So, how can you live a life that is a little easier on the planet? For starters, you won’t need to shiver in a cold, dark home, nibble overpriced veggies, and carpool to work with strangers.
There are plenty of ways to lessen your environmental impact without adversely affecting your lifestyle, and in many cases, actually improving it.
By Ben Jervey ’01
At Home
A Bright Idea
By now, everybody’s heard of compact fluorescent lights, those spiral-shaped bulbs that use barely one-quarter the electricity of their incandescent older siblings. They cost a bit more up front, but you’ll make back that premium in a few months, and they’ll last ten times as long, keeping half a ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere over that life-span. CFLs are the lowest hanging fruit for reducing your energy demands at home, so pick ’em.
Climate Control
For most folks, it becomes plenty obvious how energy hungry their home is when filling the furnace’s tank or opening the electric bill in the air-conditioned months of summer. It’s easy, though, to save some energy while keeping the home comfy. In winter try a programmable thermostat that’ll automatically turn down at night. And be sure to seal and caulk around drafty windows and doors. During sweat season, try drawing the curtains during the day to keep out the hot sun, and give fans a chance to circulate cool air before resorting to the AC.
Lower the Flow
Saving water at home doesn’t have to mean living with dirty dishes and shampoo residue in your hair. A fully loaded dishwasher uses much less water than washing all your glasses and plates by hand. By putting aerators on your faucets (for a couple of bucks a piece) you can reduce flow by 3–4 gallons per minute, and a low-flow showerhead will save a family of four about 20,000 gallons over the course of a year. And both will keep that same water pressure your hands and hair are used to.
At the Dinner Table
Go Local
The average American meal travels 5,000 miles from farm to fork. That’s quite a bit of carbon-laden diesel fumes spewing from tailpipes of the trucks that cart food around this country (not to mention the boatloads coming from abroad). Yet wherever you live, there should be local farmers producing most of your gastronomical desires—from fruits and veggies to meat and dairy to breads and grains. Find a local farmers’ market or join a farm share or community supported agriculture program and get to know where your food is coming from.
Chem-Free Kitchen
American food has drifted so far from its agrarian roots that it’s tough to consider much of what’s sold in supermarkets as anything but an industrial product: Produce commonly doused with pesticides, meat and dairy from animals pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones. Seek out organic produce and meats and dairy labeled “antibiotic-free,” “hormone-free,” and “free-roaming” or “pastured.”
On the Road
Maintain Pressure
Keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage dramatically. Add in some basic, regular maintenance—such as changing oil and air filters—and you can improve your fuel efficiency by nearly 20 percent, which you’ll thank yourself for every time you cruise by a $3/gallon gas station.
Hold ‘em Limits
Aggressive driving agro (speeding, hard accelerations, and braking) is a huge waste of petrol—sensible driving habits can save as much as 33-percent fuel on highways and 5 percent around town. Keep in the back of your head that for every five mph you cruise above 60, it’s basically like paying an extra 20 cents per gallon on gas.
Hang Up the Keys
If your commute allows, try alternative means of transportation. Riding a bus, subway, or commuter train lets you focus on more important things—the morning headlines, a good book, your Blackberry, Sudoku—than the brake lights and careless merges or rush hour. Or, if the geography’s right (relatively flat with moderate temperatures), try biking to work and give that body of yours a nice tune-up.
At Work
Paperwork
Each year in the U.S., a person uses nearly 750 pounds of paper. Cut back at the office by circulating memos and reports electronically, and, when printing, set up your computer to automatically print on both sides.
Reduce Office Juice
The best workplaces will be outfitted with EnergyStar certified equipment—computers, printers, copy machines, and even motion sensor lighting that’ll turn off or “standby” automatically. Most machines, and nearly all computers, can be set to power-down when not in use.
Get Active
Power of the Portfolio
Put your money where your ethics are. Socially responsible investing is now a strong, secure, and lucrative financial field, accounting for one of every ten dollars invested. Find a socially responsible fund like Domini or Calvert and know that you’re investing in causes that don’t compromise your conscience.
Knowledge Is Power
Stay aware of the important environmental issues of our time. Find groups and orgs working on the local community and national level, explore their resources, figure out how you can get involved and help. This truly is a crucial moment in history, and only through awareness and action of our citizens can we hope to steer our society safe and true.
Ben Jervey ’01 is the author of The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City.