Reduce/Reuse/Recycle

The Topic: Reduce – Reuse- Recycle

 

To recycle means to process old, used items in order that the material can be used to make new products. Examples of things that are often recycled are glass, plastic, newspapers, aluminum cans, used motor oil, and batteries. Here, reduce refers to lessening the amount of items or resources that are consumed, using only the amount that is needed, and looking for alternatives that will lessen our use. And reuse means extending the ‘life’ or repurposing an item rather than discarding or throwing it away.

 

Recycling is the processes of collecting, processing, remanufacturing, and reusing materials instead of discarding them. This helps conserve raw materials and energy that manufacturers would otherwise use in producing new products. Recycling also reduces the amount of material going into landfills. Recycling helps lessen the pollution that may result from waste disposal. Reducing our consumption of materials and reducing the waste of materials also adds to the conservation of our resources.

 

 

Internet Consumer Recycling Guide

http://www.obviously.com/recycle/

This recycling guide provides a starting point for consumers in the USA and Canada searching the net for recycling information. The goal is to help make recycling so easy and automatic that it blends into the flow of everyday life.

Related Websites:

2) Consumer’s Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste from U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/catbook/index.htm

3) Eco-Speak: A User’s Guide to the Language of Recycling

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/blcons4.htm

4) Trash Matcher from Imagination Factory

http://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/matchtmp.html

5) Waste Book (Online guide) http://www.recycle.mcmail.com/

6) Waste Facts from Project Integra http://www.integra.org.uk/facts/main.html

7) World’s Shortest Comprehensive Recycling Guide

http://www.obviously.com/recycle/guides/shortest.html

 

Recycle City from the Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/

Learn how recycling reduces waste and saves money. Find out where all the garbage goes. Also play the ‘Dumptown Game.’

Related Websites:

2) Ollie Recycles http://www.ollierecycles.com/

3) Roscoe’s Recycle Room http://www.recycleroom.org/html/launch.html

4) Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle from the Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/reduce.htm#recycle

5) Solid Waste and Recycling from King County Kids Web

http://www.metrokc.gov/dnr/kidsweb/solid_waste_main.htm

6) Quick Lesson in Recycling from Planet Pals

http://www.planetpals.com/EDrecyclethings/recycle_lesson.html

  

Virtual Recycling from Manitoba Product Stewardship Corporation

http://www.virtualrecycling.com/

This website provides recycling information and resources for teachers and students.

Related Websites:

2) EcoRecyle Victoria (Australia) http://www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au/

3) Pennsylvania’s Recycling Page from the Department of Environmental Protection

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/Recycle.htm

4) Why Do We Recycle? from the City of Phoenix, Arizona

http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/GARBAGE/whyrecyc.html

 

Waste Reduction Tips from Vermont Clean State Initiative

http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/wastediv/csc/Waste.htm

Here you find tips for reducing waste at home, at work, and everywhere else.

Related Website:

2) Recycling Loop: Buying Recycled from GreenWorks (Download the video)

http://www.greenworks.tv/wastemanagement/recycling_loop.htm

 

 

