Did you know? Surprising Stats on Going Green!
With the current economic climate, recent Presidential election and increasing concerns over global ... more
warming, going green has become the topic du jour. Unfortunately, many think switching your life around to be more eco-friendly is a hassle and maintaining the status quo isn't that harmful. Kim Carlson, eco-chic lifestyle expert, green business owner and author of Green Your Work: Boost Your Bottom Line While Reducing Your Eco-Footprint offers these surprising stats and tips on the "basics" of being green.
Surprising Stat - The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years. Americans throw away 25 billion Styrofoam coffee cups every year, and about 40 billion soft drink cans and bottles every year. Placed end to end, they would reach to the moon and back nearly 20 times.
Kim's Tips
• Eighty-four percent of a typical household's waste--including food scraps, yard waste, paper, cardboard, cans, and bottles--can be recycled. If your office or home doesn't have a recycling bin available to you create one with a special trashcan, or even a recycled paper bag from the grocery store. It makes a bigger difference than you think - for example, using recycled paper for one print run of the Sunday edition of the New York Times would save 75,000 trees and if every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25 million trees a year.
Surprising Stat - Each gallon of gas used by a car contributes about 19 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. For a single car driving 1,000 miles a month, that adds up to 120 tons of CO2 a year.
Kim's Tips
• Telecommute, talk to your boss and see if working from home one day a week is an option. Not only will it save the environment, but it will cut down on office heating costs and electricity if everyone is out one day a week.
• Carpool. While not everyone is a morning person, it can be surprisingly fun to share the commute with others. Select one person to get coffee, one person to create a morning playlist and the other to drive.
• Get up and go. If you live close enough try walking or riding your bike. Not only is it completely green but you'll get a mini-workout.
Surprising Stat - America's refrigerators use about 7 percent of the nation's total electricity consumption--the output of about 25 large power plants. By turning the heat down, Americans could save more than 500,000 barrels of oil each day--that's over 21,000,000 gallons.
Kim's Tips
• Turn down your heat, bundle up and break out the blankets. Not only will you cut your carbon footprint, but you'll save a lot of money in the cool months ahead.
• Unplug appliances and turn off power strips when you're not using them. This will cut your electricity costs and save energy.
By implementing these simple tips and becoming more aware of these surprising everyday stats, we can limit our carbon footprint and start living the eco-chic life. For more information on Kim Carlson or to arrange an interview, please contact Courtney O'Neill or Catherine Pope of AAM at 212.661.1336 or via email at Courtney@aammanagement.com / Catherine@aammanagement.com.