Looking Back - My Week of Environmentally Responsible Living

No Impact Week is long over, but unfortunately I haven't had a chance to blog and record my experiences during the last few days of the effort. Things got seriously busy, but here I am, back in action now, and I thought I'd finish the No Impact Week series off with a few quick notes on energy (Day 5) and water (Day 6), and try to sum up some of the successes and failures from my experiment.

In terms of energy, I did a few high-impact things: I replaced two incandescent bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs. The average CFL lasts about 5 years, and reduces carbon emissions by approximately 693 pounds of CO2e during its lifetime. According to EnergyStar, if every American home replaced one regular lightbulb with a CFL, this is the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road, or planting 2.85 million acres of trees. If you're about to say '..but what about the Mercury?"...don't say it! There is actually less mercury in a CFL bulb than there is in a thermometer...barely enough to cover the tip of a ball point pen. But do educate yourself about the mercury content, proper disposal and recycling of the bulbs - see what NRDC's expert scientists have to say about this.

Heating and cooling account for about 56% of a household's energy usage. So I decided to reduce the temperature on my thermostat from where it is usually at, 74°F, to 68°F. If the numbers widely available from various environmental groups are to be believed (NRDC is currently working to calculate the most credible, accurate numbers), then for every two degrees of temperature lowered on the thermostat, one saves 2000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. So, for my six degrees, is that 6000 pounds? Sweet.

My least successful energy-reducing initiative was to take shorter showers. I know I succeeded on some occasions, but not others. Water heating actually accounts for between 14%-25% of a household's energy costs, so this is a significant area for reductions. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends fixing one's water heater's temperature at 120°F instead of the standard, pre-set 140°F. The difference in water temperature is imperceptible, but this 20°F reduction can account for about 500 pounds of carbon a year. But was I able to make this reduction? No. Because my heater was already set at 120°F! If yours isn't, please do it right now! Is your water heater warm to the touch? Then that means you need to insulate it further, which could in turn save about a 1000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. This could be done with a cheap insulation blanket available in almost every hardware store! Find out how to insulate the heater with the blanket on the Department of Energy's website, and save money on you heating bill too. Want to know more about next-generation efficient water heaters? Check out Lane Burt's blog post here.

In terms of water usage, the best way to save some water (for someone like me who can't save water from a dishwasher or washing machine, because I don't own those) is to install a low-flow showerhead, which can save up to 350 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year. But my showerhead is already pretty low-flow, so I decided not to pursue this action. Ultimately, I just tried to remind myself to use less water every time I had to wash dishes or clean up. But this is one big area where I wish I had tried harder to do more, somehow.

What did I do best during no impact week? Probably monitor my diet and keep the carbon footprint of my meals very low. My goal was to be vegan all week, and I basically succeeded. Umm.... Except for one little slip up that I will now cop to. I mistakenly ate some ice cream, completely forgetting in that instant that I was supposed to avoid dairy products!! Yes, I know it sounds unbelievable that I "forgot", but there's no other explanation. In that one, tiny instant of gluttonous desire, I just stone cold forgot I was supposed to be vegan.

(Or make that 'Cold Stone' forgot? See a very guilty me below - caught red handed!).

Later on, I tried to redeem myself by doing what I should have remembered to do the first time - eat dairy-free ice cream. After all, one doesn't have to give ice cream up!

So, my week was largely a success on the transport, diet, energy, and trash fronts, but I was left dissatisfied on the water issue. Of course, I could always try to do more, like ride a bike instead of taking the train, use even less energy by modifying my refrigerator settings, turning my thermostat and water heater down further and bundling up in more woolens, trying a bucket-cleanse occasionally instead of showers, and using absolutely no substance that can't be recycled. And I am realizing that there were so many super-simple actions I could have taken that I didn't - just check out the inspiring Minute, Morning, Month section of Simple Steps, which has handy hints on what each of us can do, even in the shortest span of time - a single minute! Just as cool is the "This or That" section, which answers some of the questions we've all grappled with while making purchasing choices. If one has to buy something, might as well make the most sustainable choice! I bet some of these answers will surprise you - check them out. (For instance, turns out I should have bought  a two liter plastic bottle of soda for No Impact Week, instead of a six-pack of aluminum cans!).

Guess what? I have a chance to do this all over again, and improve my record, based on all I learned that week in addition to the new tips I am finding everyday. NRDC and the No Impact Project are hosting a "Carbon Cleanse Week", from November 15th to the 21st. Are you game to try this, and give it your best shot? Join me!