A pledge to live greener
Residents get help calculating savings
- |
Slow down. Unplug. And eat your vegetables.
It sounds like a self-improvement plan for the new year, but it is actually a Needham environmental group's version of a health-improvement plan for the planet.
Whether residents are interested in going green or just saving some green, the Green Needham Collaborative is betting that what they really need are some specifics.
So the group worked with an Olin College of Engineering student to develop an online form to help residents figure out how to cut their carbon footprint by at least 10 percent. The 10 Percent Energy Challenge officially kicks off this month.
"There's almost too much information around and it's very difficult for people to make sense of it," said Eleanor Rosellini, a member of Green Needham's steering committee. "Our goal was to make it as easy as possible for people to make a plan to save energy."
The collaborative is asking residents to fill out the 10 Percent Energy Challenge form at www.challenge.greenneedham.org, which provides step-by-step directions on how they can reduce household energy consumption, and a progress report on reaching the target for each step they pledge to take.
The "My Plan" form starts participants at the average American household's annual output of 54,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (the most common greenhouse gas linked to global warming, the site notes). There is also a link to allow users to figure out their household's specific carbon output from the burning of fossil fuels, if they don't want to use the average figure.
The form then takes users through simple questions so that they can figure out how to cut that annual figure by at least 10 percent; for the average starting point, that's 5,400 pounds of carbon dioxide.
Don't mind giving up a few burgers or steaks? Adding one vegetarian meal per week reduces your annual footprint by 700 pounds.
Been meaning to switch from incandescent to compact fluorescent bulbs? You get a credit of 150 pounds per year for each light bulb switched.
Residents enter where they pledge to make cuts, and the website does the math. And if you want to know why and how the changed behavior reduces your footprint, there are links for additional explanations.
"Anybody can go through in about 10 or 15 minutes, and what we hope is everybody can come up with something," said Michael Greis, cofounder and cochairman of the Green Needham Collaborative, and chairman of the town's School Committee.
Green Needham includes both quick fixes and more complex changes to reduce a household's energy consumption.
"Just something like turning off your computer," said Rosellini. "There's a myth around for years and years that it's bad to turn off your computer. We wanted more of a link there that actually has some government sources and some good solid sources about why it's OK to do that."
Green Needham recommends having a computer switch to standby if it won't be in use for 20 minutes, and turning off any computer that won't be used in at least two hours, providing an annual carbon savings of 500 pounds per computer.
Another favorite quick fix from Green Needham has to do with fighting "vampire power," the electricity sucked up by appliances that are turned off but still plugged into an outlet.
Needham resident Tom Gehman is taking the 10 Percent Energy Challenge. He said he actually got to 13.4 percent largely by plugging groups of electronic devices or appliances into power strips, which make it easy to disconnect the equipment from the grid when not in use.
"If you touch it and it's warm, it's using power whether it's turned on or not," said Gehman.
As an electrical engineer, Gehman got a little more involved in the challenge than the average resident. He bought a low-power watt meter so he could measure exactly how much power an appliance was using while off. And he also calculated his dollar savings just for fun.
Gehman discovered that his new high-definition television draws 18 watts when it's turned off but still plugged in. Just by shutting off the TV's power strip when it's not in use, he said, he saves almost $3 on his monthly electricity bill. When he was done with all the household math, Gehman found he would save $444 annually just with his new power strip vigilance.
He also unplugged an unused refrigerator and reprogrammed his thermostat to save more energy, he said.
Gehman said he appreciates getting the specific information.
"Having a number in your mind is better than a vague idea of 'Oh, it's consuming something,' " he said. "If you have an actual number, then you know what it's worth to go down to
Some of the more challenging fixes suggested by Green Needham include buying a car with better gas mileage, and replacing older refrigerators and furnaces with more efficient models.
Green Needham organizers say their site makes it easier to conserve energy, reducing contributions to global warming, but the group's next challenge is getting residents to act.
"We feel that we've done a lot of consciousness raising, we've done teaching," said Rosellini. "We want people to not just learn but do something about what they've learned."
The collaborative is holding a drawing for residents who take the challenge by April 30, with the prizes including energy-saving products and services.
Lisa Kocian can be reached at lkocian@globe.com.
