If you want to move towards a plastic-free home, you can certainly make your own cleaning supplies
to avoid the plastic waste from the bottles most cleaners come in.
Fortunately, more commercial options for plastic-free cleaning products
are becoming available. As more consumers recognize the plastic pollution crisis, more brands are responding with zero-waste and plastic-free alternatives.
These more sustainable cleaning supplies often come in reusable or
biodegradable packaging that breaks down naturally to reduce the
accumulation of plastic waste in landfills and oceans. While some of the
products we found come in plastic packaging, the selections featured
are intended for refills, which cuts single-use plastic waste over the
lifetime of the container. The companies featured in this guide also
offer safer products that reduce your exposure to harsh chemicals and
toxins that can be harmful to human health and the quality in your home.
Reducing and eliminating these chemicals, known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
as well as plastic waste, helps you create a safer and more sustainable
environment for your family, pets, and community in general.
This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase an item
through one of these links, we receive a small commission that helps
fund our Recycling Directory.
Responsibly Packaged Cleaning Products
Enjoy these examples of innovative brands offering responsibly packaged cleaning supplies.
Blueland
Blueland uses safer ingredients and recyclable or compostable
packaging. The company holds numerous environmental certifications such
as B Corporation, Climate Neutral Certified, and EPA Safer Choice. With
the tagline “Refills Not Landfills,” Blueland offers laundry detergent and booster tablets, toilet cleaner, and dishwasher tablets
that come in refillable metal tins. They also offer three cleaning
sprays. While the starter kits for these sprays come with a refillable
plastic Forever Bottle, you can simply purchase the refills and reuse your own glass spray bottle to avoid the plastic.
Blueland Laundry Detergent Tablets
Branch Basics
Branch Basics premium cleaning starter kits
include refillable glass bottles plus concentrated cleaners — just add
water — for a variety of cleaning needs like laundry, dishes, bathroom,
and glass surfaces. Products are available online only with the option
to sign up for a subscription. Branch’s website promises, “Our everyday
cleaning essentials are packed with power, fueled by nature and
delivered right to your door.” Be sure to specify your preferred
packaging material when ordering; the products are also available in
plastic bottles.
Cleancult
Cleancult sells reusable glass bottles with a protective silicone
base for dispensing its cleaning products. The products come in paper
cartons that are recyclable — if your local recycling service accepts cartons. Products include all-purpose cleaner, liquid dish soap, dishwasher tablets, liquid laundry detergent,
and dryer balls. “Clean should mean clean in every single way. That we
should refill not landfill, that paper is mightier than plastic, and
that lots of small actions add up to great change,” proclaims the
website.
Eco Roots
This zero-waste company offers solid dish soap packaged in a cardboard box and wool dryer balls
in a fabric bag. Eco Roots aims to “eliminate as much plastic as
possible from our products and operations, and our shipment packaging is
plastic-free and recyclable,” according to the website.
Ethique
Based in New Zealand but with a new plastic-free warehouse in the
United States, this company strives to eliminate plastic waste. Its
products include a stain remover bar, bathroom and multi-purpose kitchen spray concentrates, and dishwashing liquid concentrate. Ethique prides itself on its use of plastic-free
packaging. “Our packaging, shipping boxes and padding are free from
laminates and plastic (including our packing tape), which means they can
go straight into the home compost and will disappear in a matter of
months.”
Ethique Multi-purpose Stain Remover Bar
Etee
According to Etee, its vision is “Plastic free living for everyone.
Making ‘truly’ sustainable products that are accessible to all people of
all backgrounds, on all continents.” Products include powdered toilet bowl cleaner; all-purpose, floor, and window cleaners and dish soap concentrates packaged in backyard-compostable Beepods; dishwashing kits; dish soap and laundry stain bars; and concentrated laundry detergent packaged in a paper bag with a 100% biodegradable lining.
Fillaree
This brand makes refilling easy; just subscribe for home delivery of
bulk refills. You can also refill in person if you’re near one of the
growing number of refill stations in the United States. There are over
120 as of June, Fillaree founder and CEO Alyssa Cherry told Earth911.
The company packages its products in locally made reusable bags and
sustainably made cardboard boxes. It offers dish soap and all-purpose cleaner in refillable glass bottles.
Meliora Cleaning Products
This Chicago-based brand makes a point of ingredient transparency,
listing “every ingredient in every product we make right on the label.”
Product packaging is free of single-use plastic — or completely
plastic-free — and most is reusable. Meliora’s concentrated powders,
solid soap bars, and tablets make it easy to clean your home with
zero-waste and low-waste refills. Products include laundry powder, oxygen brightener bleach alternative, soap stick stain remover, all-purpose home cleaner spray in a reusable glass spray bottle, gentle home cleaning scrub, and a dish soap bar.
Meliora Dish Soap Bar
Package Free
A zero-waste lifestyle shop in New York City and online globally,
Package Free offers home cleaning supplies plus much more. “Products are
natural, minimalist, easy on the planet, made to last when you need
them (and they biodegrade when you don’t),” says the website. All
packaging is 100% backyard compostable, 100% recyclable, or sometimes
not there at all. Package Free also ships 100% plastic-free. There is a
long list of household cleaning products for laundry, kitchen, bathroom, and more.
Supernatural
With the tagline, “Clean Like Mother Nature is Watching,”
Supernatural sells cleaners for stainless steel, wood and floors, bath
and tile, glass, and granite. Its product line includes attractive
reusable glass bottles you can fill with concentrated, just-add-water
formulas to avoid plastic waste. In addition, its cardboard packaging is
made from recycled and recyclable materials.
Tru Earth - Available for delivery to Spain
Manufactured in Canada, Tru Earth dishwasher detergent tablets and wool dryer balls and offer plastic-free solutions for laundry cleaning and softening needs. The company’s highly touted Eco-Strips
plastic-jug-free laundry detergent strips, and its toilet bowl cleaner,
multi-purpose cleaner, and fabric softener strips, however, are
problematic. While they are delivered in plastic-free recyclable
cardboard sleeves, the strips contain polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a plastic
polymer. According to academic research, PVA does not breakdown completely, instead up to 75% of the material remains as microplastics that can reach waterways.
Tru Earth Dishwasher Detergent Tablets
Veles
This brand touts itself as featuring the first closed-loop cleaner.
Sustainable aluminum bottles house an all-purpose cleaner that is made
from 97% food waste. (The other 3% includes essential oils for fragrance
plus decyl glucoside, a plant-derived and biodegradable fragrance
stabilizer.) “When treating waste as a resource, you can both reduce
overconsumption of resources and greenhouse gas emissions from
landfills,” explains the website. This single-product brand offers a
starter kit and refills to minimize waste. We look forward to seeing
where Veles goes from here.
