The list
A personal action guide to the basics of going green
By Grace Persico , Joe Piasecki , Nyrie Chaparian 04/23/2009
By now, everyone should know about compact fluorescent lights — those corkscrew-shaped bulbs that use 73 percent less energy for the same light output as outdated incandescent bulbs, and typically last for years instead of months.
Even if you cared little about the planet’s future, the out-of-pocket savings alone (about $30 over the life of one bulb, according to the US Department of Energy) just makes sense, especially in this economy.
Of course, switching off the light when you leave a room, turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth and throwing cans, bottles and newspapers into a recycle bin instead of a trash bin should also be common practice by now.
But where do we go from there?
Not all of us can be an Ed Begley, Jr. type, riding bicycles or driving a hybrid (batteries not plugged in to the grid, but charged by the sun) everywhere we go, solar panels on the roof, a solar oven warming organic vegetables. Lifestyle modification is, well, tough.
There are, however, a lot of easy and inexpensive ways to do right by the planet — small choices that add up, when we all pitch in a little, to making a big difference.
— Joe Piasecki
Buy green power
Many utility companies offer their electric customers the option to purchase “green power,” generated by windmills or other renewable means. How it works is that by paying a few dollars extra per month, a customer subsidizes the purchase of enough renewable energy for the grid to cover his own needs, replacing the cheaper but dirtier coal-generated power.
Buying green power from Pasadena Water and Power would cost the typical household an extra $12.50 per month (just over 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, if that means anything to you), or choose wind power for half your home for about $6.25. For more information, call (626) 744-4409 or visit cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower.
Green power is also available to Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers, who can opt to green 20 to 100 percent of their electric bills at a rate of 3 cents per kilowatt-hour by calling (800) 342-5397 or logging on to ladwp.com (select “Rebates and Programs” from the menu at the top of the page).
Glendale Water and Power customers can call (818) 548-3300 to ask about green power enrollment options or visit glendalewaterandpower.com/residents and select “Green Partners Program.”
Wear it on your sleeve
Buying clothing without animal and petroleum products is not impossible and can save a lot of energy. Besides visiting thrift and vintage stores to reuse clothes, there are lots of places that offer guilt-free clothing. One of them is Alternative Outfitters, 408 S. Pasadena Ave. in Pasadena, a vegan boutique that utilizes green and animal-friendly materials. Don’t forget to bring a reusable shopping bag.
Go solar
As our environmental problems grow, so do our energy needs. Pasadena-based eSolar, a company that builds and maintains utility-scale solar power plants, predicts that worldwide electricity consumption could as much as double by the year 2040 — that is, if we don’t change our outdated wasteful ways or the planet itself isn’t exhausted by then.
Although it is a sizeable time and resource commitment, becoming part of the solar solution may not be as difficult or costly as it seems.
Under the Pasadena Solar Initiative, residents who install solar panels are eligible for permit fee reimbursement and lump-sum rebates of hundreds or even thousands of dollars, depending on how much power is generated. Federal tax credits are also available. Call (626) 744-4409 or visit cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/solar for more information or to sign up for a free solar power workshop on May 9 or July 30 at the Art Center College of Design’s South Campus, 950 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena.
Other communities also offer rebates and other incentives for going solar. In Glendale, call (818) 548-2750 or visit glendalewaterandpower.com, click “environment,” then “solar solutions.” Los Angeles residents can call (213) 367-4122 or visit ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp000787.jsp. Southern California Edison customers should visit sce.com/customergeneration/customer-generation.htm.
Cut back on meat
Helping the environment is about more than what you drive. Switching to a vegetarian diet or at least cutting back on the amount of meat you eat can have an enormous impact on your personal carbon footprint. Scientific studies have determined that the amount of fossil fuel energy it takes to raise and slaughter animals (not to mention bovine flatulence and gasses released by manure) and then prepare and transport their meat for consumption makes for ecological disaster. To see if your lunch is fanning the flames of global warming, visit eatlowcarbon.org, which features a carbon dioxide food calculator. Spoiler alert: Tofu is responsible for only about
5 percent of the carbon emissions it takes to produce a similar portion of beef.
