As we all become more resource-conscious (recycling, re-using, and reducing), one resource that remains abundant is information. The web continues to expand at a dizzying rate (for some time now there have been more websites than human beings) with no end in sight. Sorting through it all to find the nuggets can be quite a chore. So, we offer a small collection that we’ve found useful, informative, and sometimes entertaining as well.
Any student of the environment would do well to start with former Vice-President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Like the first Earth Day in 1970, this film and book are milestones of environmental awareness and were spurs to widespread action. The book and the DVD are readily available.
Another big-picture resource is the joint NPR / National Geographic production called Climate Connections. This year-long collection of stories goes beyond the science alone to show the human consequences of climate change and takes a truly global perspective on the problem.
So after doing your homework, you want to calculate your carbon footprint. Footprint calculators are probably about as useful as the scale in your bathroom; you know before stepping on the scale if you're overweight and you know before using the calculator if you're responsible for putting too much carbon into the environment. And in both cases you know pretty much what to do (eat less, exercise more / use less fossil-based energy, use fewer things that are produced using fossil-based energy). Still, sometimes it's nice to have a benchmark and helpful to see progress. So, here are a few calculators to try:
The Nature Conservancy
Climate Crisis (An Inconvenient Truth)
The Green Office (an office calculator with links to green office products)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (links to 30 calculators and a key to their features and coverage)
After calculating your footprint, it’s time to take action. As you look at the following suggestions for reducing your fossil-based energy consumption keep in mind that most of these are also going to end up saving you money as well — one of those wonderful conjunctions of altruism and enlightened self interest!
The We Campaign (this is Al Gore's follow-on to An Inconvenient Truth; now that he has your attention, here's what you personally can do about it)
Natural Resources Defense Council
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (reducing office equipment energy use)
Consumer Reports
And while at first you might be suspicious of their motives, it turns out that electric utilities can actually save more / make more money by having all of us conserve rather than having to put more generating capacity on line. In addition to conservation tips, some offer programs and incentives to reduce usage. Here are links to the utilities in the DC area:
Dominion Virginia Power
Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO)
Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE)
Recycling of course isn’t restricted to just paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum. One of the more creative recycling trends is to recycle items you no longer need (toaster, bicycle, whatever) by transferring it to someone else who has a use for it. This gives the product a longer life, helps others, and reduces the amount of material headed for landfills. Freecycle is an operation that makes these user-to-user connections happen.
And if you’re still not convinced of the value of the three Rs (reducing, reusing, recycling), you might be surprised to learn how long it takes various kinds of litter to decompose. Maybe the pyramids should have been made of Styrofoam!
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Finally, if you don’t want to go poking through these sites, we’ve collected our own list of green tips here. |