REUTERS - Bamboozled by the Bali negotiations, but want to do your bit to avert a climate crisis?
Here are 10 simple steps towards cutting your carbon emissions at home and work.
* Change the lightbulbs. Replace one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent lightbulb and make a 60-80 percent electricity saving. This one small change will save 68 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year.
* Turn your computer off overnight. “Standby culture”, or leaving appliances such as televisions, DVDs and hi-fi equipment switched on while they’re not in use contributes one million tonnes of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere every year in Britain alone.
* Calculate your carbon emissions. Take 10 minutes next time you’re online to Google “carbon calculator” and add up your carbon footprint. Tallying your total will give you an idea of where to cut down — household, heating or holidays?
* Eat local. Agriculture is responsible for about a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Choosing local, seasonally grown food avoids carbon dioxide emissions from transporting produce around the world.
* Reduce your red meat intake. Studies suggest producing one kg of beef releases greenhouse gases equivalent to 36.4 kg of carbon dioxide, thanks mostly to belching cattle’s methane emissions.
* Turn down the heating. About half of all the energy used at home is for heating and cooling. Turning the thermostat down two degrees can save about 800 kg of CO2 a year.
* Turn up, and clean out the aircon. Edge your aircon up two degrees, and clean or replace dirty filters as recommended. Cleaning filters saves you money, and can save 160 kg of carbon dioxide annually.
* Drive less, fly less. Every mile you drive adds 450 grams of CO2. Emissions from aircraft, already soaring, are predicted to account for five percent of global emissions by 2050. Carpool, walk, bike and take public transport when you can.
* Plant a tree. One mature tree absorbs hundreds of kilograms of CO2 a year, and then stores it indefinitely in its wood fibre. Try for a native species that will promote biodiversity.
* Reduce, re-use, recycle. Making glass bottles or aluminium cans from recycled materials uses less energy and produces less pollution than making them from scratch each time.