Be an Energy Star
Buying Energy Star products — refrigerators, dishwashers, windows and the like — helps the environment and can also be good for your wallet, and in more ways than energy savings. Pasadena offers rebate incentives of $25 to $175 for replacing inefficient household appliances with ones that have an Energy Star endorsement. Glendale Water and Power also offers significant rebates, up to $80 for buying a new refrigerator, $60 for a new air conditioner and $125 for a solar-powered attic fan or high-efficiency pool pump. Los Angeles rebates include up to $100 for Energy Star refrigerators and $50 for air conditioners.
For Glendale information, call (866) 557-1411 or visit glendalewaterandpower.com and click the “environment” link. For Pasadena information, see above left. Call (800) 374-2224 or visit ladwp.com (select “Rebates and Programs”) for Los Angeles information. Southern California Edison customers can call (800) 655-4555 or visit sce.com/residential/rebates-savings.
Also, keep your eye out for Energy Star computers: According to energystar.gov, if all computers were made to Energy Star standards, the savings in energy costs would reach $2 billion each year and the environmental benefit would equal that from taking two million cars off the road.
Don’t be a hoser
The days of cheap and plentiful water are all but over in Southern California, where longstanding drought conditions and restrictions on pumping from out-of-area sources have prompted the Metropolitan Water District (which supplies Pasadena and much of the region with most of its water) to enforce water-use cutbacks of 10 percent this summer.
In Pasadena, City Council members voted earlier this month to enact permanent water-waste bans, backed up by fines of up to $500 for homes and twice that for businesses. Prohibited activities now include washing automobiles and paved surfaces, unless your hose has a shut-off nozzle (now also required for lawn irrigation), and filling decorative fountains that do not have recirculation systems. For a complete list of prohibited activities and financial incentives for installing water-saving technology, visit cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower.
The amount of water saved by making a few small lifestyle adjustments is staggering. By not watering your lawn after
8 a.m., you save 25 gallons each time, according to the MWD’s bewaterwise.com. By using a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks, the average homeowner saves 150 gallons. Simply turn off the water as you brush
your teeth, and you save three right at the start of your day.
Drive the point home
Hybrid and electric cars are pretty cool. I mean, have you seen the Tesla Roadster (teslamotors.com)?!
While not everyone is in the market for such a marvel (or able to rely exclusively on bicycles and public transportation), there are more than a few ways to green your way of getting around that have nothing to do with giving up gasoline. While it’s getting to be common knowledge that proper tire inflation can add several miles per gallon to any car and that driving a little slower burns up less gas, there’s also an emerging school of thought that buying a used car instead of a new one is a lesser-of-two-evils choice.
According to a recent article at wired.com, buying a used Toyota Tercel may be not only a much cheaper option than buying a new Prius, but also a greener one. The reason: Manufacturing a Prius uses about 113 million BTUs (British Thermal Units, about a third of a watt), which is like consuming 1,000 gallons of gas before it leaves the showroom. A 1998 Tercel, on the other hand, comes with no such “carbon debt,” as writer Matt Power put it — meaning the new Prius will have to go for about 100,000 miles before its energy efficiency surpasses the Tercel’s 35-miles-per-gallon highway rating. So take pride in your old beater. Or buy a used Prius.
Put money on it
The way you manage your personal investment portfolio can also have a great impact on the health of the planet. Firms that specialize in socially responsible investing (SRI) can screen out from your portfolio companies with environmental issues, all as well as that which use sweatshop labor, perform product testing on animals or have ties to the military-industrial complex. The late Green Party co-founder and activist Peter Camejo, a three-time California gubernatorial candidate and investment guru, won investors consistently better-than-average returns through his Eco-Logical Trust, the first environmentally screened fund for a major Wall Street firm, Merrill Lynch. For more information, check out Camejo’s book, “The SRI Advantage: Why Socially Responsible Investing Has Outperformed Financially,” or get started at coopamerica.org.
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