12 April 2009 – Day 46 “Replace the light bulb you removed at the start of the Carbon Fast (make sure it’s an energy saving one!) Finish the Carbon Fast by contemplating to do next. What do you want your lifestyle to look like in five years? Commit to doing one or two new things a month.”
Happy Easter! Another Carbon Fast for Lent ends today. I hope this has provided good reading and some useful suggestions and links. In our own house, I’ve redoubled my attempts to save water and become more aware of the cleaning products we’re using. I had started moving away from petroleum based laundry detergent for last year’s Carbon Fast. This year I’ve followed by revamping all our household cleaners, which are now 99% petroleum-free. And we’re continuing our commitment to our utility’s Green Power Tomorrow program, as well as bringing our own reusable bags to the grocery.
Today’s mitvah: What about you? What lifestyle changes can you take with you moving into the post-Lenten season?
DAY 44 – THURSDAY 9 APRIL “‘Love does no harm to its neighbour’ Romans 13:10. Help others to cut their emissions.You could buy an energy saving light bulb or something else mentioned in the Fast and give it away to someone to help them on the way to cutting their emissions.”
This activity is new this year, and I really like it. I’m still mulling what to give, but I’ll post whatever I come up with by the weekend. What about you?
DAY 43 – WEDNESDAY 8 APRIL “Save paper today. Don’t print unless you need to and when you do, print double-sided onto recycled paper.” — Carbon Fast for Lent
Today’s activity is a nice opportunity to plug Tamara Krinsky’s Change the Margins campaign, in which she is urging Microsoft to reduce the default margin width in Word. She also encourages colleges and universities — big paper users — to do the same —a and had some success recently when students at Western Washington University to change the default margins on campus computer lab printers.
The plan is simple: wider margins require more paper; narrower margins mean less paper. Easy savings!
DAY 42 – TUESDAY 7 APRIL “Calculate your carbon footprint today at www.tearfund.org/mgi and find out what more you can do about climate change. Order Tearfund’s green guide ‘For TomorrowToo’ at www.tearfund.org/climate for ideas on cutting emissions.”
I wanted to find a carbon footprint calculator that didn’t immediately ask one to buy an offset. The one below seems to do the trick. If and when you are ready to offset, I’m a fan of Carbonfund.org, which is a nonprofit (offsets are tax deductible) and has its own calculators, too. TerraPass is another good choice, although they’re a for-profit and contributions aren’t deductible.
My score was 12 tons, equivalent to 29 barrels of oil and planting two acres of forest. That was sobering: I assume my numbers are on the low side since I live in a small apartment and don’t own a car. How was your score?
Today’s mitzvah: Calculate your carbon footprint, and consider purchasing an affordable offset at one of the resources above. Or get started right away — for free! — and offset; one lb. of carbon (about the amount of electricity for your computer usage today) at Care2’s click to give Global Warming page.
Day 41 – Monday 6 April “Turn your central heating thermostat down by one degree.”
This is a Carbon Fast perennial, yet it’s always a good reminder. While most models suggest 3°, even one degree down in winter (or up in summer) is do-able yet also effective. A 1° change can save about 3% on an annual bill. According to the nifty calculator I found, that’s for a single-family home that’s an annual savings of about $74 and 1330 lbs. of C02. For an apartment, it’s about $19 and 336 lbs. of C02.
Day 38 – Friday 3 April 2009 “Reduce the number of plastic bags you use. Get a fabric or reusable bag instead and take it with you when you shop.” — The Carbon Fast for Lent
This is another suggestion that finally nudged me into action during last year’s Carbon Fast. I’ve backslidden a bit (if that’s a word) after I used up all the spare plastic bags I’d been stockpiling for trash bags. But overall this has become second nature, with my little Baggus always in my purse or backpack. And I know that family members with cars, including my mom, just keep the fold-up square bags in the car so they’re at hand for any shopping trip.
Whether you’re using square-bottom bags made from recycled soda bottles like those above, neat fold-up bags the little Baggus, or a sturdy cloth tote, this is an easy way to cut down on plastics. As a bonus: check out an alternative for filmy plastic produce bags. The cute produce bags at left — light as a feather — are available on Etsy, the handmade site (mine are from DaisyDots, or you can just search “produce bags”). I tuck one in each of my Baggu pouches so I always have them with me.
DAY 36 – WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL “Travel light. Think before you drive: cycle, walk the school run, share lifts with colleagues, use public transport. Find out more about cycle routes in the UK at www.sustrans.org.uk. [And find out more about planning public transit in the U.S. at publictransportation.org]”
Have you taken public transit lately? Times have changed — it may not be what you think! One improvement since the days of the omnibus: better real-time tracking. Our local system has just launched a Transit Tracker that lets one get real-time info on where a bus is on a map and when one can expect it to arrive. Unfortunately this isn’t integrated with Google Transit, but I hope Madison Metro will move in that direction soon. (Milwaukee, Green Bay, Racine, and Appleton are already onboard.) I used Google Transit extensively the last time I was in Chicago— it was very handy for figuring out the next bus no matter where I was in the city.
