1. Plant a tree!
48 Ibs CO2 saved / year
Each year a tree can absorb 48 pounds of CO2 and can sequester 1 ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 40 years old. A 2002 study lists the common horse-chestnut, black walnut, American sweetgum, ponderosa pine, red pine, white pine, London plane, Hispaniolan pine, Douglas fir, scarlet oak, red oak, Virginia live oak, and bald cypress as examples of trees especially good at absorbing and storing CO2.
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How many trees did you plant?
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Emissions saved: 48 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions saved per tree annually.
Save water!
2. Install a low-flow shower-head!
52.8 Ibs CO2 saved / year
A family of four can save 160,000 litres of water per year by installing a low-flow shower-head. This means that one person can save 40,000 litres of water annually by using a low flow showerhead, the equivalent to saving 52.8 pounds of CO2 (per person annually).
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Did you get a low-flow showerhead?
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Emissions saved: 52.8 pounds of CO2 saved per person annually
3. Attach an altered nozzle to your faucet!
40 Ibs CO2 saved / year
The average American household consisting of three people uses around 8,175 gallons of water per faucet in their house annually. If attached to your faucet, the altered nozzle saves 98% of the water you use. As a result, every year you can save forty pounds of carbon dioxide emissions for every faucet that uses an altered nozzel.
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How many of the faucets in your home use altered nozzles?
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Emissions saved: 40 pounds of CO2 emissions saved per faucet annually.
4. Use the Gentlewasher!
40 Ib CO2 saved / year
A typical family of four using a standard sized clothes washer will generate more than 300 loads per year. This equates to a regular washer consuming approximately 12,000 gallons of water annually. Gentlewasher is a hand-powered washer that saves 50% of the water you would normally use washing clothes (saving 6,000 gallons of water for the average family of four, and 1,500 for each person). It's super efficient, as it takes only two minutes for the Gentlewasher to wash a load of clothes.
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Are you using the Gentlewasher to wash all of your clothes?
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Emissions saved: 40 pounds of CO2 saved per year, assuming you use the Gentlewasher for all clothes.
5. Use the Drumi foot-powered washer!
40 Ib CO2 saved / year
A typical family of four using a standard sized clothes washer will generate more than 300 loads per year. This equates to a regular washer consuming approximately 12,000 gallons of water annually. Drumi is a foot-powered washer that saves 50% of the water you would normally use washing clothes. It is super efficient, and it takes only 2-5 minutes for Drumi to wash a load of clothes.
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Are you using the Drumi to wash all of your clothes?
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Emissions saved: 40 pounds of CO2 saved per year, assuming you use Drumi for all your clothes.
6. Get an efficient clothes washer!
3.5 Ib CO2 saved / year
The average clothes washer uses 35 gallons of water per load. Getting an efficient clothes washer could save lots of water as well as energy. (Most energy efficient clothes washers use around 30 gallons of water per load, meaning that one person could save around 635 gallons of water each year.) This will save 3.5 pounds of CO2 each year. It may not seem like a lot, but over the lifespan of the washer (11 years), this could save 11 times 3.5 pounds of CO2 is equal to 38.5 pounds of CO2. In addition, replacing your old clothes dryer with an ENERGY STAR certified model can save you $245 over the lifetime of the product. For more information on how to save water in the washing room, take a look at the following link from ENERGYSTAR.gov.
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How many gallons does your washer use per load?
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How many loads of laundry do you (or your household) do each year?
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Emissions saved: ~635 gallons of water - 3.5 pounds of CO2 saved per year
7. Stop tumble-drying!
250 Ib CO2 saved per person / year
Ultimately, all tumble drying is wasteful. According to The Guardian, part of the problem is that tumble dryers (like dishwashers and washing machines) generally use electricity to generate their heat. This is more than twice as carbon-intensive as creating heat from gas because in the case of electricity, most of the energy in the fuel gets wasted up the cooling tower of a power plant, with yet more getting lost in transmission to the home. A household running a dryer 200 times a year could save nearly half a ton of CO2 by switching to a clothes rack or washing line. This translates to each person in a household saving 250 pounds of CO2 by avoiding tumble-drying.
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How many people are in your household who are switching from tumble-drying to a clothes rack or washing line?
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Emissions saved: 250 pounds of CO2
8. Get an efficient dishwasher!
5.38 Ib Co2 saved per person / year
Get an energy efficient dishwasher and consider some of these options from energystar.gov:
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Getting an efficient dishwasher will save more than a thousand gallons of water each year, and 5.38 pounds of CO2 per person using this dishwasher. This may not seem like a lot at first, but as the life expectancy of a dishwasher is 12 years, the dishwasher is guaranteed to save 64.56 pounds of CO2 for each person using it over its entire lifespan.
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How many people are using this dishwasher?
Emissions saved: 5.38 pounds of CO2 per person per year
More ideas on how to save:
9. Watch the video below to make your home greener, by Insider:​
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10. Recycle! According to Sciencing.com, as trash breaks down in landfills, it releases methane and nitrous oxide gases. Approximately 18% of methane gas in the atmosphere comes from waste disposal and treatment.
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11. Ceramic/glass dishes are the most efficient to use in the oven and can reduce the cooking temperature required, saving emissions.
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12. Greywater. It’s reused water from the sink and shower for watering plants, washing and flushing toilets.
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13: Use pervious concrete. Pervious concrete is a porous concrete paving material which allows rain and storm water runoff to seep through it rather than flood surrounding areas or storm drains. This water can be reused, saving water.
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14: Double-paned windows are said to save energy as well as money.
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15. Install Sloan's water saving dual function handle.