84 Ways You Can Help the Planet

Team, this is an article I found online, originally posted at: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2007/11/18/84_ways_you_can_help_the_planet/

Too good not to share!

Jason Gould
Emerald Necklace Martial Arts
UBBT Team 5


Sure, big ideas like generating electricity from ocean waves or legal limits on carbon emissions are important to slowing global warming. But the little things count, too. Here are some ways that you can make a difference.

By Meaghan O'Neill November 18, 2007

AT HOME

SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF. Energy conservation can be simple, but it has a big impact. If every home in the United States replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), the energy saved would prevent greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent to taking more than 1 million cars off the road, says Arthur Rosenfeld, a physicist and member of the California Energy Commission. He also says that if Americans achieved a 2 percent reduction in energy use each year for the next 30 to 40 years - a feasible rate - we would be halfway to stabilizing our greenhouse-gas emissions. "What many people don't realize is how easy conservation is," says Rosenfeld.

MAKE SURE "OFF" IS OFF. Household electronics account for more than 25 percent of home electricity use, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Since chargers for iPods, cellphones, electric drills, and the like draw electricity even when not connected to their mates, these should be removed from sockets as soon as the devices are juiced. Anything with a standby light - TVs, for example - should be plugged into a power strip that is shut down when not in use. (Electronics qualified by the federal Energy Star program - a joint effort of the EPA and the Department of Energy - use lower wattage in standby mode.)

REDUCE, THEN REUSE, THEN RECYCLE. In the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart - an architect and a chemist who collaborate on developing ecologically-smart products and materials - note that "more than 90 percent of materials extracted to make durable goods in the US become waste almost immediately." Think about it: Whether you buy a candy bar or a DVD player, you will undoubtedly toss some packaging into the trash before ever taking a bite or watching one movie. Someday there will likely be a wide variety of packaging that can be composted or endlessly reused and recycled; until then, consuming less that's new, reusing anything you can, and recycling what's left are your best options.

AND THEN RECYCLE EVEN MORE. When citizens ask for and participate in recycling programs, cities respond. Boston Recycles launched a pilot program this year in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale that gives residents large, wheeled bins for all of their recyclables - there's no sorting wine bottles from newspaper from plastic. "The results are very encouraging," says James W. Hunt, chief of Environmental and Energy Services for the city of Boston, who notes that recycling tonnage has gone up 53 percent in those areas. No matter where you live, recycle as much as you can, and ask your municipality to do more.

CONDUCT AN AUDIT. More than 20 percent of the atmosphere-warming carbon-dioxide emissions created in the United States come from energy used in homes, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. Getting a professional energy audit is the single best way to identify and solve inefficiencies, experts say, which, of course, can save homeowners money on energy bills, too. Some utilities, such as KeySpan (keyspansaves.com), now part of National Grid, offer help setting up audits and provide rebates for weatherization upgrades and equipment improvements.

STOP HAND WASHING THE DISHES. Good news: Using the dishwasher is actually better for the planet than washing dishes by hand. The average energy-efficient dishwasher uses just 4 gallons per cycle, saving as much as 5,000 gallons of water per year compared with hand washing, as well as $40 in energy costs and 230 hours of washing time, according to the EPA.

REPLACE WITH ENERGY STAR. When you need a new major appliance, heating or cooling device, or light fixture, buy an Energy Star model. Prices vary, but many manufacturers offer a range of certified products. "There are two price tags when you buy a product," says Maria Vargas, EPA spokeswoman for Energy Star. "The actual one, and what it costs to operate a device over its lifetime. The Energy Star promise is payback on your energy bills within five years or less."

POWER THE GRID. Going "off the grid" - living without power from central utilities - sounds like a good way to lessen your personal impact on global warming, but there's a better way to help. Homes that use a decentralized renewable energy source like solar panels can sell excess power back to the public utility provider. In Massachusetts, utilities are required to offer "netmetering," a system that allows the meter to spin backward when a home creates more power than it uses, sending energy back to the supplier and showing up as credit on bills.