After visiting several of the websites on recycling, complete one or more of the following activities:   Print Out the Fun Book. Its has games to play and pictures to color. You can find it at The Recycle Cycle – Mobius Fun Book.   Play A Recycling Game. You have more that one to choose from – - pick and choose or try them all! 1) Clean Up the Park http://funbrain.familyeducation.com/cgi-bin/shtml.cgi?A1=../recycle/index.html 2) Dumptown Game http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/gameintro.htm 3) Quest of the Ring Leaders http://www.ringleader.com/quest/intro.html     Complete A Home Recycling Survey. You can find the forms at the following websites. 1) Home Toxics Survey (Grades 4-6) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel14.htm 2) Household Hazardous Product Survey (Grades 7-8) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel27.htm 3) Potential Home Hazards (Grades 9-12) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel38.htm 4) Recycling/Precycling Activity (Grades 7-8) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel28.htm 5) Recycling Survey (Grades 4-6) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel16.htm 6) Trash or Treasure (Grades 7-8) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel31.htm 7) Waste Reduction Survey http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/qz2.htm   Complete A Recycling WebQuest. Follow or adapt the procedures found at the following webQuest sites: 1) Paper or Plastic by M. Culp and P. Stohr-Hunt http://www.richmond.edu/academics/a&s/education/projects/webquests/paper/Paper1.htm 2) Recycling Plastics http://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/webquest/content/recycle.shtml 3) Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (Grades 1-3) by S. Dowell http://www.memphis-schools.k12.tn.us/admin/tlapages/recycle_quest.htm 4) To Recycle or Not to Recycle by D. DeFouw http://www.plainfield.k12.in.us/hschool/webq/webq81/   Print Out And Color Or Create A Recycling Poster. You can find it at Planet Pals. Or better yet, design and create your own original poster that promotes and/or educates about recycling. Display your completed project.   Take A Recycling Quiz. You have more than one online quiz to choose from or you can take all of them! 1) Aluminum Recycling (Grades 7-8) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel24.htm 2) Handling Hazardous Materials http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/qz3.htm 3) Recycling Economics (Grades 7-8) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel29.htm 4) Recycling Quiz http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/blquiz11.htm 5) Recycling Quiz from Environmental News Network http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2001/02/02232001/recyclingquiz_39571.asp 6) Reduce Through Reuse http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/qz1.htm 7) Supply and Demand Activity (Grades 7-9) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel30.htm Trash Trivia Quiz (Grades 4-6) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornl22a.htm 9) Trash Trivia 2 (Grades 4-6) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornl22b.htm 10)Trash Trivia 3 (Grades 4-6) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornl22c.htm

 

 

Websites By Kids For Kids

Recycle the World (1998 ThinkQuest Junior Project)

http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/4054/index.html

This web site teaches about recycling , how to recycle, and lists good books and web sites about recycling.

 

 

More Websites Related To Recycling

America Recycles Day

http://www.americarecyclesday.org/

This event day provides incentives to communities, large and small, to promote recycling in their community. Make the pledge to recycle, buy recycled products, and send a HenryCycle eCard on November 15.

Not-To-Be-Missed Section:

2) Proven Success – Stories from Schools and Community Groups

http://www.cancentral.com/success.htm

 

Anti-Recycling Myths by R.A. Denison and J.F. Ruston from Environmental Defense

http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?ContentID=558&Page=1

Using ‘Recycling is Garbage’ as a case study, this paper examines the arguments made by the anti-recyclers, correcting factual errors and over-generalizations, offering additional data and perspective, and acknowledging the few kernels of truth in their arguments.

Related Websites:

2) Five Most Dangerous Myths About Recycling from Institute for Local Self-Reliance

http://www.grn.com/library/5myths.htm

3) Is Recycling a Waste? by Mark Fearer http://www.nexuspub.com/july97/recycle.htm

4) Recycling Is Garbage by J. Tierney http://www.nrdc.org/cities/recycling/recyc/appenda.asp

5) Talking Trash: Recycling is Under Attack by A. Horrigan and J. Motavalli from

Environmental Magazine http://www.emagazine.com/march-april_1997/0397feat1.html

6) Too Good To Throw Away from Natural Resources Defense Council

http://www.nrdc.org/cities/recycling/recyc/recyint.asp

 

Doing More At Work: Recycling Guide for Business from Greater Vancouver Regional District

http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/services/garbage/workplace/RGB/Recycling%20Guide%20For%20Business.html

This guide (pdf) helps to take a closer look at your recycling program, you can make it more efficient and cost-effective.

