Energy use, waste, and climate change are linked together. Whenever you turn on a light, plug in a video game, or use your computer, a power plant has to create more electricity. Most power plants burn fossil fuels (such as coal, natural gas, or oil) to make electricity, and burning those fuels produces greenhouse gases. Making, distributing, and using products—as well as managing the resulting waste—all result in greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling and preventing waste reduce greenhouse gases. By using less energy and creating less waste in your day-to-day life (at home, at school, or at out with friends), you can reduce the amount greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
A note on measurements: The savings in the calculator are given in pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent. Burning fossil fuels and generating waste lead to the emissions of several kinds of greenhouse gases, each of which has different heat-trapping qualities. For example, a molecule of methane traps 21 times more heat than a molecule of carbon dioxide. Since carbon dioxide is the most common greenhouse gas, the emissions of other greenhouse gases are often reported in equivalent amount of carbon dioxide: for example a pound of methane is expressed as 21 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Please note that the calculator is intended to be an educational tool that gives you a rough idea of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions you could avoid by taking the actions listed. Your actual results may vary from those shown here because we use general assumptions about your home’s energy use.
It takes a considerable amount of energy to deliver and treat the water you use every day. American public water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually—enough electricity to power more than 5 million homes for an entire year. Letting your faucet run for five minutes every day while brushing your teeth uses 307 kWh over the course of a year, about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours every day for a year.
If just one out of every 100 American homes switched out their old water fixtures for water-efficient fixtures, we could save about 100 million kWh of electricity per year—avoiding 80,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. That is equivalent to removing nearly 15,000 automobiles from the road for one year! Similarly, if just 1 percent of American homes replaced their older, inefficient toilets with WaterSense-labeled models, the country would save more than 38 million kWh of electricity—enough to supply more than 43,000 households with electricity for one month.
Additional tips:
Don’t forget to turn off the lights when you leave the room, even when you are at friend’s house or babysitting. The annual energy consumption of a standard incandescent light bulb is 117 kWh. This assumes you are using a 75 W bulb, and that the light is on for 8 hours a day.
Ask your family to replace your light bulbs with ones that have earned the government’s ENERGY STAR label for energy efficiency. By using efficient light bulbs and fixtures that have earned the ENERGY STAR, you reduce the pollution coming from power plants and help fight climate change. By changing just your bedroom light, you can reduce energy by 80 kWh and annual greenhouse gas emissions by 450 pounds.
Additional tip:
Bike or walk to and from school, your soccer game, or the mall to reduce your carbon footprint. Cars are a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions. Using alternative transportation will save 1 pound of carbon dioxide emissions for every mile you travel. This calculator assumes that you travel 1 mile to get to your location.
Instead of taking a car to school, use the bus, subway, or other public transporation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The calculator assumes that you travel 3 miles to get to school. You’ll avoid 1 pound of carbon dioxide emissions for every mile you travel, just as with biking or walking.
Carpool to reduce your carbon footprint. The more people you travel with, the more emissions you can save! This calculator assumes that you travel 3 miles to get to your location. The calculator divides the car’s emissions by the number of people you’re carpooling with.
Recycle not only at home, but at school too! Schools all over the United States have recycling programs. Recycling your paper, bottles, and cans at school will reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by the following annual average amounts:
If you recycle all of those materials, you could avoid a total of 447 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions every year, which is about 1% of your household emissions! Learn more about reducing, reusing, and recycling.
Before you leave home, turn off your electronics. The TV, DVD player, and video game console use a lot of energy when they are left on. To reduce the energy these devices use even more, unplug them when they are not in use. Believe it or not: 50% of all electricity used to power home electronics is consumed when the products are turned off. This is because built-in features such as clocks, alarms, and other settings need to be maintained even when you aren’t using the equipment.
These devices can use a lot of energy, especially if they are on every day. When you are not using them, make sure to turn them off. The annual energy consumption of a television is 184 kWh, assuming it is on for 6 hours a day. The average annual energy consumption of a DVD player is 13 kWh, and a video game console uses 16 kWh, assuming they are on for 3 hours a day. Reducing the amount of time you use these devices can save a lot of energy. Even if you turn off the TV for one hour, you will be helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions!
Additional tip:
Even when you are not using them, charging devices still use energy when plugged in. If you plug your frequently used chargers into a single power strip, you can turn off the power to all of them when you’re not using them and thus avoid greenhouse gas emissions. The chargers (or external power supplies) that plug into the wall and provide energy to your cell phone, MP3 player, digital camera, computer, and other devices waste on average 30-50% of the energy they use. The annual energy consumption of cell phone charger is 0.3 W, an MP3 charger uses 0.2 W, and a digital camera charger uses 0.6 W, assuming they are plugged in 5.5 hours a day. That’s not a lot of energy, but it adds up when you consider the nation as a whole.
Additional tip:
Ask your parents to help you make sure the sleep feature is turned on for your computer. This will let the computer take a nap while you are not using it! The annual energy savings from enabling the sleep feature on a computer and monitor is 98 kWh. This assumes that you also turn off your computer at night, which saves a lot of energy over the course of a year.
Additional tip:
There are lots more things you, your friends and your family can do. Learn more at http://www.energystar.gov.