Choosing Plastic-Free for the Earth
When it’s time to clean your home, show your support for companies
taking action to protect the planet. By choosing plastic-free cleaning
supplies, you are making a sustainable choice that benefits both the
environment and your own well-being. Your support of these responsible
companies helps promote the transition towards a circular economy in
which conservation and waste minimization are priorities.
As usual, lots of interesting information. There are many options on Amazon at the moment, and as you may have read in a previous blog, I am a big fan of Soap Nuts, they are the best thing ever.
The blog song for today is: "Ruby Tuesday" by the Rolling Stones
Vape Waste: The environmental harms of disposable vapes
U.S. throws out 4.5 disposable vapes per second
Vape Waste poses a growing
environmental threat. According to CDC Foundation sales estimates,
lining-up the disposable vapes sold in a year would stretch for 7,000
miles—long enough to span the continental U.S. twice. Because there is
no standard legal way to recycle these products, many users just toss
them.
Director, Designed to Last Campaign, U.S. PIRG Education Fund
Nothing used for a day or two
should pollute our environment for hundreds of years. While we know
about the waste from single-use plastics, disposable electronics are
often overlooked. It offends common sense to routinely junk some of the
most intricately complex objects humans have learned to produce with
their layers of integrated circuits, scarce and toxic metals, and
world-spanning supply chains. With e-waste the fastest growing waste
stream in the U.S. the rate at which we dispose of electronics is not sustainable.
One product stands apart as being
particularly harmful to our environment and public health—disposable
vapes. Vapes, also known as e-cigarettes, are handheld battery powered
electronic devices with heated metal coils that vaporize a liquid
containing nicotine or cannabis products, known as e-liquid. Nicotine is the famously addictive stimulant found in tobacco that gives smokers a dopamine hit, and makes quitting difficult.
Much has been made of the public health harms of disposable vapes,
but this report aims to understand their effects as hazardous
electronic waste. It doesn’t make any sense to manufacture electronics
with rechargeable batteries, ship them across the world, and throw them
out within a few days.
Disposable vapes are single-use
products powered by the same rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in
electric cars and iPhones. However, unlike traditional vapes, they’re designed to be thrown out after use.
That’s because while some can be recharged with a USB cable, once they
run out of the included e-liquid they can’t be refilled. They’re wasteful, harmful, and trending.
After the Food and Drug
Administration’s (FDA) February 2020 crackdown on flavored nicotine
e-liquid cartridges for reusable vapes, sales of disposable brands
increased 196.2% by March 2023, according to the CDC Foundation.
The FDA’s decision prohibited the sale of flavored pre-filled nicotine
vape cartridges exemplified by popular brand JUUL, but didn’t mention
disposable vapes. This sin of
omission created a gray market and by March sales of disposable products
increased to 11.9 million units a month and have overtaken cartridges
market share at 53% of vape sales. At this rate, we throw out 4.5 disposable vapes per second.
Few products are as harmful and
popular as disposable vapes. We shouldn’t tolerate any disposable
electronics, especially products that trash our environment and public
health. This report examines the environmental effects of disposable
vapes and includes recommendations to kick our addiction to these
damaging products.
Staff | TPIN
Disposable vapes contain lithium-ion batteries and electronics which are difficult to recycle.
Annual vape waste stretches for over 7,000 miles, and it’s harming our oceans
According to CDC Foundation sales
estimates, lining-up the disposable vapes sold in a year would stretch
for 7,010 miles—long enough to span the continental U.S. twice.
This vape waste is becoming more common while cigarette butts become
less common as the trash that litters our beaches and waterways. It seems we’ve gone from bad to worse. While cigarette pollution takes up to 10 years to degrade, disposable vapes are non-biodegradable and “endanger ocean creatures that inadvertently consume the plastics.” Who
looked at cigarette butts polluting our beaches and thought, “how can I
make a product that will more effectively trash our oceans by never
decomposing?”
We can’t recycle our way out
Electronics often contain hazardous materials such as the heavy metals lead and mercury. According to the UN, “recycling activities are not keeping pace with the global growth of e-waste.” The agency’s report found just 9.4% of e-waste is recycled in the Americas.
It’s not just a capacity problem. We don’t have the technology to take
complex products such as a disposable vape and magically melt them back
into their component parts. We might never.
There is no standard legal way to recycle disposable vapes
Most spent disposable vapes will
never face the challenges of recycling because they aren’t properly
collected as e-waste. According to the Truth Initiative’s report:
Currently,
there is no standardized way to recycle e-cigarettes in the U.S.
Starting in 2019, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) began accepting
e-cigarette devices and cartridges during their annual National
Prescription Take Back Day, although the DEA cannot accept devices
containing lithium ion batteries.”
With no standard legal way to recycle disposable vapes, and the already low e-waste recycling rate of less than 10%, the vast majority of these products will end up in landfills or our waterways after they run out of juice.
Vape waste contains plastics, electronics, and chemical waste
Disposable vapes are encased in plastic shells that never fully degrade. They follow in the footsteps of other environmentally harmful single-use pod products, such as coffee pods, or even pod-using hair dye.
Due to the nicotine e-liquid used in
these products, vape waste can’t be recycled with other plastics because
the substance is defined by the EPA as an acute hazardous waste.
Disposable vapes can’t be reused,
they can’t be recycled properly, and they can’t legally be thrown in the
trash. What are consumers supposed to do with these products? Is it any
wonder they’re an environmental threat?
Critical metals needed for electronics such as lithium are finite. Why are we throwing them out?
The lithium used by the batteries in
the disposable vapes sold every year weighs 23.6 tons, equivalent to the
lithium needed to create batteries for 2,600 electric vehicles. Tech like vapes require metals such as cobalt, platinum, gold and rare earth elements. Mining for these minerals is destructive. These metals are not infinite, and at some point we’ll run out.
Recommendations
We shouldn’t tolerate any disposable
electronics and disposable vapes are easily the worst of the bunch.
These products harm our health and environment. They waste the finite
resources needed for manufacturing new technology. The only solution is a
ban.
Federal enforcement
At the federal level, the FDA should enforce their rules against the sale of unauthorized disposable vapes. Enforcement has been growing
to meet the scale of the problem, as “[f]rom January 2021 through May
2023, FDA issued more than 560 warning letters to firms for
manufacturing, selling, and/or distributing new tobacco products without
marketing authorization from FDA.”
These actions are a strong start, but findings show these products are
still ubiquitous and easy to buy. The environmental harms of disposable
vapes should add urgency to the FDA’s enforcement and should foreclose
authorization of any future proposals to sell disposable vapes.
Federal legislation
Given the extent of the issue,
elected officials have a role in solving this problem. U.S.
Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick from Florida’s 20th
congressional district introduced H.R.901,
the Disposable ENDS Product Enforcement Act of 2023. This February 9,
2023 bill would, “require the Food and Drug Administration to prioritize
enforcement of disposable electronic nicotine delivery system
products.” The FDA categorizes vapes as ENDS (electronic nicotine delivery systems). Congress should pass this law and provide the FDA with the resources needed for enforcement.