BUY RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDITS. Some electrical companies - including National Grid's GreenUp program, which is offered in Rhode Island and Massachusetts - offer customers the option to purchase renewable energy certificates through their utility bills. This doesn't mean that the power delivered to your home will come directly from a wind turbine or other renewable energy source, but the money you pay - usually a few dollars extra per month - supports alternative energy projects sponsored by private energy companies. Some credits are tax deductible, depending on the clean energy certificate supplier; your utility provider can let you know specifics for your area, or go to Mass Energy Consumers' Alliance (massenergy.com) to get started.

CLEAN UP YOUR CLEANING PRODUCTS. There are about 15,000 different chemical compounds sold in the United States each year, according to the EPA, but not all have been evaluated for human safety. Some conventional household cleaning products contain known and suspected carcinogens and hormone disrupters, and many can induce asthma and other respiratory illnesses. "To be on the safe side, it definitely makes sense to avoid things such as air fresheners, optical [laundry] brighteners, and anything with artificial fragrance," notes epidemiologist Julia Brody, executive director of the Silent Spring Institute, a nonprofit scientific research organization in Newton focused on finding links between the environment and women's health. Homemade options make good alternatives. "Water is a great cleaner," says Brody, "along with vinegar and borax."

GO NATIVE. "Our backyards are corridors to wild habitats," says Debra Strick, a spokeswoman for the New England Wild Flower Society, where flora that grow naturally in New England yards will flourish without the use of fertilizers or pesticides, and require less watering than nonnative varieties. Plants should be nursery-propagated, not taken from the wild, and be sure to avoid invasive species altogether.

COMPOST. SERIOUSLY. Composting kitchen and yard waste is one of the best ways homeowners can reduce the amount of garbage they're sending to the dump. Yes, organic waste is biodegradable, but without light and oxygen, anything can become virtually mummified in a landfill; according to the EPA, 30-year-old cabbages and carrots have been identified in dumps. Even city residents can make a difference. In Boston, for example, leaves and grass clippings are turned into compost that enriches the city's 150 community gardens. "Gardeners call compost 'black gold,'" says Valerie Burns, president of the Boston Natural Areas Network (bostonnatural.org). "Without it, our community gardens couldn't grow food year after year, because the soil would become depleted of nutrients." Apartment dwellers, you're not necessarily off the hook: The network recommends vermiculture - that's letting worms make mulch out of your organic waste - for indoor bin composting. Ask about getting started at a gardening store.

PASS ON PARTICLEBOARD. Indoor air quality is affected by formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, found in carpeting, plywood, subflooring, paint, and furnishings. You don't have to remodel your entire house, but choose lower-VOC options going forward. Strong fumes are one indicator of harmful gases, but some products, including interior paints, indicate whether they are "low-VOC" on their packaging.

PLUS

Buy food at farmers' markets to help support local agriculture. Turn the water off while shaving and brushing your teeth. Use aerating shower heads and faucets. Insulate your hot water heater's tank with a $20 insulating jacket from the hardware store. Insulate yourself with a cardigan, and turn the thermostat down to a comfortable 68 degrees this winter. (Lower it to 55 while you're out or sleeping.) Seal the gaps around windows and doors; a typically leaky US home has the equivalent to a 3-by-3-foot hole in the wall, according to the nonprofit research and lobbying organization Natural Resources Defense Council. Use a clothesline if you can. According to Energy Star, washers and dryers account for 6 percent of the average home's annual energy bill. Learn more about how your home and your lifestyle choices affect the environment by visiting the Nexus Green Resource Building Center, which is free and open to the public (38 Chauncy Street, seventh floor, Boston, 617- 374-3740, greenroundtable.org). Recycle obsolete computers and home electronics (it costs just $10 per large item, like a monitor, at Staples stores).

IN THE COMMUNITY

PUT YOURSELF IN THE PUBLIC EYE. Got an environmental platform or plan? Run for town council, state senate, or a position in a civic organization. In 2006, Allison Rogers, who had graduated from Harvard two years before, decided to spread the word by competing for the title of Miss Rhode Island. She surprised the pageant circuit with her unusual cause - the environment - and won the crown. She spent her yearlong reign making presentations about global warming to students, businesses, and other groups; she even marched in parades instead of waving at crowds from a car. "You hear that the environmental movement is preaching to the choir," says Rogers, who now works for the Green the Capitol Office of the US House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. "I wanted to reach out to a new audience."

