Sunday, February 3, 2008

How Do You Contribute to the World's Energy Crisis?

It's easy to debate what we can do on a large scale to combat our growing energy demands, but do you know what changes you can make, or how your consumption rates affect us all? There are several websites that will tell you. They determine your energy usage based on several criteria including mobility choices, in-home energy usage, and waste.
Most websites, like Earthday Click Here, and Energy Guide, will tell you based on CO2 emissions how many Earths it would take to sustain our global population if everyone lived and consumed like you do.
Another website, Terrapass, Click Here calculates your emissions based on fossil fuel usage and actually sells you "passes" where your contribution is donated to clean energy and carbon reduction projects to counteract your effect on total global emissions.
My favorite, and perhaps the most comprehensive energy tracking website, will tell you just how much energy you use based on additional factors such as food choices, amount of consumption, and shopping habits. Click Here
Even living what I consider to be an energy conscious life, I was shocked at how much energy we, as Americans, use on a day-to-day basis. Check it out, maybe you can make some easy changes that can benefit us all.

1 comment:

Tom Dyson said...

Here is the corrected link for the last site.

I got like 5.7 Earths. I had expected over 10, so maybe I did it wrong.