Earth Day is Friday, April 22, 2011
What is your commitment to the earth?
Last year, I participated in the University of Rochester’s Go Green Pledge. Some of the things I committed to were: using alternative transportation (I car pooled today), double sided printing (always), and using a refillable water bottle. There are many other sustainable actions to choose from. This week give us an opportunity to review our own actions and change them for the better. Here are some of the choices:
Do my laundry using a cold wash cycle (Bright Colors button) and the low heat setting or racks for drying when possible
Reduce my water consumption in the bathroom.
Turn off my lights and monitor when leaving my room for more than 15 minutes.
Use alternative transportation when possible.
Move around buildings more efficiently.
Use at least one reusable bag per shopping trip.
To choose double–side printing for any printing and copying that I must do.
Share the experiences I‘ve had with this pledge to educate my friends about sustainable behaviors.
Use a reusable coffee mug and buy Fair Trade Coffee when available.
Use a reusable water bottle and not buy bottled water.
TWO
If two people used a refillable water bottle each day for year, rather than purchasing a new bottle, they would save over $500 each. In addition to saving money this small effort truly helps the environment. This reduction is equivalent to:
0.365 metric tons of CO2
or
The carbon sequester by 9.4 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.
or
Greenhouse gas emissions avoided by recycling 280 lbs. of waste instead of sending it to the landfill.
*Information is based on 1 bottle/day = 0.5kg of CO2.