Resource Use Reduction Summary - W2009
A crude tally of the number of times you completed each of these actions is below -- a nicer looking version that includes a comparison to previous years is available in the Course Documents section of the Blackboard site. Some text that tries to express some of these actions in readily interpretable terms follows the tally
Action
Turn out lights 3250
Turn off computer/ CD player 720
Turn down thermostat 594
Use alternative transportation 438
Re-use bag 348
Recycle can or bottle 1010
Use back side of paper 473
Use cloth bag for groceries 169
Use a "come back cup" 281
Buy organic produce/meat 165
Flush when necessary 635
Hang clothes to dry 72
Run washers when full 257
Use a hand rather than power tool 158
Take stairs not elevator 751
Shop at thrift store 44
Computer notes not paper 182
Compost 156
91 people participated in 2009, which is similar to 2008, in which 97 folks participated, and 2005, in which 96 people participated, so results can be compared between years.
Quantifying a few of these actions:
(1) Turn out a light that would otherwise have been left on.
If we assume 75 watt bulbs, and that each was turned off for an
hour during which it would otherwise have been left on, we come
up with 244,000 watts or 244 kwh. My family tends to use ~ 400
kwh per month, so the savings were equal to 61 % of my family's
energy use for that month, or enough to power the total electricity
needs of my house for about 18 days (or, over a year, for 223
days - just shy of 7.5 months!!)
(2) Use alternative transportation when driving alone was an option:
438 instances. If we assume that the average trip would have been
5 miles and the vehicle got 25 miles per gallon, we've saved about
88 gallons of gas in this week. Over a year, this would amount
to 4,590 gallons. Saving these miles also reduced CO2 emissions.
If one figures 30 # of CO2 per gallon of gasoline burned (the
usual conversion) this yearly savings is 137,660 pounds of CO2
or nearly 69 tons.
(3) Use the backside of a piece of paper: 473 instances. Assuming
that the tallies represent single sheets of paper (a conservative
estimate), this would be about one ream of paper per week (a ream
is 500 sheets). This would, over a year, be 52 reams, or a stack
9.75 feet high (a ream is 2.25 inches tall).
(4) Flush toilet only when it is necessary: 635 instances. If
we assume one wait per flush (rather than letting the accumulation
get larger) and assume that all were 1.6 gallon toilets (unlikely
- probably some were higher volume toilets), then we come up with
~ 1,016 gallons (about 20 50-gallon drums) per week or 53,000
gallons per year!
Additional savings mentioned by some: did dishes by hand with the water off instead of using the dishwasher; took shorter showers or turned down the water heater thermostat; reduced soap use or used environmentally friendly cleaning products or toiletries; used cloth napkins and dish towels; turned off water while brushing teeth or doing dishes or use low-flow shower head; unplugged unused appliances; ate vegetarian or vegan; bought bulk products and purchased them in re-used containers; picked up litter; reused packaging; shopped at local businesses; weatherized or insulate your house; donated unwanted goods instead of throwing in the trash; used rechargeable batteries; relied on sunlight instead of electric lights…
See http://www.myfootprint.org for more information about how to estimate your resource use (or resource use reductions, as the case may be!). Also see the resource use reduction project link on the class web site, to which I've added links to several other sites that allow you to calculate use of energy and other natural resources - there are some great sites there! http://oregonstate.edu/~muirp/resusered.htm
Other interesting tidbits about actions that can help you save resources are listed below:
Miscellaneous related tidbits and web links:
See below for more information on resource use reduction -- there are some useful tips and web sites for those who want more information. In addition, there are some links to sites that deal with food and sustainability in the section of web notes that treats alternative agriculture.
About re-using bags for shopping; Using a long-term bag (e.g., cloth) is really the best answer to the question you often get at the checkout stand, "Paper or plastic?" The answer to that question should, from an environmental perspective, be "Neither." Plastic (polyethylene bags) takes about 40% less energy to produce than is required to make paper bags (considering the entire stream from forest to paper bag in the store) and plastic also takes up less room in landfills than does paper. However, paper will decompose in landfills, unlike plastic, and in many communities, paper bags can be recycled through curbside collection.
Peripherally related to the item
about running washers only when full: perhaps surprisingly,
some studies suggest that dishwashers can use ~ 50% as much energy
and 17% as much water as does typical handwashing of dishes! This
is true only when the machines are run full, using a relatively
low water temperature, and when the energy saving "no heat,
air dry" option is selected. See http://www.landtechnik.unibonn.de/ifl_research/ifl_research_projects.php?sec=HT
for more details.
