You’ve all heard of the Atkins diet, and the Miami Beach diet, but have you heard of the latest diet craze in green circles? It’s the “low carbon” diet and many of you are probably “dieting” without knowing it. If you’ve been reading this blog and others on how to “green” your lifestyle, and have been making changes to be green (or greener), then you’re on your way.

Why is this important? Because we (I’m referring to Americans right now, though really, it’s humans in general) are the biggest polluters on a per capita basis. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration states that the average American emits about 35,000 to 40,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. This includes home, work and recreational habits, as well as the products we consume.

So, how can we decrease our footprint? Here are some interesting facts, following on the heels of the last blog(Did you know?), but this time focusing solely on the action and carbon emissions generated by that action. As always, there are many sources available, and though the numbers may differ somewhat, this should give you an idea of the impact:

<tbody><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; background: #99cc00 none repeat scroll 0% 50%; width: 175px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Action</strong></p></td><td style="border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; background: #99cc00 none repeat scroll 0% 50%; width: 138px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Estimated impact*</strong></p></td><td style="border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; background: #99cc00 none repeat scroll 0% 50%; width: 277px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal"><strong>My two cents</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Recycle half of the items that could be recycled</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 138px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">2400 lbs. saved per year</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 277px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Ideally, you should be recycling all the items that can be recycled, but let’s start with half!</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Wash 2 loads of laundry a week in cold water</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 138px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">250 lbs. saved per year</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 277px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">The clothes get just as clean with cold water. 90% of the energy goes to heat the water, not to mention that a typical washer/dryer emits about 5lbs. of CO2 per cycle.</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Bike 15 miles/week instead of driving</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 138px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">800 lbs. saved per year</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 277px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Every mile driven is equal to about 1lb. of CO2 for a car that gets 20 mpg.</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Replace bulbs with CFLs</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 138px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">100 lbs. saved per bulb</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 277px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">The cost may be more up front but you’re saving money in the long term— they last longer and use less energy!</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Reduce your shower time to 5 minutes</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 138px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">300 lbs. saved per year</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 277px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Heating hot water for a 10 minute shower can generate up to 4 lbs of CO2, so cut your time in half (and get a low-flow showerhead).</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Go vegetarian</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 138px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">5,000 lbs. saved per year</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 277px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">If you’re not quite ready, take a day or two off from eating meat per week—the savings add up, not to mention that it’s good for you!</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Purchase Energy Star appliances</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 138px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Varies with the appliance</p></td><td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 277px" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal">Ex: 125 lbs saved for a dishwasher, 500 lbs for front-loading clothes washer</p></td></tr></tbody>

* Amount of carbon dioxide that is saved” or not released in the air.

I’m sure you’ve heard of carbon calculators, and I’ve covered them in a previous blog as well. A couple of others are the EPA and Live Earth ones—take a look and see which you prefer given the amount of information you have (some require you to have detailed information about monthly energy used, etc…). Happy dieting!

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