Ten Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Jake Nalley 12/8/09 12:17 AM

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After last weeks lengthy post, I figured that we could all use a little break. Although last weeks column proved to be tiresome, it is necessary to understand the general foundation before we can go any further. In weeks to come, I will dissect the “locavore” movement (those that eat local produce and meat), as well as why choosing a vegetarian lifestyle benefits everyone, and without the basic knowledge of greenhouse gases, the entry would be useless.

On a lighter and much more applicable note, I want to lay-out some very basic practices the average college student can do to reduce their personal carbon footprint. I just completed a class assignment that had us go to myfootprint.org, and through a brief questionnaire, determine our personal footprint, and reflect on our results. First of all, I encourage all of you to take the five minutes, and fill out the quiz. But not only does the website illustrate what a terribly burdensome lifestyle we are all living, but also has some generic, easy-to-follow steps for how you can minimize your environmental impact. I sifted through the recommendations, and have some, what I feel, beneficial and easy steps to follow:

1.) Use re-usable grocery bags. Not only will you be reducing your plastic consumption, you will also be able to participate in the growing fad of looking “eco-friendly”! Also, only around 3% of the plastic bags used by consumers are recycled.

2.) Unplug small electronics when not in use. Although the energy consumed may seem minimal, the addition of all the “phantom consumers” can really add up, especially when you’re paying for your own electricity. One of the biggest consumers is your laptop, even when it is on stand-by.

3.) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The “Three R’s” are in this order for a reason. I admit recycling is a worthy task and should be done as much as possible, but if you can reduce the amount of waste by either consuming less, or by reusing items, you could avoid the recycling issue in the first place. A good example for this is re-filling your printer cartridges. Instead of throwing them out, get them re-filled a few times, and it is way cheaper.

4.) Buy a reusable water bottle and a Brita filter. The Chicago water isn’t the best tasting drink I have ever had (we all know what Dave Matthews Band dumped into Lake Michigan), but getting a water purification system eliminates all the taste issues. Also, private labels of bottled water are less regulated than cities, so I would trust Chicago water more than the bottled tap water called Aquafina.

5.) Wash clothing in cold water, and clean out the lint trap. By washing your clothing in cold water, you can avoid the energy intensive water-heater from running. Also, if the lint trap is clogged the dryer may use 20-30% more electricity to properly dry your clothing.

6.) Install Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL’s) have a 10 times greater lifetime than normal light bulbs, pay for themselves (through energy savings) in 6 months, save $30 total on electrical bills, and are handed out free on occasion by the Student Environmental Alliance.

7.) Go at least one day without meat. I know, touchy subject, but in all honesty, it is about time we took some responsibility for our food. The growing meat demand is creating tons of methane emissions while destroying the Amazon for pasture land. It’s just one day, there are still six more full of meat!

8.) Reduce paper consumption and recycle it. Only 9% of the 8 million tons of paper used each year is recycled. For Christmas, instead of wrapping paper, I recommend using the vast amount of leftover Phoenix’s.

9.) Walk, bike, ride public transit.

10.) Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute.

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