Re. hanging clothes to dry rather than using a clothes dryer, dryers DO use a LOT of energy -- 6 - 10% of US residential energy use, on average (Sierra Sept/Oct '07). For tips on how to save energy both washing and drying clothes, see www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/laundry.html
SITES WITH LOCALLY USEFUL INFORMATION:
Corvallis transit (bus system)
- note that you can ride the bus free in Corvallis - just
show your OSU ID card! This site gives schedule and route information
-
http://www.ci.corvallis.or.us/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=467&Itemid=410
A Pacific Northwest site that helps people match up with carpools - whether for one trip or routine commutes: http://www.carpoolmatchnw.org/
Corvallis disposal (landfill, recycling, swap store, composting and more): http://corvallis.disposal.com/
(A related note: as of 2004, only 45% of aluminum cans used in the US were recycled, despite the fact that recycling one can saves enough electricity to run a laptop computer for ~ 10 hours! These cans are 100% recyclable, recycling uses 90 % less energy than is used to make the can starting from ore, and the average recycled can's aluminum is back on the shelf within 60 days in the US. In lesser developed countries, rates of aluminum recycling are generally much higher than in the US - there poverty and high scrap metal values combine to make such cans valued as the precious resource they really are! This accords with the saying, "Garbage is only called garbage until enough people want it.") The US national average recycling rate (i.e., the total recovery of materials) across all types of materials is about 32%, which is lower than the rate found for most other industrialized nations in Europe, and in Japan (Frontiers in Eco and Env March '07)
Pacific Power - information on Blue Sky and other energy conservation programs [and information on energy efficient appliances]: http://www.pacificpower.net
(A related note: while here in the PNW we imagine that we are wealthy in alternative fuels, such as hydroelectric power - and we are, compared to many regions of the country - we still get 40% of our electricity from fossil fuels - and in Corvallis, ~ 69% of our electricity is based on burning coal, which is a relatively "dirty" fossil fuel….)
Information on solar power in the Corvallis community - and wider information as well: http://www.solarcreek.org
SITES WITH INFORMATION ABOUT OSU AND OTHER UNIVERSITY'S SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS:
The College Sustainabiity Report Card, performed by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, assesses the sustainability of the 200 public and private universities with the largest endowments in the US and Canada. OSU was ranked in the top 25 for 2008. You can see the report at http://www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability/
See http://oregonstate.edu/sustainability/ for information on specific initiatives underway or planned for the future at OSU.
Sierra magazine, in its Nov/Dec 2007 issue had a story describing what is considers to be the top 10 colleges in the US in terms of sustainability, which also included novel ideas being tried at a host of other schools around the country. I don't have a link to this article, but do have a hard copy that you could borrow, ifyou'd like!
SITES WITH INFORMATION ABOUT PARTICULAR TYPES OF ENERGY USE REDUCTION:
Compact fluorescent light bulbs (These yield as much light as regular incandescents, but for only 20 - 25% as much energy - and they last up to 10X longer than incandescents; these features combined mean a fast pay-back period for the initially more expensive purchase. You can determine whether light out put will be the same as that delivered by your former incandescent bulbs by comparing lumens - not watts [ an 18 watt compact replaces a 75 watt incandescent, for example].) See the following sites for more information:
General info: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cfls.basic_cfl_search
(This site also has information on
other kinds of appliances.)
To choose bulbs: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/page.cfm?tagID=632&campaign=mts
To calculate energy savings that
would result from switching to compact fluorescents:
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/page.cfm?tagID=602&campaign=mts
To learn about the importance of disposing of compact fluorescents properly, because they contain small amouts of mercury (and about the reduction in total mercury emissions associated with their use, even though they do contain this element) see http://www.environmentaldefense.org/bulbsandmercury
To choose computers based on energy efficiency:
Information on various energy alternatives and energy use reduction actions and programs:
http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/index.htm
Information on home insulation -- determine the optimum insulation value for homes in your geographic area by visiting the US Dept. of Energy's map and chart at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/insulation.html
In this vein, a few miscellaneous tidbits:
SITE WITH INFORMATION ABOUT DRIVING BEHAVIOUR AND ITS EFFECT ON MILEAGE (AND EMISSIONS)
A few good tidbits:
- Keep your automobile tires fully inflated - if they are underinflated
by only 4 pounds, this diminishes your mileage by ~ 0.5 mpg! (You
can note this effect when you're riding a bike with low tires
too….).
-If your car will be idling for more than 10 seconds, it pays
to turn it off - takes less gas to turn off and on than would
be consumed after that 10 seconds.
- Every mile per hour that you drive over 55 mph you lose ~ 2%
in mileage!
- Every extra 100 pounds you carry in your vehicle costs ~ 0.5
mpg -- so unload all that dirty laundry that's in your trunk!
-Roof racks increase aerodynamic drag, so remove them when not
in use
-If each of us walked, biked, or took the bus just one work day
per week instead of driving all days, we'd decrease fuel use (and
emissions) by 20%
See the Car Talk guys site for more: http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/fueleconomy/
SITES THAT ALLOW YOU TO CALCULATE YOUR "FOOTPRINT" IN TERMS OF ENERGY AND RESOURCE USE - OR THAT OFFER APPROXIMATE VALUES FOR CO2 EMISSIONS DECREASES ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS ACTIVITIES:
http://eartheasy.com/article_canada_challenge.htm
http://www.undoit.org/undoit_20steps.cfm (I don't like their use of the term "undo it" re greenhouse gases; "do less of it" would be more appropriate, in my view…)
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment -- a list of 50 simple things we can all do to avert the dangers of climate change
SITE WITH MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ABOUT CONSUMPTION AND RESOURCE REDUCTION
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/3952
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Page maintained by Patricia Muir at Oregon State University. Last updated Jan. 31, 2009.