Related Websites:

2) Industrial Waste – Ideal Fertilizer? from The Why Files http://whyfiles.org/063recycle/toxic.html

3) Recycling Programs in the Workplace http://environment.about.com/library/weekly/blrcy1.htm

4) Reducing Waste in the Workplace http://www.moea.state.mn.us/campaign/workplace/

5) Smart Ideas on Recycling from The Why Files http://whyfiles.org/063recycle/good_idea.html

6) Workplace Recycling from Green Nature http://greennature.com/article.php?sid=11

7) Workplace Recycling Program http://www.carolina-regional.com/library/recycling.htm

   

Global Recycling Network

http://grn.com/

This is a mega-site site dedicated to recycling-related information.

Not-To-Be-Missed Section:

2) Recycling Educational Resources (Links-page) http://grn.com/library/educational.htm

Other Global Recycling Websites:

3) European Recycling and the Environment http://www.tecweb.com/recycle/eurorec.htm

4) Recycler’s World http://www.recycle.net/recycle/index.html

  

Recycling Position Paper by R. Grindel, C. Snover, and K. Hopkins

http://grn.com/library/position.htm

This 1997 article provides a general overview of recycling.

Other Online Articles On Recycling:

2) Cultural Economies of Waste by G. Hawkins, University of New South Wales

http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/projects/cep/knowledges/hawkins.html

  

Reducing Household Waste in Local Landfills by J.H. Lloyd from North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service

http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/bae/programs/extension/publicat/wqwm/he379.html

Learn about source reduction, one of many names for the idea of making responsible decisions that reduce the amount of household waste.

Related Website:

2) Reusing Kitchen and Laundry Products – Home Tips

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/blrcy8.htm

 

Rotten Truth About Garbage from Association of Science-Technology Centers Inc. & Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service

http://www.astc.org/exhibitions/rotten/rthome.htm

This online exhibition takes an in-depth look at the complex issues surrounding municipal solid waste.

Related Websites:

2) Recycling’s Down in the Dumps by C.Welch from The Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134390788_recycle14m.html

 

Recycling Materials

Automobile Recycling Alternatives: Why Not?

http://www.npcr.org/reports/npcr1057/npcr1057.html

This report addresses the current status of the automobile recycling industry, with a focus on the environmental and economic implications of developing technologies.

Related Websites:

2) Automobile Recycling from Georgia Tech Research Institute

http://www.srl.gatech.edu/education/Recycle/Overview.html

3) Car Recycling from Waste Watch http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/informtn/carrec.htm

4) Fiscal Incentive Aid Car Recycling from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1994/may04/36537.html

5) Myth of Automobile Battery Recycling by M. Cobbing and S. Divecha from

Greenpeace http://www.things.org/~jym/greenpeace/myth-of-battery-recycling.html

6) Steel–Driving Automobile Recycling Success

http://www.recycle-steel.org/cars/main.html

 

Battery Recycling

http://www.batteryrecycling.com/

Demand for batteries in the U.S. is projected to increase 5.8% every year through 2002. In 1998 there were over 3 billion industrial and household batteries sold in the United States alone. This demand for batteries will continue.

Related Websites:

2) Battery Council International http://www.batterycouncil.org/recycling.html

3) Battery Recycling from Waste Watch http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/informtn/batteries.htm

4) Recycle Your Rechargeable Batteries from Rechargeable Battery Recycling

Corporation http://www.rbrc.org/

 

Can Central Recycling from Can Manufacturers Institute

http://www.cancentral.com/environ4.htm

Cans are the most-often recycled packaging in America. Here you learn about recycling of steel and aluminum cans.

Related Websites:

2) Aluminum Can & Foil Recycling from Waste Watch

http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/informtn/alumin.htm

3) Aluminum Can Recycling from Alupro http://www.alupro.org.uk/

4) Aluminum Recycling from International Aluminum Institute

http://www.world-aluminium.org/environment/recycling/

5) Beverage Container Recycling: Reverse Vending Machines

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa091000.htm

 

Composting from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/compost.htm

Composting is the controlled decomposition of organic materials, such as leaves, grass, and food scraps, by microorganisms. The result of this decomposition process is compost, a crumbly, earthy-smelling, soil-like material.