JOIN AN ADVOCACY GROUP. Organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org ) and the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) lobby and run awareness campaigns for a broad range of causes. Other national nonprofits, such as Surfrider Foundation (surfrider.org), focus on single issues, such as ocean protection; that group's regional chapters hold beach cleanups. Strictly local organizations - like the Massachusetts Audubon Society (massaudubon.org), which works to preserve the region's natural heritage, and the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (healthytomorrow.org), which advocates in Massachusetts for the regulation of environmental health hazards - tackle issues close to home.

SHAKE UP YOUR TOWN. Taking action locally can be more rewarding - and more immediate - than trying to foster change higher up the chain. Attend town or city meetings to bring up pressing environmental issues that aren't already on the agenda, or speak out on those that are. Many town and city council or board of selectmen meetings have dedicated time for citizen communications; if yours doesn't, contact your representative or a member of the energy, recycling, solid waste, or other municipal commissions to request that your cause be placed on the docket. Kate Abend, climate change outreach coordinator at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a national scientific research and advocacy group with headquarters in Cambridge, suggests sending a handwritten note or calling local politicians to add a personal touch. "Be as specific as possible: Is there a global warming reduction target you want to achieve? Did a problem affect your child? Tell the story of why you care, because that's what's appealing." The organization's website (ucsusa.org) has state-by-state contacts and information on pending legislation.

REACH OUT TO YOUR NEIGHBORS. Know something that other people in your community don't? Trying to get a local ordinance passed? Set up panels, lectures, or start a community task force to spread education and awareness. Cambridgeport resident Steve Morr-Wineman, who works for a human services nonprofit, cofounded the GreenPort neighborhood group a year ago. Today, the group educates and empowers the local community to make changes concerning transportation, home energy, and food choices by bringing in speakers, handing out CFL bulbs donated by NSTAR, and sending representatives to local government hearings where decisions about environmental causes are being made. "The common thread among everything we do is community building," says Morr-Wineman.

GET INVOLVED IN SCHOOL DECISION MAKING. Join your school's PTA and start pressing for change - from easy, inexpensive improvements, like switching to nontoxic cleaning supplies, to major changes, like building energy-efficient new schools from sustainable, healthy materials. Schools certified by the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, known as LEED, cost an average of $3 more per square foot to build, though these facilities typically see payback within a few years due to reduced energy, water, and health-related costs. A 125,000-square-foot school, for example, can expect to see savings of about $100,000 annually. "Building green is a money saver; that's how you get the bonds passed and taxpayer approval," says Rachel Gutter, the council's school sector manager, based in Washington, D.C. "But healthy kids and reduced costs? It's a no-brainer." The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust, which helps fund clean-energy projects and green-building design, planning, and construction, has $15 million in grant money set aside for schools; the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, for example, was recently awarded $340,000 for rooftop solar panels. (Schools are also eligible for grant money from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.) To connect with a green-schools advocate in your area, visit buildgreenschools.org. Also consider contacting the Massachusetts Farm-to-School Project (mass.gov/agr/markets/Farm_to_school), which helps connect school food programs with local growers; the practice reduces the carbon costs and packaging associated with shipping.

SIGN A PETITION. Going door-to-door is so 1970s. Today, signatures are collected and "demonstrators" gather online. "In the old days, if you marched out on the streets, it would get 30 seconds of coverage on the evening news," says An Inconvenient Truth producer Laurie David. So she launched StopGlobalWarming.org, where citizens can join John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger in what David calls a "virtual march" that's on public display all day, every day. Over at the League of Conservation Voters (lcv.org), you can urge presidential candidates to take a stand on global warming and ask Congress to act on clean energy.

MINGLE. Going out for martinis may not seem like a community-oriented task, but local branches of the international social network Green Drinks (greendrinks.org) can help you connect to neighbors with similar interests, whether your mission is fighting LNG terminals or finding a vegan date. The Boston group (founded with help from environmentalist and 2006 Miss Rhode Island Allison Rogers) has been around since 2005. Other groups have been established in Cambridge-Somerville, Great Barrington, Lowell, Northampton, and Pittsfield, as well as Newport and Providence, Rhode Island.

