Reducing My Carbon Footprint

I have been thinking a lot lately about my impact on the planet and how I can reduce the effect I have on the earth. I want to share with you the steps I will be taking this year to be more earth friendly.

 I started looking at my carbon foot print and how I could reduce it with small changes. Carbon foot print is describe as the impact an individual has on the environment in a year based on the amount of green house gas you produces due to burning fossil fuels. A carbon foot print is measured in units of carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gasses are emissions at earth’s lower atmosphere that trap energy from the sun preventing it from leaving the planet atmosphere. The heat trapped by these gases is what causes global warming. You can check you carbon footprint here .You may be surprised at how high it is, I was! Here are my results.

One of the biggest and easiest changes I will be committing to is not using plastic bags from retail stores. Did you know that in 2007, 100 millions barrels of oil were used to produces plastic bags. I carry a reused able shopping bag in my purse at all times. I also carry them in my car for grocery shopping.

In my home simple changes I can make on a day to day basis are instead of rinsing dishes before loading the dishwasher is to scrap plates in the garbage. Rinsing dishes can use more water then the entire wash cycle. We only run the dishwasher when it’s full and always after 8pm to avoid peak energy times.

We have also switched to recycled toilet paper; I was surprised to learn that if we all switch out just one roll of toilet paper, to recycle paper we could save 400,000 trees in one year. I had trouble trying to find out just how many trees it takes to make one roll of toilet paper, but I did learn that on average we each use 35 rolls of toilet paper in a year.

Many of you are a head of here, but I have committed to recycling. My condo just introduced blue boxes which make it so easy for me to recycle. Up until this point I am embarrassed to admit everything went in the garbage.  Living in a condo mean no storage and the storage I do have is not for recycling. I have no excuse now. How many of you are using your blue bin ?  The City of Calgary is hoping that the  blue bins will reduce the amount of garbage in the land fill by 80% by 2020. It may be an ambitious goal but I will do my part to help reach these goals.

Do you think about your carbon footprint? If so what kind of changes are you making reduce your footprint and effect on the earth?

Elysse Bulloch

Simply Stylish Staging

Reducing our Energy Consumption at Home

Now more then ever before the world is becoming more and more cautious about the effect we have on the earth. Consumers are staring to take advantages of the benefits of being green.  Simple changes to your home not only benefit the planet, they also benefit our health and wallets too. On a month to month basis people who live in green homes use less water and energy compared to a standard home. They also spend less money on maintenance. Green homes tend to be more durable due to the construction process and higher quality materials.

In Canada, 17% of all energy goes to running our homes and, here in Calgary, 30% of our use is from household electrical consumption. Additionally, the average household in Calgary is using 8% more energy today than it did in 2005.

Green homes can use up to 40% less energy. Next to a mortgage, energy costs are the most significant household expense. Something you many not know is your plasma TV uses five times more energy then the old tube TV.

 To estimate appliance consumption you can use this formula,

Wattage x hours per day divided by 100 = Daily Kilowatt-hour consumption

You can usually find the wattage on the appliance, stamp on the bottom or side. Many appliances still draw electricity even when turn off this is know as phantom load. Appliances that are known for this are stereos, computers, and televisions just to name a few. If you have older appliances you can use a device to control and reduce energy consumption. These devices control and regulate the energy delivered to the appliance. Appliance newer then 1990 may not see any benefits from this device because of their existing energy saving features.

The Kitchen is an area in the home that has a lot of energy consumptions here are a few way to cut back on usage. You can save energy day to day by manually chopping instead of using mixers and grinders. Small changes can make a big difference, cook meals in smaller appliances like microwave or toaster ovens. If you’re shopping for a new fridge a great choice is one with the freezer on top. These models are more efficient then models with the freezer on the bottom or side by sides.

We all need to do our part to conserve energy. Simple changes will not effect our day to day living to much, but can have a huge impact on the future of our planet. 

Elysse Bulloch

Simply Stylish Staging 

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