Related Websites:

2) Backyard Composting from Earth 911

http://www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=lib&a=organics/composting/joy/comp_backyard.inc

3) Compost Resource Page http://www.oldgrowth.org/compost/

4) Composting from EcoRecycle http://www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au/aboutus/infosheet_compost_a.asp

5) Composting and Earth Information Resources On The Web from Global Recycling

Network http://grn.com/library/compost.htm

6) Composting as Part of a Family Recycling Program http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa121700.htm

 

How Is Paper Recycled? from Paper University

http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/earth_answers/Recycle1.htm

Learn all about paper recycling and the environment.

Related Websites on Paper Recycling:

2) Marketing Used Paper from The Why Files http://whyfiles.org/063recycle/paper2.html

3) Paper from Environmental Systems of America

http://envirosystemsinc.com/paper.html

4) Paper Please http://www.afandpa.org/kids_educators/paper.cfm

5) Paper Recycling from Georgia-Pacific http://www.gp.com/EducationalinNature/topics/pr.html

6) Paper Recycling Trends in the United States

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa022397.htm

7) Paper Recycling: Success With Corrugated Boxes

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa021701a.htm

Paper Recycling’s Realities at The Why Files http://whyfiles.org/063recycle/paper.html

9) Recycled Paper: Plenty Available – Now Let’s Use It! by G. Gleason, S. Kinsella, & V.

Mills http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/1059_Kinsellapaper%20reprint.pdf

10) Recycling from the Pulp & Paper Information Centre

http://www.ppic.org.uk/htdocs/info/recycle/recycle.htm

11) Shopping for Recycled Paper http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/paper.htm

12) Treecycle Recycled Paper: Issues and Information http://treecycle.com/info.html

13) Why Recycle? from Paper University

http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/earth_answers/Whyrec1.htm

 

Paper or Plastic from the Film and Bag Federation

http://www.plasticbag.com/environmental/pop.html

Making a good choice for the environment is no longer as simple as knowing whether or not a product can be recycled. Recycling is just one of three very important factors to consider. See how plastic bags stack up in each of these areas: reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Related Websites:

2) How is Plastic Recycled? by V. Carrillo http://crystal.biol.csufresno.edu:8080/projects97/92.html

3) Plastic from Environmental Systems of America

http://envirosystemsinc.com/plastic.html

4) Plastics and Recycling from Plastics New Zealand Incorporated

http://www.plastics.org.nz/environment/recycle.htm

5) Plastics Identification Guyide from Spokane Solid Waste http://www.solidwaste.org/reccodes.htm

6) Plastics Recycling from EcoRecycle http://www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au/aboutus/infosheet_plastic.asp

7) Plastics Recycling: A Consumer’s Perspective

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa030898.htm

Plastics Resource from American Plastics Council http://www.plasticsresource.com/

 

Recycling from Glass Packaging Institute

http://www.gpi.org/Recycling.html

Ensuring a steady supply of recycled glass, or cullet, has become crucial to the industry’s success because using recycled glass reduces energy consumption, raw materials use, and wear and tear on machinery.

Related Websites:

2) British Glass http://www.recyclingglass.co.uk/

3) Glass Recycling http://www.aim-irl.com/greenguide/glass.htm

4) Glass Recycling from Newton’s Apple

http://www.eecs.umich.edu/mathscience/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/newton/GlssRecycl.html

5) Glass Recycling http://www.britglass.co.uk/recycling/

 

Used Motor Oil Collection and Recycling from American Petroleum Institute

http://www.recycleoil.org/

Motor oil doesn’t wear out – it just gets dirty.

Related Websites:

2) Collecting Used Oil for Recycling/Reuse from Pennzoil Company and U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/cars/oilreuse/oilreuse.htm

3) Don’t Be a Dipstick! Recycle Used Oil http://www.state.tn.us/environment/dca/oil.htm

4) Used Motor Oil Recycling from City of Chicago

http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Environment/SolidWaste/UsedMotorOil.html

 

Websites For Teachers

All Wrapped Up (Grades 4-6)

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel13.htm

Packaging accounts for 10-15% (and sometimes more than 50%) of the cost of a product and approximately 1/3 of what goes into a family’s trash can.