State legislation
State lawmakers such as California Assemblymember Luz Rivas are introducing similar bills. AB 1690
would “prohibit a person or entity from selling, giving, or furnishing
to another person of any age in this state a single-use electronic
cigarette.” While many states and
cities have banned flavored vapes, few have completely banned vapes,
and none have explicitly targeted disposable products.
Flavor bans which replicate the same sin of omission perpetrated by the
FDA have allowed the disposable gray market to thrive. More states and
cities should follow their mandates to protect health and environment by
definitively banning disposables. New York Assemblymember Rosenthal has
also introduced A01598
which would establish an e-cigarette recycling program, requiring
retailers to accept used devices to be sent back to the manufacturers to
be properly recycled.
Retailers
Convenience store and gas station
retailers shouldn’t sell disposable vapes. These harmful products have
no place on our store shelves. 7-Eleven locations, and gas company
convenience stores with the Shell, Chevron, BP, Sunoco, Citgo, Mobil,
Marathon, Exxon, Valero, and Conoco brands have all received warnings from the FDA, “for selling unauthorized tobacco products, specifically Elf Bar and Esco Bars vape products.” These national chains should hold franchisees and local locations accountable with a zero-tolerance stance.
Conclusions
We can’t afford to manufacture, sell,
use, and toss disposable electronics. Throwing out rechargeable lithium
ion batteries after one use doesn’t make any sense.
It’s true that nothing we use for
only a day should pollute our environment for hundreds of years. As we
move away from other disposable products such as single-use plastics, we
should be aware of the growing number of electronic products that are
similarly unsustainable.
Even harmful plastics have important
medical uses. Disposable vapes on the other hand are both harmful and
useless. Beyond their unsustainable design, even their intended use is
damaging.
Some things are too harmful and
useless to be tolerated in our society. We shouldn’t manufacture, use,
or sell disposable vapes. Disposable vapes might be the worst product
ever invented. Let’s kick our addiction to disposability and use
products designed to last.
Greenpeace UK have a petition going to ban these devices, if you can sign it, that would be great. We get enough signatures it goes to parliament and it gets heard there.
The blog song for today is: "smoke gets in your eyes" by Bryan Ferry
Lined
up end-to-end, the disposable e-cigarettes sold and (presumably)
trashed annually in the U.S. could stretch across the country and back
again, according to a new report that highlights a growing problem: vape waste.
Disposable
vapes typically have plastic bodies that are designed to be used until
they’re empty and then tossed, as opposed to devices that can be
refilled with nicotine e-liquids or pods. The CDC Foundation, a
nonprofit that supports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, estimates
that each month in the U.S., consumers purchase 11.9 million disposable
e-cigarettes. Based on that figure, the new report—from the U.S. PIRG
Education Fund, a nonpartisan consumer-interest group—estimates that the
disposable vapes sold annually would stretch longer than 7,000 miles if
lined up, more than twice the width of the continental U.S.
Once little-used, disposable e-cigarettes accounted for about 53% of
e-cigarette unit sales in the U.S. as of March 2023, according to the
CDC Foundation. Single-use products like Puff Bar have also unseated
once-dominant vaping brands like Juul (which sells devices that can be recharged and refilled with e-liquid cartridges) among underage users, according to federal data.
That swift ascent started in part because of a regulatory loophole. In early 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a ban on the sale of many flavored vaping products—but
disposable e-cigarettes were not part of the policy, making them an
appealing option for people who wanted to continue to use flavors. Their
takeoff has concerned both public-health and environmental advocates.
In
addition to creating plenty of plastic waste, discarded e-cigarettes
can be considered both e-waste (because of their circuitry and
lithium-ion batteries) and hazardous waste (because they contain nicotine). E-cigarettes are also difficult to recycle, and many people don’t even try: garbology research has found evidence of plenty of vape litter. A 2022 survey found that just 8% of teen or young-adult vapers sent their used disposable devices to recycling facilities.
Within the e-cigarette category, disposables “pose the highest potential environmental costs,” according to a 2018 paper in the American Journal of Public Health, because they aren’t used as long as refillable models. A 2022 letter in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine called for tighter regulations on single-use vapes to ward off “environmental disaster.”
Some
legislators have pushed for such regulations. Lawmakers in California
and New York have, respectively, introduced bills meant to limit the sale of single-use vapes—many of which have not cleared the FDA’s authorization process—and establish better disposal practices for e-cigarettes. A recent New York City lawsuit also aims to block flavored e-cigarettes sales there, with a particular emphasis on disposable products.
A
representative for the Vapor Technology Association, a trade group for
the vaping industry, did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
In the meantime, suggests the new
report, people who vape can make a simple switch to benefit the
environment: choose reusable devices instead of those that go straight
in the trash. “Nothing used for a day or two,” the report says, “should
pollute our environment for hundreds of years.”
I completely agree, they also haven't been around long enough for us to know what the long term damage will be.. unfortunately people seem to think that not everything in the vape gets into their lungs. At the end of the day, it really is all the same..smoking, vaping, drinking alcohol, all legal, and when abused, lethal
Everything in moderation is one of the best phrases,but ignored!
Jun 5, 2023Climate Change, extreme heat, stay-cool-hacks, Summer
Many homes in the Pacific Northwest still lack air conditioning. After 2009,
when the first major heat wave hit the area, however, air conditioning
installations soared. But many apartment dwellers and about 40% of
homeowners still do without cooling during increasingly hot summers. And
that’s the coolest part of the country, the rest of the nation is
feeling more heat every year since 1980. Fear not, there are some simple and environmentally responsible ways to keep cool.
Summers are getting warmer, everywhere. It’s no longer unusual to see
triple-digit temperatures in most of the nation and many parts of the
world. A summer day in Washington can tick up to 115 degrees. Without
air conditioning, these temperatures can be dangerous. Older people are
particularly susceptible to heat, but anyone living without air
conditioning is now at risk.
We’re used to staying hydrated in hot weather, but body temperature
management is a new skill everyone needs during the climate crisis.
Indoor temperatures above 90 degrees can lead to muscle cramps,
exhaustion, and dehydration. While high daytime temperatures are
dangerous when you are outside, the most important change in daily
living during heat waves involves getting your home’s nighttime temperature well below 80 degrees to help you recover before the next day’s heat.
Keeping your home cool when it’s hot outside is essential to your
health. Here are a few simple life hacks to keep your apartment or house
as cool as possible without air conditioning.
Plan for 24-Hour Cooling
Set a schedule to air out your home each evening. It might help to
set an alarm to do this, though times will change as daylight hours do.
Open the windows and — if possible and safe — your doors when it gets
dark. Close them again just before sunrise. The air moving through
cools you during the night and can improve indoor air quality all day long unless there is a smoke alert. This manual cooling routine is the easiest, least expensive, and most environmentally responsible way to keep cool.
