All of you have calculated your emissions and you have surely discovered the unexpectedly high impact of some of your behaviors (eating meat, flying to a sunny destination, etc.) on your total footprints.
Are there any behaviors that you are really willing to change or to improve for the sake of the environment? What challenges do you encounter or think you will encounter while trying to change these things? What help, support, and insights from others would make your life easier with these new behaviors?
Let's discuss these issues and make our pledges here!
Now It's Time for Action >
Spotlight on Energy Efficient Bulbs
One of the biggest sources of my carbon dioxide emissions was in the section regarding the number of lights in our houses and the number of hours we leave these lights on. My family and I primarily use fluorescent bulbs with the exception of four incandescent lights. After totaling up all the hours, the carbon dioxide emissions turned out to be 7052 kgs. I think this was one of the biggest contributors to my carbon footprint, however incandescent lights are actually less efficient. In some countries such as the US, Brazil, and the Philippines, have tried to encourage people to buy more fluorescent lights for more efficient energy usage. In the UK, the total carbon dioxide emissions totaled up to 1.9 billion tonnes (1.9 trillion kgs). Fluorescent lights also have a longer lifespan (5 to 25 thousand hours) rather than incandescent lights (around one thousand hours). LED lights, however, are the most energy efficient option. In a project in 2010 in Clearwater, Florida involving LED lights, the amount of energy used in traffic lights was reduced by 70 percent.
Although fluo rescent light bulbs are a better alternative than incandescent lights, it would be most beneficial to our ecosystem if we all used LED lights.
Resources used:
Di Maria, Corrado, Susana Ferreira, and Emiliya Lazarova. "Shedding Light On
The Light Bulb Puzzle: The Role Of Attitudes And Perceptions In The
Adoption Of Energy Efficient Light Bulbs." Scottish Journal Of Political
Economy 57.1 (2010): 48-67. Business Source Complete. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.
Goldenstein, Taylor. "LED BULBS LIGHT WAY TO GREEN STREETS; Clearwater
switches to the more energy-efficient technology." Tampa Bay Times [St.
Petersburg, FL] 26 Sept. 2014: 1. Student Resources in Context. Web. 1 Oct.
2015.