Related Activity:

2) Packaging Project (Grades 7-12) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/wisc2.htm

 

Aluminum Beverage Cans: The ABCs Environmental Education from Can Central

http://www.cancentral.com/canc/nontext/toc.htm

Here you find a guide for teachers that includes lesson plans, activities, and almost everything you will need for your unit on recycling.

 

Composting: A Great, Rotten Idea (Grades 7-9)

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel25.htm

When we mention “recycling,” we often think of recycling glass bottles, aluminum cans, and newspaper. But another 30% of the household garbage we throw out also can be recycled.

 

Eco-Marketing Project from Landmarks for Schools

http://www.landmark-project.com/eco-market/

Students working in teams of three or four, will develop ideas and appropriate prices for imaginative new products that they believe people of their age would buy and that contain at least 50% recycled materials.

 

Mini-landfills (Grades 4-6)

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/wisc1.htm

The goal of this exercise is to look at several typical household items, determine whether they are made of renewable or nonrenewable resources and observe what happens when they are placed in a landfill.

 

Paper Recycling (Grades 4-5) from Georgia-Pacific

http://www.gp.com/EducationalinNature/teachers/pr.html

Here you find a guide for study topics and discussion related to recycling paper.

 

Recycling Lesson Plan

http://whyfiles.org/004antarctic/teacher4/recycling.html

This lesson contains lots of discussion and activity ideas.

 

Plants From Trash (Grades K-3)

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel10.htm

Nature is the best recycler. Some plants even ‘recycle’ themselves. New plants can grow from plant seeds, and in some cases, from parts of plants.

 

Used Motor Oil Recycling from Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/enved/Rec_Lessons/motor.htm

Student will gain an awareness that used motor oil is a resource to be recycled rather than discarded. They will be able to identify locations where used motor oil may be recycled.

 

Waste Game Show

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/miss1.htm

This exercise is two teams of one or more players and is played similar to the game show Jeopardy.

 

 

 

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Use Less Energy

This page is currently under construction!

Please pardon our Dust.

Save Energy

How You Can Save Energy

It’s hard to imagine life without electricity. In our homes, we rely on it to power our lights, appliances, and electronics. Many of us also use electricity to provide our homes with hot water, heat, and air conditioning. There are many ways you can use less electricity right now!

What you can do

• Set your home’s thermostat a few degrees lower. For each one-degree change, your family can save up to 5 percent on your home’s heating and cooling costs!
• Turn off lights and all electronics (like computers, televisions, stereos, and video-games) when you leave a room.
• Use the microwave instead of the oven for cooking your meals.
• Use machines like washers, dryers, and dishwashers after 8 p.m.
• Open your blinds or curtains on sunny winter days to let the sun shine into your home.
• Save hot water by taking short showers instead of baths.
• Turn off the water while you brush your teeth.
• Occasionally hold a ribbon up to the edges of your home’s windows. If air is leaking into, or out of, the house, the ribbon will move. If you find a leak, let someone in your family know so they can fix it.

What your family can do

Buying new appliances? Look for the ENERGY STAR® label when replacing large or small appliances. Click here to learn more.

You can set up a rain barrel to collect the water that runs off your roof and use it water the lawn or wash the car. Find out why rain barrels are such a good idea.

What your community can do

U.S. Green Building Council

The Green Building Council helps builders and governments learn about how to make buildings that use less energy and are friendly to the environment.

Cool Cities

The Cool Cities campaign helps city residents and leaders learn how their city can save energy, reduce air pollution, and fight global warming.

Solar America Cities

Solar America Cities are chosen for their commitment to increased use of solar technologies in their homes and businesses. Each cities’ solar projects further President Bush’s Solar America Initiative, which aims to make solar electricity less costly by 2015. There are 12 solar cities for 2008 and one of those is Knoxville, Tennessee. The city plans to use the money to install solar panels in its new bus station and to build a net-zero energy home.