You need clean indoor air. The rest of these hacks will make little
difference if you are locked up in an apartment with stale air, which
can be more harmful in warm weather. The American Journal of Respiratory
and Critical Care Medicine reports that health risks from heat and poor air quality contribute to a 21% overall increase in death rates.
Use fans to blow air throughout your home. At night, use them in the
window to get cooler air inside and move it through the spaces you
frequent.
Keep blinds and curtains closed during the day. As much as natural
light is good for us, it also warms up areas. If you want to avoid that,
limit how much you are letting in.
Keep lights and heat-generating appliances off as much as possible.
This means not using the oven or stove and keeping your lights off; if
you need them on, use them at night when you can also open your windows
and doors to let the heat out. If you still use halogen or incandescent
light bulbs, switch to LEDs, which emit very little heat in comparison.
Water, Water, Everywhere
The wet head look isn’t just a stylish Kardashian choice, it can
bring your internal temperature down fast. Try wetting your hair with
cold water every hour or more frequently, to keep your head cool. If
you’ve ever noticed that taking your cap off in the winter makes you
colder quickly, it’s because the brain is very sensitive to changes in
temperature, and the same is true with keeping cool in the summer.
Then turn a fan on yourself to improve the cooling effect. Next, set
up a bowl of ice or ice water in front of your fan. It will make it so
cooler air is blowing throughout your home. And be sure to have ice on
hand, always. Make sure the ice tray is full so that you can cool down
quickly when you get hot. Apply ice on pressure points such as your
neck, back, wrists, thighs, and groin. Ice packs also work — keep enough
that you can cycle through them without running low.
Dry and Wet Heat
Dry heat differs from wet heat because your perspiration cools you
better when it’s not competing with local humidity. When you’re in a
humid environment, these hacks should work too, but you’re going to feel
hotter due to the nature of the heat.
Humid air lingers, so keep it moving around you by using fans. Also,
turn on your bathroom fan and other ventilation systems in a humid
environment to pull out as much rising hot air as possible. Keeping them
on during the day should reduce some of the humidity in your home.
And stay hydrated whether the heat is dry or wet. Eat ice cream or
popsicles; they’ll help cool you down just as much as they did when you
were a kid.
Stay Cool for Your Health
Be careful this summer, as it looks like it will be hotter than
anyone is accustomed to. Sadly, this is becoming a familiar refrain,
something we’re going to have to get used to with global warming
becoming more pronounced each year. Be prepared by familiarizing
yourself with the symptoms of heat-related illnesses and actions to take if they arise. And stay cool to stay healthy this summer.
Some really good advice here in this article, at the moment we are having a heat wave here on Menorca just like the rest of Spain, every little movement makes you sweat!
It is a shame that still people will not accept that we are all to blame for the current situation we are all in. The sad thing about it is that other living things are suffering too,which they have had nothing to do with it.. it is all on us and our choices.
The blog song for today is "Slow down" by the beatles
“Fashion is one of the most
highly polluting industries on earth. Unlike the construction or tourism
or tech industries that are also highly polluting, fashion is damaging
to every sector of the environment, whether terrestrial or aquatic,”
says Shelley Rogers, Fashion for the Earth coordinator at EarthDay.org.
Fast fashion, with its focus on short-term trends and low prices, is the
biggest culprit. But those same qualities make fast fashion especially
appealing to young people. That’s why this year, EarthDay.org is focused
on increasing youth involvement in sustainable fashion – and you can
help, no matter how old you are.
Youth and Fashion
Young people, that is, millennials (born between roughly 1981 and 1996) and Gen Z (born 1995-2012) are generally more aware of climate issues than other generations and are more likely to be activists for the environment. But they are also the target demographic for most fast fashion brands.
“The problem with GenZ, considered the most environmentally conscious
group, is that there is an ‘intention behavior gap’ where the intention
is to practice sustainability, but the numbers show they are shopping
from fast fashion companies a lot. The problem is price, availability,
and being unsure of what is and what isn’t sustainable,” says Rogers.
Despite being considered the most environmentally conscious group, Gen Zers shop from fast fashion companies a lot.
However, some young people are closing the behavior gap. Young designers like Maya Penn are building slow fashion brands, while sustainable fashion influencers on Instagram are showing that sustainable can be stylish.
“Many young people are actually doing something about the problem.
They are thrifting, reselling, and renting, disrupting fast fashion.
Some expect these alternative markets to become extremely competitive,
if not on par with fast fashion by 2030,” says Rogers. EarthDay.org’s Fashion for the Earth program is working to facilitate that shift.
Fashion for the Earth
For two years in a row, the fashion industry has been a focus for EarthDay.org’s Invest in the Earth campaign.
“It is all directed at one thing – to find a way to avoid fast fashion, to shop less and to shop sustainably,” says Rogers.
In time for Earth Day this year, Fashion for the Earth is launching a
TikTok series of interviews with college students to share their
thoughts on sustainable fashion and encourage others to think about
their choices. Another new project for Earth Day 2023 is Swap for the Earth,
an online toolkit for organizing campus clothing swaps in the week
leading up to Earth Day. These events encourage reuse and reinforce
awareness of the overconsumption of clothing. Videos from the events
will be shared online.
The My Planet, My Closet program is a continuation from last year. It
asks people to send in videos showing off their sustainable clothing
items as an inspirational “what’s in your closet” project that will be
shared on social media. EarthDay.org also produced digital toolkits
explaining how to shop for more sustainable clothes and how to care for clothing so it lasts longer. A series of webinars and blog posts examine sustainable fashion topics in more detail.
Look for this content on your preferred platform with the hashtags #EarthDay and #InvestInOurPlanet.
Image: EarthDay.org
What Youth Can Do
All of these resources are designed to help young people overcome the barriers to dressing more sustainably.
“It’s something that we all do every day – getting dressed – and
something that’s within our control. That’s the important thing. Buying
sustainable clothes, wearing them longer, taking care of them and
keeping them for years instead of months makes an enormous difference,”
says Rogers.
Restrictions on time and money often drive people of all ages to make
less sustainable choices despite their best intentions. But even just
learning about sustainable options now is a step in the right direction.
“As GenZ moves into the working world and they begin to earn an
income, hopefully they will spend the extra money it takes to purchase
better quality clothing. Sooner or later educated people will demand
government put an end to an industry that is harmful to all living
things and continuing to grow out of control,” says Rogers.
Even without much time or money, young people can start to make those demands now – and so can parents. Anyone can encourage their representatives to support legislation like the E.U. Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles and the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act in New York State’s legislature.
Many young people are finding ways to avoid fast fashion by shopping secondhand and reselling clothes they no longer wear.
What Parents Can Do
Parents can help their kids understand the environmental impact of fast fashion and the steps to building a more sustainable wardrobe.
“Parents should also question the way fast fashion hooks children
with what’s called ‘FOMO’ or fear of missing out. Social media pressure
is a very hard thing to overcome for young people,” says Rogers.
