Up to the present, this column could focus on topics juicy enough to supply at least a dozen tips within a single area like the kitchen or the car. There wasn’t always room for all of them, and various other areas contained just a few suggestions. So this time, we are going to pick up the pieces on a variety of topics not included in previous columns, including a few that require spending small amounts of money. What they do have in common is that they offer ways individuals or families can do their bit about the climate change crisis—for it is a crisis, despite being a slowly growing and only intermittently obvious one. So, it is all the more important for us to do the best we can to reduce our own carbon footprints and to help create a larger movement.
1. Replace each ordinary flashlight with one that uses LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes), which use much less electricity and thus need smaller and fewer batteries. Or get one that lights up as long as you keep squeezing it; get some good hand exercise along with light.
2. Better yet, use nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries for flashlights and any other gadget that uses batteries—e.g., toys. For the same amount of light or power, throwaway's cost 100 times as much! Get a solar charger, too.
3. Replace incandescent bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Lamps wherever you can. They cost more to buy, but live so much longer and use so much less electricity that they quickly more than pay for themselves. Many utilities supply them free or at discounts; some are usually given with a free energy audit. Big box stores often have them at steep discounts. For every five ordinary-sized CFLs you install, you'll keep 900 pounds of CO2, the main GHG, out of the atmosphere. When they finally do burn out, however, don’t trash them as you do incandescent bulbs; recycle them carefully, as they contain a little mercury. Read the package before you buy a CF bulb for a dimmer-controlled fixture; it must be specially designed to work there.
4. Replace other lights with LEDs when possible. You can now buy LEDs for home illumination, especially in recessed ceiling lights. They fairly quickly repay their initial higher cost by producing the same amount of light as an incandescent using only 1% as much current! They last even longer than fluorescents, come in different tints, and are more energy-efficient.
5. Specifically, replace bulbs (incandescent) on decorative and holiday lights with LEDs —- they’re responsible for much less CO2 than even fluorescents; and the initial extra cost is paid back in a few years. Saving energy with modest, tasteful displays is much better than trying to outdo everyone else in wasting electricity regardless of the consequences.
6. Wash clothes (except those soiled with greasy dirt) in cold water. Consumers Union and Coop America agree that clothes get just as clean in cold water as with hot or warm water. You can reduce your carbon emissions 600 pounds/year by switching to cold water for every load.
7. Turn the water heater setting down to 120°F. That gives a good hot shower without scalding you, and you’ll need to dilute hot with cold water less often. Also, it’s a myth that scalding water gets dishes or pots cleaner than hot water that’s comfortable for your hands.
8. Insulate hot water pipes in unheated basements or crawlspaces, especially if you have hot-water space heating.
9. Repair leaky faucets and toilets. Of all water used, 5% is wasted in leaks.
10. Install low-flow aerators on kitchen faucets and low-flow shower heads.
11. Use both sides when printing anything, from a letter to a book. Reuse paper printed on one side and out-dated letterhead for drafts, notes, and other informal purposes.
12. Replace paper napkins and towels with cloth ones. Even though they have to be washed, it’s an environmental gain: Making paper requires great amounts of energy, fouls huge quantities of water, and cuts down the time during which trees keep carbon out of circulation. U.S. paper use continues to expand dramatically; we need to slow that down and recycle a lot more clean used paper, including corrugated cardboard and pasteboard.
13. Put dirty paper into your compost bin; earthworms eat it. Recycle clean used paper and cardboard of all kinds if not coated with wax or plastic. Recyclers don’t want fancy wrapping paper nor black or other strongly-colored paper either.
14. Don’t buy cheap, disposable things like cameras. In the long run, you save money, and one of the worst things about our economy is the proliferation of things you use once and throw away.