be nice when Sean has a chance to put it up.
Can’t come up with any other suggestions off the top of my head.
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Really small simple things help, too.
-Set up your own mini ‘grey water’ program. (use a dishpan for dishes not able to go into the dishwasher, and use your wash/rinse water for the garden, for example. Dishwasher almost always take less water than hand washing and rinsing if you run full loads.)
-instead of wrapping gifts with printed seasonal paper, use advertising circulars, comics or cut up grocery bags etc. prior to recycling them; or just use fabric like a Japanese furoshiki to wrap the gift. With a little imagination, you can still have a lovely presentation.
– Set your lawnmower to cut the grass longer. It requires less water to stay green.
-buy everyday products in larger containers. The larger the container, the less manufacturing per portion of product it takes. You can easily keep a single small-sized container and keep refilling it from the larger. (you touched on this under food, but it is true for laundry soap etc. too.)
-Bringing your own shopping bag is a big savings environmentally when you add it up over time. We keep a set of ten in the car for groceries, and wind up using them for lots of places.
Every little step adds up, just like knitting.
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Love the idea- have make some adjustments…
-Can’t find local produce for sale? Steal it from the neighbor’s garden.
– Use those candles that you keep buying and turn off some lights
– Homeownder’s Association doesn’t allow clotheslines (really, mine doesn’t, and I live in the country, so to speak)… hang your clothes from the deck railing… hey, it’s NOT a clotheline.
– Bring your lunch from home and eat with your coworkers, saves gas and you don’t eat out. Or do what the Pam does and eat in your car, listening to a book on tape and ignoring her coworkers.
– Rechargable batteries!!!! Save the landfill
– Make the hot tub double as a bathtub
Truthfully, I do have issues with low flow showers and toliets. I like my shower to be fierce and hot. I prefer my toliet to flush everything the spousal unit uses it for in one flush.
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Diana – re low flow toilets – have you tried a dual flush? We have them and they work really well! Most of the public places here on the Coast have them 🙂
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Well, this post seems to have hit a nerve. I think the idea is that people make choices and that we can each make different choices, not that everyone does every single energy-saving thing. It certainly wasn’t my intent to attack anyone else’s choices, simply to present ideas and possibilities.
Let’s agree to disagree and leave this topic be.
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