Understanding that they are being manipulated can change a young
person’s perspective significantly.
The fashion industry also depends on child labor.
Young people like themselves are working in sweatshops in the global
south where they make less than a living wage to keep the prices of
clothing low enough for our teenagers to overconsume.
“Once you understand the depth of the problem, it’s hard to want to
be part of it. Having fewer, but better made clothes that are well taken
care of is the answer,” says Rogers.
As usual, bang on target with this report, throwaway fashion is a big problem and it is made worse by these chains of shops selling fashion clothing really cheaply and of course badly made. We all need to think about what we have in our wardrobes and if we really do need to buy another pair of shoes or more t shirts, bags and other stuff. As I have said before I like to go to second hand shops and look around for good quality items, it gives me pleasure knowing that I am not contributing to the throwaway fashion industry!!
The blog song for today is:" Stairway to heaven" by Led Zeppelin
Biodegradable plastics have emerged as a potential solution to the severe environmental problem
caused by the production and disposal of traditional plastic. These
plastics can be made from natural sources like plant-based materials and
micro-organisms such as bacteria that can be used in a variety of
industries such as packaging, construction, and healthcare. While
plastic pollution remains a significant issue, biodegradable plastics
and enzymatic plastic recycling offer promising alternatives.
For every human on this planet, there are 21 000 pieces of plastic in the ocean. If a legally binding global plastic treaty doesn’t come to fruition, plastic in the oceans will almost triple by 2040.
And most of those pieces are tiny, and can’t be recycled. Humans
produce over 300 million tons of plastic waste every year, with only 9% of it being recycled and about 19% incinerated to generate energy, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development.
Traditional plastics are non-biodegradable, meaning they do not
decompose naturally in the environment. Instead, they break down into microplastics that pollute our ecosystems and pose a risk to human health.
As a result, plastic waste has found its way into our oceans, forming massive garbage gyres and causing harm to marine life. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,
the largest accumulation of ocean plastic, is estimated to be twice the
size of Texas. Fortunately, scientists, entrepreneurs, and companies
are developing biodegradable plastics and recycling technology (using
pyrolysis and enzymes) to help mitigate the plastic pollution problem.
The Promise of Plant-Based Plastics
Biodegradable plastics, also known as bioplastics, are made from renewable resources such as plant-based materials, and they can break down naturally in an industrial composting facility.
They offer a more sustainable alternative to traditional plastics,
reducing the amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfills or
pollutes our oceans.
There are different types of bioplastics, each with its unique
properties and applications. For instance, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)
are produced by microorganisms such as bacteria and can be used for
packaging, agriculture, and medical devices.
Polylactic acid (PLA) is another common bioplastic made from
renewable sources like corn starch, which can be used for food
packaging, 3D printing, and textiles.
Starch-based bioplastics made from corn or potato are used for food
packaging and bags. Mushroom-based foam, made from the mycelium of
mushrooms, can be used for packaging and insulation. Algae-based
bioplastics are another emerging type of bioplastic, with potential
applications in packaging, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
At the Forefront of Bioplastics
Many companies are already using biodegradable plastics to reduce
their environmental impact. For example, Dell is using mushroom-based
foam for packaging to protect tech during transport. Lego has committed
to using bioplastics made from sugarcane for sustainable Lego bricks.
Speaking to Earth911 on our podcast, Algenesis CEO Steve Mayfield describes how the company developed a biodegradable polyurethane foam called Soleic used in the soles of the world’s first biodegradable shoes made by sustainable shoe company Blueview Footwear.
“Soleic is made from sun oils, which means oils that come from
plants. We started with algae, we still work on algae oils, because
those will ultimately be the most sustainably sourced oil on the planet.
But we also use non-food plant oils … we don’t use palm oil or soybean
oil, but any other plant oil will work to make our material,” Mayfield
said. Solei breaks down the fastest in compost, where the shoes become
unrecognizable in nine months.
“In the ocean, it [disappears] at about half that speed … because the
ocean’s air exchange isn’t as good as it is in a compost pile. Oceans
are also missing a couple of key things that organisms need, so one of
the things that we work on now is what can we add to our foams to get
them to degrade faster. And iron, it turns out, is one of the key
minerals missing in the ocean. So if you put iron into the foam, they
actually degrade at a much quicker rate,” Mayfield explains.
Tackling Plastic Pollution Through Recycling Technology
Recycling traditional plastics can be difficult and expensive, which
is why new recycling technologies are deployed to make the process more
efficient and sustainable. Earth911 spoke to Jeff Gold, CEO of Nexus Fuels, which uses molecular recycling/pyrolysis technology to break down 50 tons of plastic daily to be reused in new plastic.
Pyrolysis technology uses heat to break down plastic polymers (the
chains of molecules) into smaller chains, which are condensed and cooled
to form oils, waxes, and non-condensable gases like propane and ethane.
Pyrolysis heats plastic without the presence of oxygen, so it doesn’t
produce the toxic emissions that would otherwise result from heating
plastic.
“All that material is captured … the oil and the wax products we make
and ship off are then handled by a refinery where they are made into
new plastic. The gas products, the ethane and propane, we capture every
bit of that, because [it is] then routed back to our reactors where it
is combusted and provides the heat for our process,” Jeff Gold explains.
Jeff continues, “We’ve created about 350 000 gallons of product and
diverted 3 million pounds of plastics that would have normally gone to
the landfill … We are taking plastics out of the environment and
sequestering that carbon (it’s not going into the atmosphere) and making
new plastics that can be recycled infinitely.”
Plastic Recycling Using Enzymes
Enzymatic recycling
is a technology using special proteins called enzymes to break down
plastic waste into smaller building blocks called monomers. Carbios, a
French biotech company, has developed an enzymatic recycling technology
that can recover over 95% of material from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a common plastic used in beverage bottles and packaging.
Carbios’ technology uses enzymes that break down PET into its
building blocks, which can then be used to create new products. The
process is better for the environment because it does not require high
temperatures or harsh chemicals, and, unlike mechanical recycling, the
resulting plastic can be used repeatedly without losing its chemical
coherence.
The Outlook for Circular Economy Plastics
Despite their promise, biodegradable plastics and enzymatic recycling technologies are still costly and resource-intensive
to build and operate. It remains an open question whether biodegradable
plastics will be as durable or versatile as traditional plastics.
While there are current economic and technological challenges
associated with the production of biodegradable plastics, it is clear
that there is a growing need for more sustainable packaging solutions.
The recently ratified
global plastic pollution treaty, which has been signed by over 170
countries, includes legally binding commitments to end plastic pollution
and promote the use of more sustainable materials.
What an interesting article, I loved it, it shows that there are people out there trying to make a difference. We all need some good news regarding the monster (AKA plastic) that we have created. If only we knew then what we know now, but saying that would things have been any different. We are the problem, the people who keep buying these products. All in all a fantastic report (as we have come to expect) from our friends at earth911.com.The blog song for today is: "Burning Love" by Elvis PresleyTTFN
Remember the children’s book Everyone Poops?
