Take
Action!
 Walk
your talk!
Per
capita emissions in the US are higher than in any other developed nation,
(see graph on the right). Calculate your personal carbon emissions!
American Forests has a carbon
calculator on its website: It
also lets you donate money to plant trees that can offset your carbon
emissions. But be aware! Although a good idea, just planting trees
will not stop climate change. We do have to significantly reduce our fossil
fuel consumption. Learn more about offsetting
emissions though forestation.Every
day steps to cut your personal emissions!
Save
money in your home!
Learn about our energy efficiency seminars!
If
you want to help Tufts and TCI and be active on campus, give us
a call: 617-627-5517 or e-mail
us.
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to top
Every
day steps to cut your personal emissions!
1.
Turn off your computer!
Turn
your computer monitor off if you are not using it for 10 minutes or
longer. A conventional computer monitor uses the same amount
of electricity as a 75-watt light bulb. Turning it off, even
if you're going to be away from it for only 10 minutes, can save a tremendous
amount of energy in the long run.
Despite
their name, screen-savers do not save any energy at all.
Turn off your computer when you are not using
it for more than an hour. It does not harm your computer to
turn it off and on! This used to be true in the very early
days of computers but now it's just an old myth! If you buy a new computer,
consider buying a laptop. It uses much less
energy than a desk top.
Learn
more about our computer initiative!
Learn
about Power Management on computers.
Power
Management setup instructions for: Windows
98 | Windows
ME | Windows
2000 & XP
Download
our computer brochure with lots of information
about computers, energy consumption, and climate change. It is available
as a PDF file pdf (101 KB)
or as a Word document (162
KB). For
detailed comments on the figures and facts used in the brochure go here.
You
can also call us (617-627-5517) to get a printed version or pick one up
at our office at Miller Hall on the Medford Campus.
2.
Bike to campus and to work, or use public transportation!
Biking
keeps you in shape and produces no pollution
and greenhouse gases at all! A third of all greenhouse gases come from
transportation (cars and trucks). Learn
about Zipcar!
3.
Use your thermostat!
In
the summer, set the thermostat for your air-conditioning higher: between
78-83 degrees. In the winter, set the thermostat for your heat
lower: between 65-68 degrees during the day and between
50-60 degrees at night. You could also consider purchasing a programmable
thermostat that automatically raises and lowers the temperature in your
home saving you money and making you more comfortable. See the Energy
Star website for more information.
4.
Turn off lights and appliances, and avoid the use of halogen lamps!
Lights
account of 25% of our electricity use.
Use
compact fluorescent lightbulbs (see picture). They cost between $1-$16.
But they'll save you about as much money over their lifetime, because
they use about 60% less energy and last 10 times longer.
Often your utility company will have special rebates which means you
can buy them at a much lower price.
 Halogen
lamps use a large amount of energy, while providing a proportionally
small amount of light. (By the way, they are prohibited on campus because
they pose a serious fire hazard).
Get
free CFLs! Learn about TCI's Switch Your Bulb! program!
Download our light brochure with lots of information about lights,
energy consumption, and climate change. It is available as a PDF file
pdf (101 KB) or as a Word
document (162 KB).
You
can also call us (617-627-5517) to get a printed version or pick one up
at our office at Miller Hall on the Medford Campus.
Halogen
Torchieres are outlawed on campus because they pose a fire hazard!
More
about electricity and its environmental impacts
5.
Eat less meat!
Beef
needs a tremendous amount of water and energy to produce. (All the corn
and soybeans that have to be grown--with pesticides and fertilizers--to
feed the cattle!) If you would like to eat meat, go for poultry. The pollution
and water and energy use is much smaller.
If you still like to eat beef or other meat now and then buy organically
produced meat. It is produced much more efficiently and without chemicals.
(The animals from organic farms also have a much happier life, since animal
welfare guidelines are strict for organically certified farms and virtually
non-existent for conventional farms).
Eating foods such as grains and soy products helps preserve precious resources,
and these foods require less energy to produce.
More about meat and climate
change.
6.
Make efficient use of hot water.
Take
shorter showers! (that is a hard one!)
Install efficient shower and faucet heads. The cost will
quickly pay off in lower water and heating bills.
Set your water heater on "low," or approximately 120 degrees
Fahrenheit, which is perfectly adequate for most home use.
7.
Save energy when doing the laundry.
Wash
your clothes using the "cold/cold" setting. Also, only do laundry
when you have a full load.
If
you have a choice, use a front-loader washing machine.
It washes your clothes cleaner, uses only about a third as much water
as a top loader and less than half as much energy. Watch out, you only
need about a third as much detergent!
Hang your clothes on a clothesline! Learn
more about front loading washing machines!
8.
Make sure your fridge is set on the correct temperature.
Fridges
should be set between 38 and 42 degrees Fahrenheit,
and freezers between 0 and 5. If your settings are 10 degrees too cold,
which is often the case, your electricity costs will be up to 25% higher.
Defrost it regularly. The more ice builds up in your
fridge and freezer, the less efficient it is and the more electricity
it uses.
Buy a new refrigerator if yours is very old. New refrigerators
are 2-3 times more efficient than a refrigerator that is more than 8
years old. Buy an "Energy-Star" refrigerator, they are especially
energy-efficient! (see www.energystar.gov)
Side by side refrigerators/freezers are least efficient. Most efficient
are refrigerators with the freezer section on the bottom. (Remember
from physics class: heat rises, so having the freezer on top and the
engine at the bottom is really not very efficient.)
Save
money in your home! Learn about our energy
efficiency seminars!
9.
If you decide to drive, get a car with better gas mileage.
Buying
an efficient car saves both energy and money. The average SUV gets about
12 miles to the gallon, whereas an efficient car can get up
to 35 miles per gallon. The new hybrid vehicles get 60 miles
to the gallon! If everyone bought the most efficient car in their respective
class, our country would save approximately 1.47 billion gallons of
gas a year.
10.
Buy less goods and be a conscientious consumer!
People
often neglect that when they buy a product, it actually went through
a long, usually industrial process that required a large amount of energy.
Reducing consumption is one of the most effective ways of reducing energy
waste.
11.
Fly less!
More
about air travel and climate change
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