Community Corner
Five Easy Ways to Reduce your Carbon Footprint
Simple steps for a better environment, saving money, and improving personal health.
Earth day reminds us how important it is to create a sustainable environment and lower our carbon emissions. But not everyone can go out and swap their car for a hybrid at the drop of a hat. Eco-friendly ways to live need to be sustainable as well. Here are five ways to change the world without making wrenching changes to your life.
1. Switch to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs:
Our first tip for reducing your carbon footprint is as easy as screwing in a light bulb. The United States Environmental Protection Agency advocates replacing regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs marked with the energy star.
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These light bulbs use less electricity and last about 10 times longer than normal light bulbs. According to the EPA, "If every household in the U.S. took this one simple action, we would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from nearly 10 million cars."
2. Bike Instead of Driving:
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Today, more than ever, biking is a great alternative to driving for running errands, taking the kids to school, and even going to work. Not only do you use no fossil fuels when you ride a bike, but also you save yourself the cost of that ever-rising gas bill.
Santa Cruz has lots of new and exciting resources to help you get started. For students, there are bike co-ops at UCSC and Cabrillo. A new resource has emerged in downtown Santa Cruz in the form of the Bike Dojo. Owner and founder Rob Mylls makes it his goal help you get started cycling in a way that works for you. He has trained bike commuters, as well as offering a wide variety of classes, educational opportunities and community outreach.
By choosing to bike instead of drive, you help your personal finances, personal fitness, and carbon footprint.
3. Buy Locally Grown Foods:
Today it is possible to ship food all over the world to sell, but it takes a lot of extra fuel and packing material to do that. You eliminate all that energy waste by buying food grown at local farms. The Community Alliance with Family Farmers makes this easy by getting stores such as New Leaf to mark local foods with their "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" logo.
Another great option is to buy your food at a farmer's market. You'll have an entire gathering of farmers with lots of foods to choose from, and you can bring your own bag to reduce the number of plastic bags you use.
When you buy local, your food will be fresher and taste better, and you will be supporting your community of small farmers.
4. Reduce Your Home Energy Usage
Pacific Gas and Electric recommends that you keep your heater at 68 degrees, and your air conditioner at 78 degrees. According to PG&E, for every additional degree of heat or air conditioning, you are using 3-5% more fuel! That not only adds up fast in terms of carbon emissions, but will also add up on your bill.
Ways to make your energy use more efficient include patching drafty areas under doors to keep heat from seeping out, using low-flow showerheads, and remembering to turn off lights in rooms not in use.
5. Recycle Your Newspapers, Bottles, and Cans
Recycling is an easy thing you can do generate less waste and keep products out of the landfills. Better yet, it’s easy! Just separate the recyclables from the trash, and put them in the blue bin provided by the County of Santa Cruz.
The County program, Santa Cruz Recycles, includes recycling services and green lawn waste services at no extra charge, so there's no reason not to take advantage of this easy way to go green. Not sure if you can recycle it? Visit the Santa Cruz Recycles website for a list of what you can recycle from home.
