What are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint?

1. 73

   tritrainposted 14 years ago

   What are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint?
   
   

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2. 61

   Paul Kohlerposted 14 years ago

   My biggest task has been in reducing my electricity usage, I have been able to get my monthly Kwh from an average of 800 down to mid-300's every month. This has been done by making sure all air-leaks had been sealed, adjusting my thermostat on my furnace, every lightbulb is a CFL, I even got rid of some light fixtures that weren't 100% needed. All my electronics are on surge protecters which get turned off every night, when I leave home, and when I will be away from the room for more then a few minutes.
   
   I compost almost everything, from paper to dryer lint and hair. this keeps most everything from the landfill.
   
   I grow a lot of my own vegetables, what I don't have I buy locally from organic growers.
   
   I no longer commute to work, by working from home I have saved 60 miles per week round trip.
   
   When I painted my house last I only used natural paint, so there was almost no Voc's
   
   I recycle everything I can, unfortunatly my community doesn't accept a wide variety.
   
   These are the biggest ways I try to reduce my footprint, if you want anything else please let me know
   
   Paul Kohler

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3. 81

   Doc Snowposted 14 years ago

   --Changed out the lights to CFLs, even a couple of the new LED units.
   
   --Minimal use of AC, wood heat.  (Yes, burning the wood releases carbon--but it would have been released anyway as the wood decays, and possibly some of it as methane, which is a more potent GHG.)
   
   --Got more economical cars.  Try to plan trips for gas efficiency.
   
   --Cut down meat (meat is about  10x more energy-intensive than vegetable foods.)
   
   --(Almost) always use reusable shopping bags rather than throwaway plastic ones.
   
   --Got an electric mower to replace the gas one (though I kept the gas one as backup--and since at least some of our regional generation capacity is coal-fired, I'm not sure the electric is actually better, carbon-wise.  Though it COULD be, if we cleaned up electric generation.)
   
   --Trying to come up with a plan to eat more locally.

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