Our first week of action focuses on reducing our carbon footprint, highlighting efforts you can take towards energy conservation and transportation.
Why is this important?
When we burn fossil fuels like oil and gas for energy and transportation, we release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which builds up and acts like a blanket that traps in heat. This buildup of heat is resulting in climate changes that are already affecting us and the many species and ecosystems we depend on. Actions you take to reduce the burning of fossil fuels will have the greatest impact on reducing climate change.
How does the staff challenge work?
We want you to share what you’re doing to be a part of the solution! Whether it’s something you’ve been doing for years or a new action you took for the first time, you’ll get credit just for sharing. There are multiple ways to give your input:
- Open this online form and submit your actions. Feel free to submit as many entries as you want! You’ll get one point for each submittal, and be entered in a raffle with each entry.
- Download and print this offline form, which you can fill out and return to us by the end of April. Feel free to share with your coworkers who don’t use email.
A 3 mile daily bike ride to work can save up to 1,650 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
What Can I Do?
The greatest contributions to reducing climate change come from the energy and transportation sectors. Below are some ideas for what you can do, or feel free to share what you’re doing already!
Energy Conservation, Efficiency, and Renewables
Using clean, renewable energy means that your electrical use doesn’t contribute to climate change. But it’s also important to reduce the amount of electricity we use through conservation and efficiency.
Here are some actions you can take:
Want to go for the biggest impact?
- Find out if your community participates in a community power program - you can purchase 100% renewable electricity without changing your energy provider. Golden Gate already purchases 100% renewable electricity from our local community choice programs!
- Upgrade windows or weatherstripping at home to reduce air leaks and save on energy costs. Take a Free Home Energy Checkup and get a list of personalized suggested improvements from PG&E, or get a professional home energy audit.
- Install Solar Panels on your home. Solar panels generate clean energy derived from the sun. By “going solar’’ in your household, you can reduce your annual energy CO2 footprint up to 80%. Get an estimate for installing solar photovoltaic panels on your home.
- Upgrade to Energy Star appliances to save both energy and money. Learn more about Energy Star Appliances here.
- Lower thermostats at work and home, especially if heating is supplied by natural gas. Heating and cooling uses up to 50% of energy of an average household. If possible, replace manual thermostats with energy efficient ones in order to minimize energy consumption - there may even be rebates offered through PG&E!
- Reduce “vampire energy” loss: Learn more here about how to avoid "energy sucking’’ appliances.
- Challenge your coworkers to turn off computers at night if possible, or at least turn off monitors. A conventional computer monitor uses the same amount of electricity as a 75-watt light bulb.
- Join the movement to convert to LED light bulbs at home and work. Lighting accounts for approximately 30% of all electricity in the U.S. LED light bulbs use almost 80% less energy than a traditional light bulb.
- Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot to cut your energy load in half - or better yet, use the sun to dry your clothes!
- Calculate your personal carbon footprint to learn where to have the biggest impact
- Project Drawdown Eco Challenge
- King County Green Schools Program
- See how much energy various home appliances use
Fourteen percent of all heat-trapping gases come from the transportation sector. A variety of solutions exist that reduce our contribution to transport emissions - from biking and walking, to ridesharing or public transportation, to using alternative fuel or electric vehicles.Here are some actions you can take:
Want to go for the biggest impact?
- Drive an Electric car. Electric cars can run on 100% renewable energy and do not directly emit any greenhouse gases or pollutants. When taking production and external factors into account, studies show that electric cars contribute one-half the greenhouse gases of a conventional gasoline car. There are also a number of rebates available in California.
- Switch to a more fuel efficient car. One gallon of gasoline generates roughly 20 lbs of CO2 - by switching from a 20 mpg car to 30 mpg, CO2 emissions will be reduced by nearly 200lbs.
- Enroll in the park’s transit or bike subsidy programs if you haven’t already. If 20 people opt out of driving one day a week they will collectively prevent approximately 567 lbs of CO2 emissions.
- Join a local bikeshare program such as FordgoBike, Spin in South San Francisco, and BayBikes in San Mateo. Biking does not emit any greenhouse gases and is great exercise!
- Join a rideshare program and carpool. By joining up with co-workers and peers, you’ll significantly reduce miles driven and emit less CO2 emissions. Many rideshare apps are available in our area.
- Drive more efficiently: Follow these tips to drive more efficiently.
- Consider virtual meetings or conference calls to reduce traveling to meetings. Zoom is one online platform that allows for virtual conference calls.
If you want to learn even more, check out some of these resources that have tons more tips!
- Calculate your personal carbon footprint to learn where to have the biggest impact
- EPA’s data on vehicle emissions.
- COTAP’s guidelines for reducing carbon footprint.
