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The following actions decrease energy consumption and an individual’s contribution to climate change, also known as your carbon footprint. Often these actions actually save money. In some cases they may have a slight cost and sometimes require a very small personal effort, e.g. the time required to get up and turn out lights you left on. However, these actions preserve the benefits of your current lifestyle and choices.
|
Carbon-equivalent offset (lbs) |
Item | Kwh saved |
Cost (neg costs are savings) |
| 4,800 | Install a solar hot water heater | 2400 | -$149 |
| 2,667 | Replace SUV with a hybrid SUV (5,000 city miles) | $867 | |
| 1,872 | Hang up your clothes to dry instead of using the electric dryer (3 loads/week) | 936 | -$281 |
| 600 | Tap water instead of bottled water (3 ltr/day, shipping + packaging) | -$548 | |
| 500 | Recycle / compost everything (but avoid special trips) | $0 | |
| 292 | Turn off lights when not in use (2 100w lights 2hrs/day) | 146 | -$44 |
| 291 | Run your dishwasher only when full / use air dry instead of heated dry (- 2 load/week) | 146 | -$44 |
| 286 | Use a "gentler" driving style (5,000 city miles) | -$36 | |
| 240 | defrost your refrigerator and clean the condenser coils (+15% efficiency) | 120 | -$36 |
| 225 | Replace frequently used incandescent bulbs with CFLs (4x 100w x 4hrs/day | 112 | -$14 |
| 98 | Correctly inflate car tires (avg 6lbs underinflated) | -$12 | |
| 19 | Unplug charging "bricks" when not in use (3x 400mw) | 10 | -$3 |
Solar water heating is a real no brainer. This slide show supports municipal legislation to mandate solar water heating for new construction.
The following actions decrease individual are energy consumption and carbon footprint. While these actions are not significant lifestyle changes, they do represent ways we can get by with less, e.g. getting rid of that SUV and replacing it with a compact car.
|
Carbon-equivalent offset (lbs) |
Item |
Kwh saved |
Cost (neg costs are savings) |
| 4,000 | Replace your SUV with a hybrid compact (5,000 city miles) | $300 | |
| 1,371 | Car share to work (4 day/week) with 1 other person | -$171 | |
| 237 | Car share for Sat errands (3 Sat/month) with 1 other person | -$30 |
The following actions represent significant lifestyle changes
|
Carbon-equivalent offset (lbs) |
Item | Kwh saved |
Cost (neg costs are savings) |
| 44,100 | Don't have a child | ||
| 24,000 | Move to a 2BR apartment instead of living in a 3BR single family home | ||
| 10,000 | switch to a vegan diet | ||
| 8,000 | switch to a vegetarian diet | ||
| 4,000 | switch to a low meat diet | ||
| 3,467 | Sell you hybrid car and take the bus | -$3,600 |
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Page lasted updated April 06, 2008