Written by Taro Gomi, it shows all kinds of animals, including humans,
in action. The reader sees animals pooping in water, on the move, and
covering up their business with dirt. In the end, people are shown using
the toilet, toilet paper, and flushing away.
We’re all for keeping things clean “down there,” but our use of TP is leaving behind some pretty dirty business.
What’s So Bad About Toilet Paper?
Toilet paper has such a large environmental impact that the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published not one, not two, but three reports in three years about the crisis.
Americans are the heaviest per capita users of toilet paper in the world. Most major U.S. brands rely on wood from the Canadian boreal forest. This forest is particularly important from a climate standpoint. According to NRDC reports:
“This great northern forest is the most carbon-dense, intact
forest left on the planet, locking up in its soils and trees twice as
much carbon as the world’s oil reserves.”
Logging in the boreal forest releases an estimated 26.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. That’s roughly a quarter of all the carbon emitted from all the trucks in cars in the U.S. in 2019. Among the ways that toilet paper adds carbon into the atmosphere:
Logging disrupts carbon within the soil.
The forest’s ability to absorb carbon is reduced.
When the TP breaks down, it releases more carbon.
It’s Made With Mostly Virgin Fibers
We’re finally having a national and global conversation about
reducing our consumption of resources. Yet there is little progress in
replacing virgin fibers with recycled paper content for toilet paper.
TP manufacturers rely heavily on virgin wood fibers to create their
products. They are reluctant to seek alternatives due in part to
consumer demand and expectations. Yet using post-consumer recycled
content has significant benefits. Toilet paper made with post-consumer recycled content:
Has a smaller carbon footprint
Requires less energy to clean and separate fibers
Uses fewer harsh chemicals, including bleach, in its processes
Uses less water
How Much TP Do We Use?
Each person in the U.S. uses an estimated 141 rolls of toilet paper per year. Despite accounting for about 4% of the global population, Americans use 20%
of the world’s toilet paper. Disturbingly, if you measured the toilet
paper an average American uses in their lifetime, it would equal about 634 miles.
Looking at that another way, it takes one tree to make roughly 1,500 rolls of toilet paper. That comes out to over 31 million trees to make just one year’s supply of TP for everyone in the U.S.
The average per-person use of TP in Portugal, Germany, and the U.K. is 137, 134, and 127 rolls, respectively.
Not everyone uses this much TP, though. A recent study
looked at the average use of this paper product throughout the world
and found that Italy, France, and Finland use less than one-half of the
amount we use in the U.S. Many countries use even less. Check out the
study’s per-country usage findings in the following interactive chart.
And in some places, people don’t use any toilet paper.
Everyone Poops — But Not Everyone Uses Toilet Paper
While pooping is universal, using toilet paper isn’t. Less than 30%
of the world’s population uses toilet paper. That leaves a whopping 4
billion people who don’t. In some places, it’s because of access. People
either don’t have money to spend on TP, or there’s none to be had. In
other places it’s cultural.
What do people use instead? Mostly water.
Give Bidets a Try
In countries across Asia, Europe, and South America, people use bidets instead of toilet paper. Bidets come in many forms. All of them involve spraying water on your bottom to keep it clean.
Bidets are catching on slowly in the U.S., due to their lower environmental impact. Even Forbes magazine advocates switching to a bidet. They state that bidets are “more hygienic and better for the environment.”
(There are health conditions that bidets are not recommended for, so check with your physician before using one.)
Not a Fan of Bidets? Try Better Toilet Paper
We’re creatures of habit. We don’t like change, so a large-scale
switch to bidets isn’t likely anytime soon. But switching toilet paper
brands isn’t such a big change.
If you can’t imagine not wiping your backside, there are better-for-the-planet TP brands. Earth911 has a buying guide to help you find more sustainable TP brands. The guide ranks brands according to several factors:
Raw materials sourcing
Manufacturing process impacts
Price
Shipping distance
Life cycle of paper and packaging
Distribution distance
CO2 emissions
The guide also looks at certifications and charitable giving for each company. Reel, Bim Bam Boo, and Who Gives a Crap earned the highest marks.
Consider Using Less Toilet Paper
If nothing else, be conscious of how much TP you use. Do you really
need a huge cushion of squares for a single wipe? Several readers have
suggested that using single-ply toilet paper can reduce the
environmental impact but a recent University of Pennsylvania study found that there was no substantial difference in single-ply versus double-ply. Single-ply TP is better for septic systems but people tend to use more paper if it is thinner.
The biggest change starts with your bathroom habits. By paying
attention, you may discover you automatically rip off more squares than
you really need for a given wipe. And reducing your use of TP isn’t just
better for the planet; you’ll save money, too!
This article was originally published on March 10, 2022.
If you stopand think that really is a lot of toilet paper that gets flushed away!!
The blog song for today is: "Astronomy Domine" by Pink Floyd
DIY
EcoTech
Home & Garden
How & Buy
Living & Well-Being
Carbon Calculating: Estimating Your Home Energy Impact
ByMitch Ratcliffe
Feb 20, 2023carbon calculator, carbon-footprint-energy, home energy
The dozens of carbon
calculators available as apps and on the web provide widely divergent
estimates of your carbon footprint. Whether you choose to use one of the
many calculators or want to assemble your own estimate — from finding
and understanding your home energy usage to assessing a carbon
calculator’s results — this article will break down how to track the
impact of home electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, or propane use.
As mentioned in the first article in this series,
carbon calculators use different formulas and estimated CO2 emissions.
We entered the same data in five web-based carbon calculators and
received strikingly different total emissions estimates, as well as
radically different shares of the total carbon footprint attributed to
home energy use. The differences raise significant concerns about the
accuracy of each of the calculators.
Earth911
compared six web-based carbon calculator estimates of home energy
emissions, shown here compared to the total carbon footprint reported
for the household. Karma Wallet does not break out the energy total.
(Click for a larger image.)
Each calculator we tested has strengths and weaknesses. The reality
is that you will probably need to use parts of several calculators to
get the most accurate cumulative carbon footprint for your household.
Before we explore which ones offer the most trustworthy home energy
estimates, let’s walk through the information you need to have at hand.
If you are a DIYer, you will find the formulas for making your own calculations at the end of this article.
Collecting the Data
To get started, find your utility bills to help you determine your
home energy use. Try to collect a full year’s worth of your electric
bills as well as other energy bills, such as fossil fuel, natural gas,
fuel oil, or propane. Carbon calculators ask for this information by
month or as an annual total.
Electricity
Your electricity bill presents power consumption in kilowatt-hours,
which represent the number off watts of energy needed to power a
1,000-watt microwave oven for an hour, for example. Look for “kWh” on
your electricity bills, add up a year’s worth of bills to arrive at the
annual total, then divide by 12 to get your monthly average electricity
consumption. Whether the calculator you use asks for monthly or annual
kilowatt-hours, you’re ready.