LED Lighting

Many towns and cities are saving money on their power bills by changing from incandescent light bulbs to light-emitting diode (LED) lights. These lights can be used in traffic signals, crosswalk signs, and even holiday displays.

LED lights have an extremely long life span and use much less energy than incandescent bulbs. Switching to LED lighting can save 40 to 70 percent of the electricity a city uses for certain lights in parking garages, parking lots, outdoor parks, and on streets.

The cities of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, are taking part in LED City, a program designed to help cities use LED lighting to save energy, protect the environment, and lower costs. Find out how your city can become an LED City.

The ball that drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve in New York City was recently changed over to LED lighting. The 9,576 LED lights replaced the 600 incandescent bulbs used in the previous ball. The new ball is more than twice as bright as the old one, but it uses only as much energy as a regular-size stove or oven.

Power brokers for your car

SCI-TECH | Firm sells 27 plug-in charging stations for hybrid vehicles, including at Northerly Island

Sandra Guy

June 20, 2009

It’s still a rare sight, but electric-hybrid cars and trucks will soon be revving up at a plug-in station at Northerly Island, the former site of Meigs Field.

The charging station was sold to the Chicago Park District by local start-up company Carbon Day, which has the exclusive rights to distribute them in the Midwest, including at movie theaters, parking garages, office buildings and shopping malls (carbondayautomotive.com).

CLICK FOR MORE!

ABC7 Profiles Carbon Day

abc7-on-cd

‘Synthetic tree’ claims to catch carbon in the air

• Story Highlights
• “Synthetic tree” would capture carbon dioxide in the air to reduce emissions
• Trapped carbon would be compressed to liquid C02 ready for sequestration
• Technology is being developed by scientists at Columbia University in the U.S.
• Broecker: “I think this is something that the world’s going to have to have”

LONDON, England (CNN) — Scientists in the United States are developing a “synthetic tree” capable of collecting carbon around 1,000 times faster than the real thing.

As the wind blows though plastic “leaves,” the carbon is trapped in a chamber, compressed and stored as liquid carbon dioxide.

The technology is similar to that used to capture carbon from flue stacks at coal-fired power plants, but the difference is that the “synthetic tree” can catch carbon anytime, anywhere.

READ MORE!

Carbon Day will be celebrated statewide on Sept. 15

ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES THAT CARBON DAY WILL BE CELEBRATED STATEWIDE ON SEPTEMBER 15th

The 96th General Assembly of the State of Illinois, has resolved that Carbon Day will be celebrated in Illinois, annually on September 15th. On this designated date, individuals, organizations, schools, and communities throughout the state will be urged to play a part in reducing the State’s carbon footprint by planting trees and organizing special programs to educate the people about simple steps that can be taken to reduce carbon emissions. The State of Illinois is dedicated to providing and preserving a healthy environment for the benefit of its citizens and for future generations.

MORE!

Legislature sets first Carbon Day for September

Associated Press

2:40 AM CDT, June 19, 2009

A kickoff is being planned for Lincoln Park in Chicago. Organizers are looking for corporate partners.

MORE!

How to Reduce Your Carbon Foot Print

There are many simple ways to reduce the footprint you leave on the planet. Learn how to reduce your footprint in each consumption category–carbon, food, housing, and goods and services—but don’t stop there. Amplify your impact by encouraging others to follow your lead. Engage your friends and community with local and global movements for social change, or start your own movement!

Reduce your Carbon Footprint

Use Cleaner Transport

• Walk, bike, or take public transit whenever possible.
• Avoid allowing your car to idle. If you’ll be waiting for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine (except in traffic). And don’t take the drive-through. Park the car and walk inside instead.
• Have your vehicle serviced regularly to keep the emission control systems operating at peak efficiency. Check your car’s air filter monthly, and keep the tires adequately inflated to maximize gas mileage.
• Avoid short airplane trips—take a bus or train instead.

