One quick tip that we will do this vacation to help reduce our carbon foot print: we will pack light. When flying, each additional 10 pounds per traveler requires an added 350 million gallons of jet fuel per year. I always tend to over pack, and not use several items that I take with me anyways. This year we will audit what we normally bring and ask ourselves. “do we really need this?” We will bring smaller sized things, like toothpaste, shampoo and soaps (ones that we have gotten free from hotels anyways). Since we will only bring one bag between the two of us, we will have less baggage charges and it will require less time for the ticket counter to process us. It’s a win-win situation. Feel free to leave us any of your own experiences traveling lighter.
Archive for the ‘Air’ category
Packing Light
February 26th, 2010
CO2 emissions from a plane – a video
November 23rd, 2009I found this video today about co2 emissions and thought I would share it with all of you. It is a little bit graphic, but certainly gets the point across.
Week 5 closes and I am driving my way to being green
November 23rd, 2009Another week has ended and I have learned quite a bit about green driving. The actions I have taken this week will help not only the environment, but also our pocket books. Our driving has an effect on the amount of gas we use and each gallon saved prevents over 19 pounds of greenhouse gases from getting into the atmosphere. Our daily driving can dramatically impact the amount of greenhouse gases that are spewed into the atmosphere.
Probably the biggest changes I have made and expect to continually follow are checking/filling my tires and also to keep track of my mileage. By keeping track of my mileage and mpg, I will be able to make a game out of this and try to get the best mileage possible. I like that kind of stuff. Checking my tires is something that I did know about, but have just failed to do. I have now created a game to motivate me and numbers that I can chart or follow.
I will also try and change my actual driving habits to drive slower and take it easy on my breaks as Ashley recommended this week. This might be a bit difficult for me though since these are habits I have been forming for nearly 20 years. I think I already drive like a grandma, but will do my best to slow down (but always driving like those around me to ensure safety). The game I created may come into play to see if speed helps me get better mpg.
Also, I did a bit of poking fun at NASCAR and implying that they are bigoted against right turns. The message I was really trying to convey is the waste that surrounds this sport. Also, on the other end of the spectrum, we had a guest post from EcoGeeco who owns a GEM electric car and charges it with solar panels he built. Very cool stuff and really appreciate the guest post.
It has been an environmentally productive week and I am continuing to make changes every week that is having long term benefits. If this is something I can do, it is something anybody can do. Follow me via RSS or email to go through this journey with me!
