Living Green > Getting Started: The Top Ten #2

"Climate change is for real. We have just a small window of opportunity and it is closing rather rapidly. There is not a moment to lose."

- Dr. Rajendra Pachauri

2) Going Carbon Zero

A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc.

The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.Carbon dioxide emissions globally are causing the Earth’s climate to change and warm, which will have catastrophic results if we do not act to reduce them. The effects of climate change can be seen now. Temperatures are already increasing, glaciers are receding at unprecedented speeds, whole chunks of the Antarctic ice shelf are breaking off, warmer seasons are becoming longer, and storms are becoming more severe and causing more and more damage.

Your "Carbon Footprint" measures the carbon dumped into the atmosphere and ocean from your existence. For about $99 per year through non-profit Carbon Fund Org., you can offset your entire carbon footprint (The amount of this key greenhouse gas produced through your life's activities) with that organization's contributions to renewable power, energy efficiency, and reforestation projects.

What You Can Do: 5 Steps to Reducing your Carbon Footprint

1) Buy organic and local: There's a better chance that organic food was grown in an eco-friendly manner. Locally grown food is good as it didn't travel too far

2) Pay attention to packaging: Go to stores that require minimal packaging. You can buy loose tomatoes rather than boxed or plastic-wrapped ones. Take reusable bags to the grocery store

3) Ditch bottled water: Bottled water has a huge carbon footprint. Buy a reusable water bottle or canteen

4) Energy-proof your home: Make sure all windows close properly and that the attic is insulated. Keep heating and cooling systems properly maintained, and switch to reusable filters when possible. Switch from incandescent to CFL bulbs, which use 75% lesser energy and last longer.

5) Bike or take the bus! Driving a car daily is probably one of the biggest contributors world wide for high carbon emissions. As often as possible, leave your car at home!

Living Green > Getting Started: The Top Ten #1

"The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt

1) Eating Organic "Let food be your medicine." - Hippocrates

For each 1% increase in organic food consumption in the U.S. alone, pesticide and herbicide use is reduced by over 10 million pounds per year. Typical foods are grown in soils that have been chemically fertilized and sprayed with multiple herbicides (chemicals that kill unwanted plants) and pesticides (chemicals that kill insects), then processed with high heat and preservative chemicals to extend shelf life and added sugars to improve taste, and packaged in disposable plastic containers for your convenience. For example, the typical bag of potato chips you buy at the supermarket has been subjected to over 50 chemicals from seed to shelf and can contain over 75 times the "safe" levels of cancer-causing acrylamide established by the state of California.

What you Can Do - 7 steps to Sustainable Eating

1) Buy organic whenever possible 5) Reduce sugar and sodas

2) Be careful of fish 6) Cut fried and processed foods

3) Eat low on the food chain 7) Change your cup

4) Filter your water