syrinx

Over the past several years, Susan and I have been working at becoming more environmentally responsible. It started with organic gardening, and since then we've been able to do a few more things that let us sleep a little better at night. We feel it is our responsibility to lead by example, so I've come up with a list of things we've done, or are in the process of doing:

Change all light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs

We've almost completed this process. It can be expensive, but the bulbs use 66% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb and last up to 10 times longer. Replacing a single 100-watt incandescent with a 32-watt CFL can save you at least $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb. Put another way, if every American household changed five regular light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, it would be like taking eight million cars off the road. Eight million. Just from replacing five light bulbs.

Install solar-powered motion detecting outdoor lights

We have installed two solar-powered motion detecting outdoor lights. They are more than sufficiently bright for their purpose. The solar collectors are a bit unsightly, but the advantages far outweigh the aesthetic disadvantages. As an example, leaving a 100 watt light bulb on for eight hours a day, 365 days a year, uses up 292 kWh per year. This produces about 320 kg (700 pounds) of carbon dioxide emissions. From one bulb. Our solar-powered lights use zero kWh from the power grid per year, producing zero carbon dioxide emissions.

Practice intensive composting and recycling

We compost all organic matter as well as many paper products. We are also very rigorous in our recycling, making sure we don't throw anything away that can be recycled. But of course, before we recycle we reduce and reuse. There's a reason they're in that order...

Reduce electricity use

We turn off our computers when not in use and we put them on standby when leaving for short breaks. We also turn off all peripherals like printers until they're needed. We've turned down our 'fridge temperature, and (see above) replaced most of our incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. We're very aware of power "trickle" loss from chargers, DVD players and such simply being left plugged in all the time, so we unplug anything that doesn't actually need to be plugged in. Same goes for light switches: everything's off until needed.

Garden organically

As mentioned in the introduction to this article, our environmental efforts started with organic gardening. We have never ever used toxic chemicals of any kind on our gardens or lawn. We use only our own compost or fully organic plant food to feed the plants. This year we successfully re-seeded parts of our lawn with seed balls. We also pull dandelions by hand with a small dandelion-getter-outer. It's actually quite a relaxing task if you approach it properly.

Plant a Monarch Waystation

We harvested seeds from last year's Milkweed plants which are now growing nicely. We've also transplanted a couple of Milkweed plants from a nearby meadow (where there are many similar plants growing) to have yet another variety available. We are in the process of selecting other plants to add to the waystation which should attract Monarchs as well as other butterflies.

Join Bullfrog Power

Bullfrog Power is the first 100% green electricity retailer in Ontario, Canada. We switched over from our regular supplier as soon as we found out this option was available to us. It does cost more, but it works out to about a dollar a day, so we thought it was worth the cost. Bullfrog Power is "the only electricity retailer in Ontario that buys power exclusively from wind and low-impact hydro generators who meet or exceed the federal government's Environmental Choice Program EcoLogo standard for renewable electricity.

Get a hybrid gas/electric vehicle

We found ourselves having to purchase a new vehicle a bit sooner than we expected, so we took advantage of the "opportunity" and bought a Ford Escape Hybrid SUV last December. We opted for this vehicle over a sedan like the Prius as we have two large dogs that we take with us everywhere we go. In addition to producing 97% less toxic emissions, and 50% less carbon dioxide than an average vehicle, we're currently getting 35 mpg, or 6.72 L/100 km. This is incredible for any car, let alone an SUV, and it's still going up as I get better at eco-driving .

Get a TerraPass

Our FEH still produces carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas everybody's talking about these days. To compensate for this we purchased carbon credits in the form of a TerraPass. TerraPass allows consumers to easily and affordably eliminate the environmental impact of driving their cars by purchasing carbon emission offsets. They use your money to fund clean energy projects that reduce industrial carbon dioxide emissions in direct proportion to that which you produce with your vehicle.

Start an environmentally-focused website

As we increased our environmental efforts, we wanted to share our experiences and perhaps have some small influence, changing things for the better. Since our site was virtually unused at the time, we thought it would be the perfect platform to get the word out. And this is it! We're still getting started, but we already have a small core of like-minded members.

As a result of these efforts, Susan and I feel much better about our impact on the environment. As I mentioned, many of these things do involve money. But there are also many things that don't. So regardless of your circumstances, you too can participate in making the world a better place.

tags: gardening organic hybrid environment emissions butterflies carbon composting recycling monarch waystation