PRAY FOR CHANGE. Many religious traditions consider environmental stewardship to be a moral imperative. Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light (mipandl.org) helps congregations with energy audits, utility rebate programs, the purchase of renewable energy credits, and other green measures. MIPAL co-founder Tom Nutt-Powell, a member of All Saints Parish Episcopal in Brookline, helped his church save $17,000 by upgrading to a high-efficiency boiler. "Once you see this as an act of faith, you want to do it everywhere," says Nutt-Powell.

PLUS

Vote for eco-friendly policies and candidates. Contribute money to a "green" nonprofit. Don't know how much to give? A good guideline is to pick an organization whose mission you like and then donate the cost of the last pair of shoes you bought. Vote with your wallet by buying goods and services from companies that support a healthy planet and use organic ingredients and eco-friendly packaging.

AT WORK

WATCH THE THERMOSTAT. According to the US Department of Energy, heating and cooling are the number one source of energy use in office buildings. Ideally, individuals could control the climate of their personal work spaces, but if that's not an option, suggest that your employer keep temperatures set to an energy-efficient 70 degrees in winter, 75 degrees in summer. Programming thermostats to automatically reset temperatures at appropriate times - after the workday ends, for example - can also help increase efficiency. At Artists for Humanity, a Boston nonprofit that employs teens in the arts, such devices help keep heating costs down. The group built a new green facility two years ago that uses about 70 percent less energy than a comparable conventional building would. Still, conscientious behavior also plays a role. "We keep it comfortable," says outreach and marketing associate Shane O'Garro, "but we pay attention to indoor temperatures all the time."

START (OR JOIN) A GREEN TASK FORCE. Sustainability groups can help implement change throughout an entire organization. Starting with simple things - like buying recycling bins and posting signs that remind co-workers to use them - can lead to influencing corporate decisions on issues such as purchases, renovations, power, and employee programs like telecommuting. That's what happened at Boston architecture firm Payette Associates, where a grass-roots in-house group formed about eight years ago. Eventually, the corporate culture changed to encourage recycling, resource efficiency, and even composting of coffee grounds. "It's occurring at a fundamental level," says Arlen Li, associate principal and a catalyst of the change. "People have really latched onto it."

CONDUCT A WASTE AUDIT. Individuals, departments, or entire companies can identify wasted resources by taking stock of everything that goes into the trash and recycling over a certain period of time, usually a week or a month. Knowing what materials are thrown away provides insight into ways a company can cut back or reuse, which can help keep both ecological and waste-removal costs down. The environmental information website Earth 911 has a "Business Resources" section (earth911.org) that explains the process well.

USE LESS PAPER. The virgin pulp and paper industry is the largest industrial polluter of water worldwide and one of the top emitters of global-warming pollution, according to the National Resources Defense Council. The typical US office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of copier paper each year, according to the council - and less than half of it gets recycled. So think twice about what you print out, make double-sided copies, send internal memos via e-mail, use scrap paper to take notes or print drafts, send faxes digitally, and so on. Recycling the paper you do use means saving forests and water, reducing toxic pollution, and keeping waste out of landfills.

CHOOSE RECYCLED PAPER. Choosing paper with high "postconsumer" recycled content - at least 30 percent for copier paper - means less virgin pulp is used and more waste is diverted from landfills. (Products marked with "post-industrial recycled content" are less beneficial, since the term refers to waste generated in production that never reached consumers and that manufacturers already reuse in order to save money.) For every 40 standard boxes of copier paper made from 100 percent post-consumer material, an office can save 24 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 4,100 kilowatt hours of electricity, and 60 pounds of air pollution, according to the National Resources Defense Council.

TURN OFF THE LIGHTS. At 30 percent of total energy consumption, according to the US Department of Energy, lighting is a big chunk of energy use in a typical office building. Rejiggering a building's overall lighting design to include more natural daylight, more efficient lamps, timers, and occupancy sensors are a few of the big-ticket ways companies can help decrease their use. But simply turning lights off at night could go a long way, too, toward changing both behavior and energy bills. It worked at Breakstone, White & Gluck, a law firm in Boston where motion detectors and energy-efficient bulbs were installed, and where lawyers and other staff, as well as the late-night cleaning crew, are encouraged to turn off lights. The result? A 10 percent drop in energy use, reflected on the monthly utility bill. "Most of these changes can be done for pennies," says David W. White Jr., a partner in the firm and president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, who is also launching the Lawyers Eco-Challenge in January, a statewide competition to see which firm can operate the most eco-friendly office.

