This document provides tips for reducing one's environmental impact and carbon footprint through smarter travel, eating, water and energy use, recycling, and home improvements. Key recommendations include driving less and using more efficient vehicles, eating less meat, using energy efficient light bulbs, washing clothes less frequently, reusing and recycling, turning down the thermostat, and unplugging electronics when not in use. Adopting these behaviors can collectively save thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and hundreds of dollars per year.

2. Travel Smarter
• The average vehicle drives around 12,000
miles and uses 545 gallons of gas at 22mpg
creating 10,000 lbs/CO2 per year.
• Reduce car trips, carpool and take public
transit when possible to save both gas and
emissions.
• Make the next vehicle you buy more efficient

3. Eat Smarter!
• Eat less meat
– Going vegan saves about 4000 lbs/CO2 per year
– Reducing meat consumption by half saves around
1600 lbs/CO2 per year
• Buy locally grown foods
– Purchasing food from local growers and producers
help reduce the distance the food has travelled
(this reduces CO2 emissions and food is more
fresh!)
– Buy bulk foods to reduce packaging

4. Don’t let excess water go down the
drain!
• Cutting back shower time by three minutes
can reduce CO2 by up to 715lbs per year
– Cutting back five minutes saves 9125 gallons of
water and up to $122 in heating costs
• Letting the faucet run on its own while
shaving, brushing teeth, or washing dishes
wastes water
– Resources go down the drain and not to mention
your money will too!

5. Lighting
• Standard incandescent bulbs vs. compact
fluorescent bulbs (CFLs)
– ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs use about 75 % less
energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last
up to 10 times longer, saving you $100 or more
per bulb.
• Turn off the lights
– 60-watt bulb left on for one hour a day will waste
about $4 worth of electricity and emit an extra
21lbs of carbon dioxide

6. Wash your clothes irregularly!
• 60% of the energy associated with a piece of
clothing is spent washing and drying it
– Over its lifetime, a Tshirt can be responsible for
9lbs of CO2 emissions
– Check to see if clothes need to be washed
between wearing

7. Reduce buying new things!
• Around 10% of our ecological footprint is
made up of the things we buy
– Instead of buying new things, try buying second-
hand or borrowing

8. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
• American citizens produce an average 4.5lbs
of waste daily
– Recycle paper, plastics, glass, and metals to reduce
waste
• Recycle shopping bags or use reusable tote
bags to the store
– Making bags from recycled polyethylene takes one
third the sulfur dioxide and half the nitrous
oxide, than making them from new material.

9. Turn the thermostat down!
• Turning down the thermostat can result in a 10%
decrease in heating bills
– Turning the thermostat down by four degrees can
save the average home 5% of their ecological
footprint
• A well insulated home will keep more heat in the
home
– Ex. Drawing curtains at dusk, cavity wall insulation,
turning down heating in unoccupied rooms, keeping
doors shut

10. Choose green!
• Choose green designs for your building (ex.
Passive solar heating, rainwater catchment,
grey water recycling system, recycled
materials)
• Choose efficient appliances (ex. Low flow
shower heads, faucets, toilets)
• Choose second-hand, recycled, or sustainably
produced furnishings
• Use biodegradable and non-toxic products

11. Unplug!
• Electronics continue to use electricity when
they are plugged in even if they are turned
off!
– Unplug to reduce energy use and carbon emissons
– Unplugging will save “parasitic power loss” the
power of these items even when they are turned
off

12. Works Cited
• "Ecological Footprint Facts." CTEnergyEducation. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May
2012.
<https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:_SVmRroXBOsJ:www.cten
ergyeducation.com/images/Ecological%2520Footprint%2520Facts.doc+&h
l=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShBK_XxwBfkFhVzcJVFBWZUkKwtGq4C_
qVhVI-Xcm1DoxbUAZm-MBwF-
ZK15I6MI2tHqPHxOZTNj5NJE9QXBOFpkoaVWgJ_K>.
• "Reduce your footprint: Ecological Footprint Quiz by Center for Sustainable
Economy." Ecological Footprint Quiz by Center for Sustainable Economy.
N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2012.
<http://www.myfootprint.org/en/take_action/reduce_your_footprint/>.
• "Top ten ways to reduce your ecological footprint - WWF UK ." WWF UK -
Conservation, climate change, sustainability . N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2012.
<http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/changing_the_way_we_live/cities/
top_ten_ways_to_reduce_your_ecological_footprint.cfm>.