Putting a Number on Waste
Written: Apr 05 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good rundown on environmental issues
Cons: Not sure how exact the numbers are
The Bottom Line: Handy book assessing personal impact on the environment and what we can do to lessen it.
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| pambo's Full Review: Julian Rollins and Christopher Maron - The Environ... |
Costs and savings are spelled out in black and white--and red and green-- in "The Environment Equation: 100 Factors That Can Add to or Subtract From Your Total Carbon Footprint."
Assembled in this book by Alex Shimo-Berry and Christopher J. Maron of The Nature Conservancy's Adirondack chapter are ideas for actions that are either smart (marked with a green minus sign because it reduces the emission of carbon dioxide) or not so smart (marked with a red plus sign indicating how much more CO2 has been added to the environment) so that you can readily see what your actions have had.
For example, using a clothes dryer gets an ugly red plus sign, with an estimate that 1,440 pounds of CO2 added. The authors suggest using a clothes line where possible (not something that would be welcomed out here in noseybody suburbia land, let me tell you), and suggest these ideas for reducing your dryer's energy consumption, if you must run it:
*Keep the dryer in a warm place in the house
*Dry similar fabrics together
*Run separate loads consecutively to make the most of residual heat
*Clean the filter after every load
*Look for models with humidity sensors that shut off heat when clothes are dry
Other activities to reduce your carbon impact:
Compost, saving waste and improving your lawn (620 pounds)
Carpool (5,100 pounds)
Stop using plastic bags (99 pounds)
Buy local food (5,000 pounsd)
Some ways to waste:
*Keeping your water heater set to 150 degrees or higher (55o pounds)
*Invite junk mail (99 pounds)
*Rely on takeout food (40 pounds)
The authors say that Americans release, on average, 20 tons of carbon dioxide per person and that the average European releases 12. There's also a chart that allows you to estimate how much you produce, based on your electric bill, monthly oil or gas use, car mileage, number of air flights, and whether you recycle paper, plastic or aluminum.
This is a handy book with interesting numbers, easily read, with little illustrations accompanying most of the 100 entries.
The numbers would seem open to challenge--there's too much flexibility in some scenarios to be precise.
But it's a good way to estimate what you're doing to the Earth and getting you to think about ways to improve your behavior.
Recommended:
Yes
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