DAY 35 – TUESDAY 31 MARCH “Ask your electricity and gas suppliers if they have a green or renewable energy plan. Make the switch to a green plan today.”
This was one of my favorite Carbon Fast activities last year. I’m happy to see it making another appearance so I can plug it again! Our power company’s Green Power Tomorrow program is very affordable. I pay just an additional 1¢/kWh for a 100% offset — for our house that’s been only about $1.60/month, although for most homes MGE estimates about $6/month. The way the way the plan works: our utility purchases solar and wind power to match the number of kilowatt hours that the Green Power subscribers use each month. This increases the amount of solar and wind power power in the pool by the amount that Green Power subscribers use — and thus increases the amount of renewable energy in everyone’s energy mix.
Bonus: Check out the local solar project near my house! (It’s the second project in the video, near the bike path.)
Today’s mitzvah: Check your local power company’s web site or the Department of Energy’s Green Power Network to find an affordable green power option.
DAY 34 – MONDAY 30 MARCH “Take a shower instead of a bath. Look into getting a more efficient shower with a ‘low-flow’ shower head (see the Carbon Fast fact sheet for more info).” Low-flow showerheads always make me think of the Seinfeld episode where Newman goes on a black market hunt for full-force models. The latest crop of these water saving devices are much better and really to allow for a reasonable wash and hair wash. They also can reduce water use by as much as half. You may not even notice the difference!
DAY 31 – FRIDAY 27 MARCH: “Source paper, tissue, toilet paper and wood that is recycled or has been accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council — this ensures it has come from responsibly managed sustainable forests or confirms that it is recycled: in the UK at www.fsc.org.
Is this going to be an ode to toilet paper — a first for this blog? Yep, it is! When I lived in NYC, the 24-hour Korean market on the corner was the closest and most convenient store when one ran out of things late at night and/or was too lazy to walk all the way to the grocery store. The cheapest TP they had was a brand I’d never heard of called Marcal. This was also stocked at the little bodegas in the neighborhood — I thought it was just a bargain brand that was especially popular with immigrant communities. It was months before I noticed Marcal wasn’t just super cheap: it was 100% recycled. And Marcal has been making recycled paper products for almost 60 years — long before this was common or popular.
After I moved to the Midwest this brand was harder to find but our employee-owned discount grocery carries it — still very cheap — and I stock up every six weeks or so when I trek to that side of town. I see that the company is revamping their web site and re-focusing themselves as an eco-friendly company. I just think it’s neat that they initially made the decision to go green, in 1950 (!) for goodness sake, just because it made more financial sense. I’m also happy to see a company that caters to lower income shoppers and is also environmentally friendly, which is not a frequent combination.
Today’s mitzvah: According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, if every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll (500 sheets) of virgin-fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled TP, we would save almost half a million trees. Check out NRDC, or download Greenpeace’s pocket-sized Recycled Tissue Guide and Toilet Paper Guide for recycled ratings and rankings. It’s designed to take to the store with you.
DAY 30 – THURSDAY 26 MARCH “Switch off lights when you leave a room.”
Ah, the joy of things that don’t tax my brain. The Carbon Fast for Lent knows my limits this week!
Today’s mitzvah: Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Do the same for any unnecessary lights you notice at school or work. And speaking of lights: Don’t forget to turn yours off from 8:30 – 9:30 pm your local time on Saturday for Earth Hour!
Whoops, I missed a post yesterday. That gives us two today: a proposal for a meat-free day, and a nudge to connect with people in our own local communities.
DAY 28 – TUESDAY 24 MARCH:“Eat no meat today and try to cut down on the amount of meat you eat each week.Read Tearfund’s position on climate change and meat eating atwww.tearfund.org/climatechange.”
DAY 29 – WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH:“Find out what energy saving or climate change activities are going on in your local area by contacting your local authority or community groups. Find out more about Tearfund’s campaigning work on energy: www.tearfund.org/energy.”
Tearfund’s position paper on meat notes that the livestock industry is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions — a larger contributor than global transportation, to put the number in perspective. It also helps drive water shortages, and contributes to rising food prices (feeding livestock reduces the supply of grain available from human consumption). Sure, you can become a vegetarian like me(!) — but even a weekly meat-free day helps the environment and saves you money to boot. AllRecipes.com has a special vegetarian section on their web site with easy and delicious tips and ideas.
Today’s mitzvah: While you’re munching on a delicious vegetarian lunch, do a GoodSearch for local environmental efforts, like South Central Wisconsin’s MPowering Madison initiative.
DAY 27 – MONDAY 23 MARCH “Take action: tell the UK government what you are doing through the Carbon Fast and urge them to play their part by creating and implementing strong national and international laws to stop climate chaos. Take action here: www.tearfund.org/carbonfastaction.” Not in the UK? No worries; read on!
