Introduction
This webpage is all about simple things you can incorporate into your daily life to help chip away at the climate crisis. I wanted to keep things as simple as possible to show you that this form of activism is easy and effective. Just remember small things can make a big change! You got this!
Turning Off The Lights When You Leave And/or Getting LED Light Bulbs
Incandescent bulbs use a lot of energy, approximately 60 watts per bulb! - To put that into perspective, newer models of TVs use around 50 to 100 watts, meaning that having your light bulbs off can save enough electricity to power your TV for hours. If you want to go the extra mile, you can use LEDs instead of your standard incandescent light bulbs because LEDs use way less energy. LEDs use around 9-12 watts of energy per bulb. According to energy sage, “using an incandescent light bulb for 2 hours per day will use about 12.2 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month and 43.8 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, and using an LED light bulb for 2 hours per day will use about 0.61 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month and 7.3 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year”. Additionally, according to the US Department of Energy LEDs use up to 90% less energy and last up to 25 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.
Recycling
Recycling does so much more than you can imagine. Recycling 1 aluminum can saves 95% of the energy used to make that aluminum can in the first place! That's a huge impact. Lots of people assume that most places recycle a lot, but its way less than you think. In 2021, the recycling company Ball measured the percentage of waste thats recycled by state: 50 States of Recycling - Ball. The image below includes the economic benefits of recycling and how big of an impact it actually has. Additionally, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency reclyling 1 ton of paper could: Save enough energy to power the average American home for six months, save 7,000 gallons of water, save 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2,205 pounds (one metric ton).
Limiting the use of Ai
Ai is directly responsible for using up massive amounts of energy, chat gpt has over 100 million active users and with the use of generative Ai skyrocketing so is the amount of energy used. To put this into perspective generating a 100 word email takes roughly 17 ozs of water. The reason this occurs is because Ai systems generate a lot of heat and to cool the systems they use water. However this water can be reused, but getting the water back to its original state takes tons of energy.
Eating Less Meat
The amount of resources used to farm livestock is huge. Raising livestock accounts for over 12% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, that's approximately 6.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases annually. Just not eating meat 1 time per day will reduce your carbon footprint significantly. If you want to go the extra mile, you can go on a vegetarian or vegan diet, which can reduce your carbon footprint by upwards of 75%.
Using Your Car Less
Fossil fuels account for over 75% of worldwide gas emissions, mainly from burning oil, coal, and natural gas. If you use other forms of transportation, such as biking or busing, even once per week, you will be saving tons of energy. Busing once a week can reduce your carbon footprint by over 40%. Switching from a solo 20-mile car commute to public transportation daily can save 48,000 pounds of CO2 annually.
Works Cited
https://www.ball.com/sustainability/real-circularity/50-states-of-recycling.
https://archive.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/materials/paper/web/html/index-2.html.
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/energy-and-the-environment/recycling-and-energy.php.
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/top-strategies-to-reduce-livestock-carbon-footprint#:~:text=Livestock%20account%20for%206.2%20billion,FAO)%20of%20the%20United%20Nations.
https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/ethical-benefits-not-eating-meat#:~:text=animals%20in%20slaughterhouses.-,Reducing%20your%20carbon%20footprint,around%2025%20kilos%20of%20feed.
https://www.eachgreencorner.org/2023/07/20/do-plant-based-diets-cut-more-emissions-than-any-other-individual-action/.
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/important-moments-climate-history-in-photos/.
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