Most carbon calculators ask for electric data in kWh, but you may
also find calculators that ask for your monthly or annual spending on
electricity. Based on our experience, spending is a less reliable way to
estimate electricity usage than exact usage based on kWh because local
rates vary. Calculators that use spending must apply guesswork to
estimate your usage.
In addition to your electricity usage, the source of your power makes
a big difference to your environmental impact. If you get a significant
percentage of renewable sources, such as hydro-electric, solar, or
wind, the energy footprint is lower than someone who relies on fossil
fuel generation.
Only two of the calculators we used, Doconomy and the EPA’s, asked
about use of renewable energy. However, Doconomy asks only if you have
renewable energy, not the percentage of electricity that is renewable,
allocating CO2 emissions based on the assumption you either have access
to all-renewable or no renewable energy. A simple yes/no question
doesn’t deal with our realities. The EPA calculator, on the other hand,
asks you to enter the specific percentage, which we recommend to ensure
you get an accurate emissions report.
Local renewable percentages depend on your utility’s decisions about
how to generate or where they buy energy. For example, where we live, in
Western Washington, Pierce County enjoys 89% renewable energy while in
Eastern Washington, Whitman County gets only 41% of its power from
renewables. But statewide, the typical resident’s renewable energy
percentage is 85% because most of the population lives on the western
side of the state, where renewables dominate.
Many utilities will list the percentage of renewable energy you
receive on your bill or in an annual customer report. If you don’t know
your local renewable percentage, the U.S. Energy Information Administration provides state-level information
about electric energy sourcing. Click on your state and choose the
Electricity tab in the state report. You will have to do a bit of math
to calculate your renewable percentage by mousing over the bar in the
chart seen below to get the data about all your power sources.
The EIA’s state-level data can be used to estimate a renewable energy percentage for use in a carbon calculator.
Natural Gas
Methane gas, or “natural gas,” consumption is presented in several
different units including therms (each therm equals 100,000 British
thermal units, the equivalent of heat created by 29.3072 kWh of
electricity), “ccf,” which represents hundreds of cubic feet of gas
delivered per month, and “mcf,” which counts cubic feet by thousands.
You may need to convert ccf into mcf, or vice versa, to use a
specific calculator — pay attention to the unit of measure requested
because entering your gas usage in the wrong unit can throw your impact
results off by a factor of ten. To convert ccf into mcf, divide by your
total ccf by 10; going the other way, multiply your mcf by 10 to get
total ccf.
Fuel Oil
Burning oil to generate heat in the home
has been on the decline since the oil crisis of the 1970s. But several
states still see significant use of oil, including the top five (in
order): New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Connecticut.
You will enter your fuel oil usage in gallons or by the dollaramount
you spend — that data will be shown on your bill. Add up a year’s worth
of bills and divide the total by 12 to get an average monthly fuel oil
usage to use in your calculation. And because local rates vary, we
recommend using the actual volume of oil and not the monthly spending
for more accurate results.
Propane
This form of gas, which differs from methane chemically, is still in
use in tens of millions of homes in the U.S. All the carbon calculators
we tested that included propane as an option requested either a monthly
or annual volume in gallons.
The Calculators
For this article, we focused on calculators offered on websites, but
app-based calculators behave in similar ways. In the final article in
this series, we will present a review of all the app and web calculators
tested.
Environmental Protection Agency Carbon Calculator
Grades Energy estimate:A- Total footprint estimate:D-
The EPA Carbon Calculator
asked for the most information, including the percentage of renewable
energy in your home’s electricity supply, to estimate energy-related
emissions. The renewable energy data we entered clearly reduced the
total energy footprint estimate for our three-person household. When we
compared the EPA’s energy results to our manual calculation, it was the
closest estimate received, followed by the Wren calculator.
Unfortunately, the EPA calculator does not cover all the categories of
emissions necessary to provide a comprehensive footprint estimate.
Because it does not cover all the ways we generated emissions,
offering estimates only for home heating and energy, driving, and the
impact of recycling choices, the EPA calculator does not help
individuals make many decisions that could reduce their environmental
impact. It misses too many emissions.
CoolClimate Network
Grades Energy estimate:C+ Total footprint estimate:B+
A project of the University of California, Apple, Meta, and the Nature Conservancy, the CoolClimate Household Impact Calculator
provides the most detailed analysis of all aspects household carbon
impacts in this review. While the home energy estimate includes entries
for number of people in the household, percentage of renewable energy
used, and volume-based entries for electricity and natural gas use, the
estimated footprint for our home energy was clearly too low,
representing only a third of the emissions actually generated.
The CoolClimate calculator does a great job by providing many
detailed entries for air travel; number and type of vehicles driven;
meat, dairy, and fish consumption; and spending on goods and services,
for example. However, it also inserts arbitrary assumptions that cannot
be adjusted for annual construction, furniture, and clothing spending
that added 15% to our estimated total footprint. If those entries were
customizable, the calculator would be even better.
Another shortcoming is a lack of a clearly defined methodology.
CoolClimate points to a research paper that explains how models can
predict carbon emissions but does not address how the estimate is
generated. Note that this calculator asks for gas usage in cubic feet,
not ccf or mcf. If your bill provides usage information in ccf, multiply
by ten before you enter your data; if your bill displays mcf, multiply
by 100.
TerraPass
Grades Energy estimate:D- Total footprint estimate:D+
In the first article in this series, we pointed out that calculators
tied to the sale of carbon offsets typically make substantially higher
estimates than calculators that do not offer offsets. TerraPass’ Individual Calculator
results don’t make clear sense in two ways. Based on the same data we
entered in the other calculators, TerraPass presents a total footprint
that is almost twice the amount of the next highest estimate.
Compounding our confusion, the TerraPass energy-related results account
for 90.2% of the total emissions — home energy usage should reasonably
be half or less of a total carbon footprint.
TerraPass does not account for use of renewable energy. And like the
EPA calculator, TerraPass does not collect any food, shopping, or
services data, which are essential to understanding your total
footprint. On the other hand, the TerraPass estimates for driving and
air travel are solid. They ask for specific information about what kind
of cars you drive and the number of length of flights you take annually
to deliver largely accurate estimate of travel impacts.
Doconomy
Grades Energy estimate:D Total footprint estimate:F
Doconomy and the United Nations partnered to create a European focused carbon calculator
that covers a wide range of household impacts, including energy,
driving, air travel, food, and shopping choices, as well as the
emissions created by the services you use. However, every aspect of the
tool produced surprisingly low emissions estimates. For example,
Doconomy estimated that our annual home energy impact is only 3,840
lbs., and our food-related emissions only 540 lbs. That’s clearly
incorrect and results in a very low estimate compared to the other
calculators and our manual estimate of emissions. The low estimate may
make you feel better about yourself, but you’ll be unprepared to make
changes that lower your impact.