Copenhagen — which aims to be carbon-neutral by 2025 — will host an important United Nations climate change in December. Keep your eyes out for this, to encourage our own governments to get on board. And kudos to Norway and Sweden, which have already pledged to be carbon neural by 2030 and 2050, respectively.
DAY 25 – SATURDAY 21 MARCH “Only use your washing machine when you have a full load. Run your washing machine at 30–40ºC [86–104º F]. Run at maximum spin to reduce drying times and avoid using a tumble drier.” — Carbon Fast for Lent Do you typically wash in hot? Consider using warm. If you’re already a warm-water washer, think about really jumping off a ledge and using cold. Around the time of last year’s Carbon Fast, TerraPass posted an article claiming that for an average household that spends $72/year on electricity for clothes washing, switching to cold water will save 85% or $61. That’s certainly significant. For the environment: a 1,281 lbs. reduction in one’s carbon footprint — wow, that’s a lot.
Day 24 – Friday 20 March “Put an insulation jacket on your hot water tank. If everyone does, we’ll cut enough carbon dioxide to fill 148,000 hot air balloons.”
I confess: I am not a homeowner and probably would not recognize a hot water tank if it walked up and shook my hand. But I’m confident that folks with water tanks know what they are and are willing to dress them in a spiffy jacket, blanket, or whatever insulation material is appropriate so they hold heat. Today’s mitzvah: Put some clothes on that tank!
DAY 23 — THURSDAY 19 MARCH Give away unwanted stuff through Freecycle (www.freecycle.org.uk or in the U.S., www.freecycle.org) — this is a great way to reuse things and stop them going into landfill. Bonus: Organise a Freecycle event for your church, workplace or local community to exchange possessions that are no longer needed. — Carbon Fast for Lent
I’m a big St. Vinny’s fan myself, so that’s where I take our gently unused but no longer needed clothes, housewares, etc. But your local Freecycle group is another way to match your unwanted stuff with an eager recipient (check the group’s FAQs for some cautions about meeting up with strangers to exchange goods). Goodwill and the Salvation Army are also good options — and all a happy alternative to just throwing things out!
Today’s mitzvah: Don’t trash that extra stuff — look for a worthy group or eager Freecycler in your neighborhood as a happy alternative the landfill.
DAY 22 – WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH “Fit foil behind your radiators – you could save around £20 a year in fuel bills — and rearrange your furniture to allow heat from radiators and heaters to get into the room.”— Carbon Fast for Lent
As the weather is warming up, it’s nice to think this will soon be moot for a year. But if you’re looking for a spring project, The Green Guy has DIY instructions and more info.
Today’s mitzvah: Use the warmer weather for home or apartment projects that will save some green while being green!
DAY 20 – TUESDAY 17 MARCH “Fill your kettle only with as much water as you need. If everyone boiled just enough water for their cuppa, the energy saved could power over three-quarters of the UK’s street lights. Bonus: When replacing a kettle, choose an efficient model. See the Tearfund Carbon Fact Sheet for details.”
I think this has more resonance in countries where people drink lots of tea. But after readinga similar Lenten suggestion last year, I’ve started using less water in the tea kettle and it does indeed boil super fast.
DAY 20 – MONDAY 16 MARCH “What comes in and out of your home? Reflect on what you have bought and consumed recently and challenge yourself on your consumption habits. Do you need everything you buy?”
Yeah, it was either that title or “Consumption Junction.” Spring is here and I’m feeling punny!I was looking around my house this weekend and trying to figure out when and how I accumulated so much stuff. It’s really mind boggling, and not at all peaceful. Half Price Books and St. Vinny’s, here I come!
Today’s mitzvah: Look around to see what’s piling up that you could do without.
DAY 18 – SATURDAY 14 MARCH “Buy food that’s being grown or produced locally using local shops and farmers markets where possible – see www.farmersmarkets.net. Bonus: Grow some of your own food.You don’t need an allotment or even a garden - grow herbs, fruit and vegetables in pots (window sill or garden). Or join others in your community to cultivate gardens together. Find out more in the fact sheet.” — Tearfund Carbon Fast for Lent
I live a short walk from an amazing farmers market, which I can wait to see start up again next month! I also noticed my otherwise very mainstream grocery store has started posting little signs like roadmaps with mileage estimates to note locally produced items. I was also intrigued by lettuce plants growing on flowerpots. Apparently one can pick the lower leaves so it continues to grow. I may see a living room garden in my future . . .
Today’s mitzvah: Use Local Harvest’s finding tool to locate farmers markets, family owned farms, and other sustainable resources near you.
Happy Easter! Another Carbon Fast for Lent ends today. I hope this has provided good reading and some useful suggestions and links. In our own house, I’ve redoubled my attempts to save water and become more aware of the cleaning products we’re using. I had started moving away from petroleum based laundry detergent for last year’s Carbon Fast. This year I’ve followed by revamping all our household cleaners, which are now 99% petroleum-free. And we’re continuing our commitment to our utility’s Green Power Tomorrow program, as well as bringing our own reusable bags to the grocery.