GO ENERGY STAR. The Energy Star rating is best known in the context of home appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators. Yet, approved office equipment uses up to 60 percent less electricity than standard copiers and the like, automatically switches into power-conserving mode when not in use, and can save bundles on energy bills. Go to energystar.gov for lists and rankings of computers, printers, and even water coolers.

MAKE MACHINES LAST. Eking out one more year from existing equipment will cut back tremendously on hazardous e-waste, save money, and can significantly reduce energy consumption. Other solutions, such as switching from individual desktop computers to machines that run off of central servers, can also help businesses cut back. (Laptops also use less power, but are more expensive to buy and have shorter life spans.) "If your office can't save one-quarter of the energy it's using, you're not trying," says Cambridge-based consultant Mark Ontkush, founder of New View Data Solutions in Belmont, which specializes in green computing and energy efficiency.

KNOW - AND USE - YOUR BENEFITS. Some companies offer incentives for going green on the job and at home. Household and personal-care products manufacturer Seventh Generation of Burlington, Vermont, for example, offers employees $5,000 toward purchasing a hybrid car, another $5,000 for energy-efficient home improvements, and $500 for installing upgraded appliances. Environmentalism is in the company's DNA, but it's also good for business, says spokeswoman Chrystie Heimert - employee turnover is extraordinarily low. Whether your employer's best offer is telecommuting or a T pass, take advantage of it.

STOP USING STYROFOAM. Expanded polystyrene, commonly known as styrofoam, developed a bad reputation in the 1980s when it was made using chemicals that damaged the atmosphere's ozone layer. Safer options have since been substituted, but styrofoam is still made from petroleum, is rarely recycled, takes hundreds of year to degrade, and can endanger wildlife. If your company has a cafeteria, talk with managers and enlist your colleagues to get styrofoam cups, plates, and containers taken out of the inventory or, at least, added to recycling programs. Your next crusade for the caf: insisting upon reusable plates, cups, and utensils.

BREATHE BETTER. The air inside buildings is typically at least two to five times more polluted than that outside and can cause headaches, fatigue, nausea, asthma, and other irritations, according to the EPA. The culprit? Furniture, carpeting, paints, and cleaning products - especially when coupled with poor ventilation - that give off harmful gases. Considering that people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors (another EPA figure), better building design and maintenance can positively affect our health. "Proper indoor air quality can improve worker health and productivity," says Douglas Kot, an architect and consultant with the Green Building Roundtable, a nonprofit consultancy in Boston. "And that's good for business."

FIND A GREENER GIG. You don't have to switch careers entirely to have an impact - just think creatively. "If you want to be a green professional, learn about marketing, finance, biology, or whatever, then apply your environmental passions to that arena," advises Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com, a Berkeley, California-based news website, and author of several books on sustainable business. "If you approach it that way, the opportunities are endless."

PLUS

Show them the money. Since ecological rewards don't always motivate higher-ups but cost-cutting measures do, frame your suggestions for saving the planet around saving money by using fewer resources. Drink at the sink. According to the Container Recycling Institute, Americans used nearly 30 billion single-use plastic water bottles in 2005, and, despite being recyclable, the majority wound up in the trash - at a rate of about 845 bottles each second. Shut down at night. It's a myth that leaving a computer on overnight is more efficient than rebooting in the morning. Use EPEAT, the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (epeat.net). It's an online guide to greener computers and can help purchasers evaluate, compare, and select machines based on environmental attributes. BYO. Bringing your lunch from home helps cut down on waste related to disposables and packaging, and not driving your car to a restaurant saves carbon emissions, too. Get matching donations. Does your company offer to match your charitable contributions? Find out if the environmental organization of your choice could benefit.

Meaghan O'Neill is coauthor of Ready, Set, Green, due out in 2008.