As noted in the discussion of electricity, Doconomy asks whether you
buy renewable energy, treating your yes or no answer as representing
100% of the power used, according to its published methodology.
Except for a home that relies only on its solar or wind generation
capacity, Doconomy’s assumption about renewable energy is not applicable
to anyone connected to the grid. One positive: Doconomy sells offsets
but delivered the lowest estimated overall footprint among the offset
vendors reviewed in this article. We’d like to see them refine and
improve the formula and assumptions that drive their results.
Wren
Grades Energy estimate:B- Total footprint estimate:C
Another carbon offset seller, the Wren carbon calculator
provides one of the most comprehensive assessment of a household’s
carbon impact. In addition to home energy estimates, Wren calculates
driving and air travel emissions, as well as food (including pet food),
shopping, and services impacts. The site’s total annual estimate was the
third highest, but far more conservative than TerraPass and Karma
Wallet. However, Wren does not publish its methodology, so it is
difficult to validate its estimates. Its home energy estimate is based
in part on the ZIP code entered. In our case, adding the ZIP code
lowered our estimated impact by 31.6%.
Karma Wallet
Grades Energy estimate:F Total footprint estimate:D+
The Karma Wallet calculator
takes a completely different approach than the manual-entry calculators
above. It analyzes your spending by tracking credit card and bank
transactions. As we’ve noted about spending-based estimates, it is
impossible to extrapolate with useful precision the amount of
electricity, natural gas, or other units of energy used from the price
paid without extensive context. Karma Wallet does not break out the
individual categories of emissions, providing only a total emissions
estimate. Our Karma Wallet results were 23.2% higher than the average
reported by all the other calculators reviewed here.
Karma Wallet offers two way to take action. It suggests alternatives
to your current spending, such as switching from one wireless carrier to
another (with cashback offers), and provides offsets for purchase. The
guidance about choosing more environmentally responsible companies to
buy from would be useful if the actual impact of those choices was
clearly presented, but the tool only compares a sustainability rating
without explaining how a change reduces carbon emissions. This
potentially useful tool requires the user to take too much on faith
because there is no quantitative data about categories of your current
carbon impact or how making changes will reduce emissions.
The DIY Way
Checking the work of third-party calculators can help you make
confident decisions. But we know doing the math isn’t everyone’s cup of
tea. If you’d like to do your own estimates, here are simple formulas
for calculating the sources of each of the major types of home energy.
For example, when calculating a carbon footprint for a home that uses
electricity and natural gas, you’ll need to add the totals for all the
energy sources to arrive your cumulative home energy footprint.
We’ve provided average emissions factors for each type of energy based on the EPA’s reporting.
Keep in mind that local factors, such as the condition of your furnace
and specific sources of gas, oil, or renewable energy affect your actual
impact. Alas, estimates are not reality. We recommend asking your local
utility for the emissions factors of their energy sources to improve your estimate.
Electricity, No Renewable Sources
Depending on what your utility burns to generate electricity, the
emissions will vary. Here are formulas for three common fuels used to
generate electricity in commercial plants.
The EPA reports the emissions factors for combustible fuels in
millions of British Thermal Units (mmBtus). We included a step to
convert the hours reported on your electric bill into the equivalent
mmBtus, which involves multiplying the number of kWh by
0.0034095106405145. The EPA also provides emissions factors per mmBtus
are provided in kilograms, so the final step, multiplying the result by
2.2046, converts the result in kilograms to imperial pounds. If the U.S.
would embraced the metric system, this would be easier. When using a
calculator, enter the values in BOLD below.
Mixed Coal
The energy industry typically uses mixed coal, which has an emissions
factor of 95.52 kg per mmBtu, to power electricity generation plants.
The formula to find your home’s energy emissions is:
CO2 emissions (in lbs.) = (YOUR TOTAL ANNUAL kWh) * (0.0034095106405145 MMBtu/kWh) * (95.52 kg CO2/MMBtu) * 2.20462
Natural Gas
Many utilities burn natural gas in peaker plants, which come online
during periods of high demand. But some utilities rely on natural gas
around the clock, accounting for 37% of all the natural gas burned in
the U.S., about 11.27 trillion cubic feet in 2021, according to the EIA. If your utility sources most electricity from natural gas, here’s the calculation you need to perform:
CO2 emissions (in lbs.) = (YOUR TOTAL ANNUAL kWh) * (0.0034095106405145 MMBtu/kWh) * (53.06 kg CO2/MMBtu) * 2.20462
Biomass or Landfill Gas
Capturing and burning gasses produced in landfills and from
processing organic waste, sometimes referred to as biogas or renewable
gas, sounds pretty green. But burning fuels emit CO2, regardless of
where they came from. These gasses accounted for about 0.2% of
utility-scale electricity generation in 2021, according to the EIA. Here is the home energy carbon footprint formula for biogas:
CO2 emissions (in lbs.) = (YOUR TOTAL ANNUAL kWh) * (0.0034095106405145 MMBtu/kWh) * (52.07 kg CO2/MMBtu) * 2.20462
Electricity With Renewable Sources
The percentage of renewable energy you use can change your total
energy footprint significantly. To find information about how much wind,
solar, or hydroelectric power your utility uses, along with the source
of the rest of your energy, refer to the EIA website
we mentioned earlier. To find your adjusted emissions based on the mix
of fossil fuel and renewable energy powering your home, we add a step to
the previous fossil fuel calculation (we use mixed coal in this
example), highlighted below in italics:
CO2 emissions (in lbs.) = (YOUR TOTAL ANNUAL kWh) * (0.0034095106405145 MMBtu/kWh) * (95.52 kg CO2/MMBtu) * 2.20462 * 1 – (1 – YOUR RENEWABLE ENERGY PERCENTAGE EXPRESSED AS DECIMAL)
Fuel Oil
A fuel oil furnace operates like a power plant without a mechanism
for converting the heat into energy — it’s heating your house, instead.
The formula is similar to the oil-fired electricity calculation above,
and uses the CO2 emissions factor of 24.78 lbs. of CO2 per gallon:
Total CO2 emissions = YOUR ANNUAL OIL USE IN GALLONS * 24.76
Propane
Propane is easier on the atmosphere but still emits 12.68 lbs. of CO2 per gallon burned. To find your propane carbon footprint:
Total CO2 emissions = YOUR ANNUAL PROPANE USE IN GALLONS * 24.76
It looks quite complicated when you first read it, but I should imagine after a few attempts it will get a bit easier. It would appear that the Wren calculator is one of the best of them. I have yet to try it out for myself, we are in the middle of moving house and the new one is completely solar powered (off grid), so we are a bit busy! We plan on using solar powered generators as back up. There are many more homes on Menorca with solar energy which is great, they are also building solar farms. The blog song for today is: "The tide is high" by BlondieTTFN