Add Energy-Saving Features to your home

• Install compact fluorescent bulbs in all your home light fixtures—but remember, compact fluorescents contain mercury, so look for low-mercury models and be sure to dispose of old bulbs safely through your local hazardous waste program.
• Weatherproof your home. Make sure your walls and ceilings are insulated, and consider double-pane windows. Eliminate drafts with caulking, weather strips, and storm windows and doors.I
• nsulate your water heater. Even better, switch to a tankless water heater, so your water will be heated only as you use it.
• Choose energy efficient appliances.

Adopt Energy-Saving Habits

• Keep thermostat relatively low in winter and ease up on the air conditioning in summer. Clean or replace dirty air conditioner filters as recommended to keep the A/C operating at peak efficiency.
• Unplug your electronics when not in use. To make it easier, use a power strip. Even when turned off, items like your television, computer, and cell-phone charger still sip power.
• Dry your clothes outside whenever possible.
• Make minimal use of power equipment when landscaping.
• Defrost your refrigerator and freezer regularly.
• Choose green electricity. Many utilities give you the option to purchase electricity generated by wind and solar power for a small rate surcharge.
• Purchase carbon offsets to make up for the energy use you can’t eliminate.

Reduce your Food Footprint

• Eat more local, organic, in-season foods.
• Plant a garden—it doesn’t get more local than that.
• Shop at your local farmer’s market or natural foods store. Look for local, in-season foods that haven’t traveled long distances to reach you.
• Choose foods with less packaging to reduce waste.
• Eat lower on the food chain—going meatless for just one meal a week can make a difference. Globally, it has been estimated that 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions are associated with meat consumption.

Reduce your Housing Footprint

• Choose sustainable building materials, furnishings, and cleaning products.
• Explore green design features for your building, like passive solar heating, a rainwater catchment or grey water recycling system, and recycled materials.
• Choose efficient appliances, including low flow shower-heads, faucets, and toilets.
• Choose furnishings that are second-hand, recycled, or sustainably produced.
• Plant drought tolerant plants in your garden and yard.
• Use biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning products.

Adopt Water-Saving Habits

• Take shorter, less frequent showers—this not only saves water, but the energy necessary to heat it.
• Don’t use the garbage disposal. Compost instead.
• Run the dishwasher and the laundry machine only when full.
• Wash cars rarely, or better yet, take them to a carwash. Commercial carwashes use less water per wash than home washers, and they are also required to drain used water into the sewage system, rather than storm drains, which protects aquatic life.
• Avoid hosing down or power-washing your deck, walkways, or driveway.
• Regularly look for and fix leaks.
• Turn off the water when you brush your teeth. If everyone did this simple step we would save the equivalent of the great lakes every year.
• Buy a rain barrel to capture excess rain from the gutters which can be used to water your garden.

Reduce your Goods and Services Footprint

• Buy less! Replace items only when you really need to.
• Recycle all your paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic. Don’t forget electronics!
• Compost food waste for the garden. Garbage that is not contaminated with degradable (biological) waste can be more easily recycled and sorted, and doesn’t produce methane gases (a significant greenhouse gas contributor) when stored in a landfill.
• Buy recycled products, particularly those labeled “post-consumer waste.”

What Is A Carbon Footprint?

What is A Carbon Footprint?

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.

Each of us needs to “Play a Part” to reduce our Carbon Footprint.

After all

THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO LOSE IS CARBON.

Today, it is more important than ever to reduce our Carbon Footprint.

Not only are the developed countries producing more and more carbon emissions, but there is now a growing problem as the population in Africa and Asia start changing their lifestyles in ways that consume more energy.

We need to lead the way…

A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint (shown by the green slices of the pie chart) and the secondary footprint (shown as the yellow slices)

1. The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.

2. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use – those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf.

To calculate your carbon footprint - click here

For tips to reduce your footprint - click here

Follow these Links for More Information on carbon reducing technologies:

Greening the Grid

Do it Yourself

Solar

Wind

Geothermal

Cutting Down on Energy Consumption

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