Carbon Footprint

"Just because you can pay for it, doesn't mean you should waste it." For the past two weeks, Citizen Energy's Claudia Stewart's bit of wisdom as been front and foremost in my thinking about heating our home, the amount of driving I do, and my recycling efforts. How much energy am I entitled to use, regardless of cost? What is my carbon footprint and how can I make it smaller?

During her talk on conservation Stewart made some down to earth statements that hit home. "It's winter in New England, not shorts weather." A no brainer if you ask me, but still some people feel as if they should be able to sit around their home in shorts and a tshirt mid November to March. So maybe during these tougher economic times, this is the right time for us to rethink this mentality. And not just to save ourselves financially, but to help our planet.

"It's New England. Winter comes every year." On the tail of her quick whit, Stewart offered these quick and easy solutions to decrease our home heating spending.
1. Cover the windows with plastic.
2. Use drapes.
3. Install magnetic or self sticking draft dodgers on doors.
4. Fill in cracks and spaces around windows and doors with the expanding foam insulation.
5. Install a programmable thermostat and then use it.
6. Reduce thermostat wars with a thermostat lock box.
7. Use energy efficient light bulbs.

Most of these ideas can be implemented for as little as a fiver. For short dollars we can conserve our heat and hundreds of our heating dollars. And therefore stop wasting money and our natural resources, whether it be oil, gas, wood or coal.

Stewart's presentation also talked about driving responsibly. It has me thinking more about walking, which of course has health benefits for more than my wallet. Granted living is the suburbs makes this difficult. There are times I have driven the girls to school -- an easy 10 minute walk. No more, rain our shine. Last night when we went to the school play, we all bundled up. We all walked. Exercise, fresher air, with a ka-ching in my step. And in recent months there have been more than a few times when I would find a time to carpool to the grocery store with friends. Something that needs to be more of a priority.

Before Stewart's talk, recycling was already big in this household. Not only do we recycling our own paper, cardboard, cans, plastic, glass, books, and household goods, we pick up those from others and get them to the proper bins and facilities. At times I have sighed under that added effort it takes to collect and redistribute, but I know it's all part of being in a commonwealth. Where we all should work towards the common good.

As the winter progresses into spring it will be interesting to see if our recycling and energy saving actions have a noticeable economic effect. I do know my heart feels warmer, and my footprint tighter, knowing we are trying to live more energetically responsible.