Bonus...
11. Like us on Facebook!
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There are currently 600 million cars on the road producing 3116 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. The average North American. vehicle produces 5.2 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. Approximately half of these trips are 3 miles or less. Walking or biking these short distances is healthier for you and for the environment. There are many alternatives to driving alone to the University of Manitoba Campuses. Currently, 9 transit routes servicet the Ft. Garry campus, several routes also service the Bannatyne campus. You can walk, bike (click here for bike rack at the Ft. Garry campus), carpool, in-line skate or take the Winnpeg Transit. When off campus and you need to drive, consider car co-ops and if you need a vehicle on campus, contact Travel Services for car rental details.
As an individual, you can be instrumental in reducing environmental impacts. If every driver of a light duty vehicle in Canada avoided idling by three minutes a day, collectively over the year, we would save 630 million litres of fuel and over 1.4 million tonnes of GHG emissions.
A study prepared for the Office of Energy Efficiency in 2003 supports NRCan's position that “idling for over 10 seconds uses more fuel and produces more CO2 emissions than restarting your engine.” This clearly confirms that there are direct benefits – in the form of fuel savings and reduced GHG emissions – that are obtained by turning the engine off instead of idling. As such, when considering all of the factors, the study showed it is better to turn the engine off rather than to let it idle unnecessarily.
According to NRCan a practical guideline of 60 seconds , balancing factors such as fuel savings, overall emissions and potential component wear on the starter and battery, is the recommended interval. You will save money on fuel that should more than offset any potential increase in maintenance costs from any wear and tear on your starter or battery.
If you're going to be stopped for more than 60 seconds – except in traffic – turn the engine off.
Source: Natural Resources Canada
3. Go Meatless
Instead of little ol' me telling you the climate benefits of minimizing meat consumption, I'll let the President of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) do it for me:
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Dear reader,
Worldwide, livestock-farming is responsible for no less then 18% of total greenhouse gas emissions (Source: FAO, Livestock's long shadow, 2007).
Greenhouse gas emissions through meat production and associated land-use changes are one of the most important causes of climate change/warming. Yet people, especially in high-income societies, continue to eat large amounts of meat. This high meat intake not only has negative effects on the climate and biodiversity; it is also harmful for our health because it increases the risk of cardio vascular disease, obesity, diabetes and other diseases of affluence. Hence, it is very important to limit our meat consumption. Eating less meat means less greenhouse gases will be emitted.
Because our food, and especially meat consumption is such a significant cause of greenhouse gas emissions, an essential means we have in the fight against climate change may very well be our fork. Each time you eat a vegetarian meal instead of a meat based meal, you contribute to mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases which cause climate change. Even if you would only skip meat once a week, you would still save 170 kilograms of CO2 every year. That is about the amount you emit by driving your car 1100 km. So skipping the meat now and then is a good recipe against climate change.
But of course one person can only do so much. It is also the responsibility of governments and industries to ensure that sustainable alternatives like vegetarian food are widely available and affordable. Several alternative policies and options could lead to lower consumption of meat and climate-friendly lifestyles, which a society may decide on with its own wisdom.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Rajendra Pachauri
IPCC President
4. Bring Your Own Bag, Bottle (and Mug)
Reusable bags are becoming a lot more popular now, for good reason. Just think how wasteful it is that our world produces hundreds of millions of plastic bags every year intended to only be used once. Single-use plastic bags seems so natural to most of us now but they are really bad when examined.
Tips
* If you drive most places, keep the bags in your car.
* Build the habit of hanging the bags on the doorknob after unloading the contents inside, so they can't be forgotten the next time you leave.
* Have at least one or two more reusable bags than the most you think you will ever use at one time. There will always be a time when the last used bags are forgotten, or some get dirty, so having extras means they are always available.
Some cities have even begun banning single-use plastic bags. Areas of India are banning them because of the waste problems they create. The bags are clogging the sewers and making flooding worse.
Source: http://www.yousustain.com/
5. Re-Shop
The Waste Prevention Re-Shop is a free garage sale you can visit all year long on campus! The Re-Shop is open to students, staff and faculty to donate items that are unwanted but reusable, browse through the inventory and take away what you can use. Also, if you are looking for something but it's not listed below, feel free to let us know and we'll notify you if anything comes in. For information on why and how the Re-Shop was started click here.
At the University of Manitoba we are constantly striving to do better and to reduce, reuse and recycle our waste as much as possible. To learn more about what the University is doing and what you can do to contribute, visit University of Manitoba - Waste Prevention.
7. ReThink - Get Informed and Get Involved
9. Save Trees. Don't Print Please
Thinking about whether or not you need a hardcopy of your document should be your first thought before hitting the print button. Not only does it take an enormous amount of resources to create paper, but it also takes a lot of energy and resources to recycle it. Eliminating paper usage altogether should be our first priority. Before hitting the print button, determine if you could save it and file it as an electronic document or if you could e-mail someone the document instead of faxing or printing and mailing it. Scanning one document and e-mailing it to multiple recipients also saves a lot of time, paper and money!
10. Turn Off Lights and Electronics
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