Lower Your Emissions and Even Save Money!
Your Choices Matter!
Practically every choice you make has a carbon impact. When you buy a bottle of water, it takes energy to make the bottle, transport the bottle to you and then recycle it - and that energy means that carbon is being released into the atmosphere.
If you carry your own water bottle and eliminate 1 bottle of bottled water a day, you would reduce your emissions by over 60 lbs a year. This may seem small, but by making a dozen or so small changes like this, you can save a ton of carbon dioxide emissions per year...or, make a couple of big changes and save tons.
You can also save money. If you are buying that bottled water at a convenience store, it's costing you a $1 or more per bottle - $365/year. Even if you are buying them at Costco for $.15, that's $50.
Get Free LED Bulbs, Energy Saving Power Strips & More
Still have some old-style incandescent bulbs at your house? Replacing just 1 100W incandescent bulb can save you $14 per year and reduce CO2 emissions by 70 lbs. Even better, you can get the new LED bulb for free. Mass Save, in partnership with Green Newton, offers free home energy audits that identify ways you can save energy and then provides programs to help you pay for changes, including free LED bulbs, free smart power strips, free programmable thermostats, 0% interest loans on new heating and cooling equipment, and reimbursements of up to 75% on insulation. Click here for more information.
Make Your Next Car a Plug-In Hybrid
Plug in Hybrid cars offer the best of both worlds - all-electric driving around town and the ability to switch to gas when making long trips so if you are not near a charger - no problem.
And, regardless of the type of car you are looking for, there is likely a plug-in hybrid for you. According to Plug In America, there are 23 plug-in hybrids available in the US ranging from the BMW 330e to the Chrysler Pacifica to the Toyota Prius, and more are being introduced all the time.
With a Plug in Hybrid, a typical driver can reduce CO2 emissions by 1 to 2 tons a year and save $100 to $400 on fuel costs. Even better, with Federal and State tax incentives, it might actually cost you less for a Plug in Hybrid than it would for the gasoline-powered version of the same car.
Click here to see a list of available Plug in Hybrid (PHEV) and All Electric (EV) cars
Make a Few Small Changes
Besides switching from bottled water to carrying a reusable water bottle, there are dozens of small things you can do to make a difference.
Turn Off Your Outside Lights Before You Go to Bed: If you turn off 2 100W-equivalent LED bulbs when you go to bed instead of having them burn all night, you'll save $12/year and eliminate 58 lbs of CO2 emissions.
Take the T into Boston Instead of Driving: It costs about the same for round trip ticket on the T as it does for the gas to drive into town and 2 hours of metered parking. Doing so just once eliminates 22 lbs of CO2 emissions.