Not too long ago, the only eco-conundrum
most of us faced on a regular basis was when the grocery store bagger would
ask, “Paper or plastic?”
A lot has changed: the world is getting
warmer, weather patterns are getting wackier, oil is getting scarcer, and those
pesky eco-conundrums are more confusing than ever. Does the energy saved be a
new, efficient refrigerator outweigh the waste of tossing out my old one? Isn’t
it just as effective to diligently turn off my household lights as it is to
invest in costly CFL and LED light bulbs? What should I do if I cant afford a
more fuel-efficient car? (Answers, respectively: yes, no, and read on.)
Finding commonsense answers to these kinds
of questions was the impetus behind the new book Cooler, Smarter: Practical
Steps for Low-Carbon Living, authored by a group of energy experts from the
non-profit Union of Concerned Scientists. “There’s a lot of ‘noise’ out there,
a lot of conflicting advice when it comes to addressing climate change and
cutting your own carbon footprint,” says senior energy analyst Jeff Deyette, a
contributing author. “We dug deep and really tried to cut through that noise
and figure out what matters most to help people prioritize decisions. There are
all kinds of ways you can make a significant impact.”
Low-Carbon
Living
The book challenges readers to reduce their
energy consumption by 20 percent in the next year - a challenge that feels
empowering, not impossible, once you read through the menu of practical options
listed each chapter. Best of all, many of the ideas are financially smart, not
just eco-smart, debunking perhaps the biggest eco-conundrum of all. “Some
people think solving climate change is only for middle – or upper-income
people,” Deyette says. “But you can make these changes and, most of the time,
save money.”
Nowadays, when the paper-or-plastic
question is asked, many of us hand over a reusable coth tote – a sure sign that
we’re already living cooler and smarter than we used to. Unfortunately, the
climate change crisis demands we take even bolder moves. The solution is mostly
about making better use of our resources than making painful sacrifices.
Here are three easy ideas to kick-start
your low-carbon life:
Upgrade your lighting. You’d have to leave your lights off three out of every four days to
gain the energy savings equivalent to simply swapping your incandescent bulbs
for CFLso or LEDs.
Upgrade
your lighting.
Unplug your gadgets. The average American home has a whopping 40 40 plugged-in devices
on stand-by around the clock – consuming 5 to 10 percent of the electricity
generated in the United States, even when they’re not in use. The five biggest
culprits: laser printers, desktop computers (idling or in “sleep” mode), TVs,
game consoles, and digital cable boxes.
Unplug
your gadgets.
Drive smarter. “Not everybody can afford a Prius,” Deyette says. Reduce your
vehicle’s carbon footprint by keeping your car well-tuned, regularly checking
the air in your tires, turning off your car instead of idling, and slowing down
on the highway (driving 75 mph instead of 60 mph reduces fuel efficiency by 20
percent).
Drive
smarter
