What you can do

The challenge of ensuring clean air and a healthy climate can be met. Choices made by businesses, communities and individuals can lead to meaningful reductions in air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. Home energy improvements, tree planting programs, alternative transportation and increased use of public transit are just some of the choices that can be acted upon at the community level. In many cases, one action will reduce both air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. Some actions can even save you money! Actions taken now and continued over the long-term can make a difference.

Tips for taking action

Here are some simple ways you can reduce GHG emissions as an Individual:

• All Canadians contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the actions of individual Canadians account for about 28% of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions.
  
• That's almost six tonnes per person per year - enough to fill six two-story houses! Every time we turn on a light, hop in the car, start up a computer, or do anything that uses energy, we are responsible for producing greenhouse gases.
  
• But if we're part of the problem, we also can be part of the solution. At home, on the road, and at work, there are simple things we can do to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions - and save energy and money in the process!

For more information on how you can reduce your GHG emissions please visit this site http://www.nbhub.org/actions/home-e.html

Here are some simple ways you can reduce GHG emissions at home:

• All of the cracks and gaps in the average house, added together, are equal to a 1.5 square foot hole. Using caulking and weather stripping to seal all leaks around doors, windows, and cracks where heat escapes from your home can save up to 20% on your heating bill.
• Insulate when you renovate your home. Over the years, a small up-front cost can pay for itself several times over in energy savings.
  
• Get a home energy audit: visit http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/index.cfm to find out how.
  
• Use an automatic set-back thermostat for your home's heating and air conditioning.
  
• Clean your furnace filter regularly to ensure good airflow and keep your furnace properly tuned.
  Install low-flow showerheads and fix leaky or dripping faucets.
• Get rid of that old fridge! An inefficient refrigerator with an ill-fitting door can cost hundreds of dollars a year to operate. A new, more efficient refrigerator will consume less energy and provide many new features.
• When buying that new refrigerator, or any household appliance, check the EnerGuide label to help you select the most energy-efficient model that meets your needs.
  
• Almost all of the energy used by clothes washers is for heating water. Only about 10 per cent or less is actually used by the electric motor that runs the machine.
• Use cold water whenever you can to improve your clothes washer's efficiency.
• Let dishes air-dry rather than using the dishwasher's drying cycle.
  Microwave cooking can reduce energy consumption by two-thirds and produces much less waste heat than your stove.
• Use energy-efficient lighting products such as compact fluorescent bulbs. They last 10 times longer and use 75% less energy than regular incandescent light bulbs.

For more information on how you can reduce your GHG emissions please visit this site http://www.nbhub.org/actions/home-e.html

Here are some simple ways you can reduce your GHG emissions at work:

• Turn all equipment off when not in use, including computers, photocopiers, cash registers, and coffee machines, particularly overnight and on weekends (it will not damage the components).
• If your computer has integrated power management capabilities, ensure the system is configured to use them. If printers and photocopiers have an energy-saver mode, make sure it is operating (machines are often shipped with this feature disabled).
• Use as little paper as possible. Printing, photocopying, and faxing all use energy. Communicating electronically through e-mail and fax/modems is quicker, less expensive, more productive, and healthier for the environment.
• Print and copy on both sides of the page. Double-sided printing or photocopying reduces paper costs, saves filing space, and minimizes the amount of energy and fibre required for paper production.
• Use recycled paper (including unbleached paper) whenever possible.
• Turn off lights when a work area isn't being used - or, even better, don't turn them on in the first place! Natural light saves energy and is easier on the eyes. Open the curtains and blinds to bring more natural light into your work area.

For more information on how you can reduce your GHG emissions please visit this site http://www.nbhub.org/actions/home-e.html

Here are some simple ways you can reduce your GHG emissions on the road:

• Leave the car at home whenever you can. Walk or bike for short trips; for longer trips, take the bus. One busload of passengers takes 40 vehicles off the road, saving 70,000 litres of fuel, 175 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and nine tonnes of pollutants per year.
  
• Avoid idling your vehicle. Ten seconds of idling uses more fuel that restarting your engine and produces more air pollution.
  
• keep to the speed limit. Driving at 100 km/h burns 10 per cent more fuel than driving at 90 km/h. On the highway, use cruise control to maintain a steady speed and reduce fuel consumption.
  
• In the city, stop-and-go traffic means that your air conditioning can increase fuel consumption by as much as 20 per cent. At low city speeds, open windows can be a fuel-saving alternative.

For more information on how you can reduce your GHG emissions please visit this site http://www.nbhub.org/actions/home-e.html

What about sustainable transportation?

Sustainable transportation commonly refers to alternatives to single-occupant gas or diesel-powered vehicles. This can be as simple as car-pooling or taking public transit. It can also be active like walking, cycling or in-line skating. And if you do your office work from home over the telephone or computer, and don't drive into work everyday, you are telecommuting! The transportation picture is really much bigger than individual transportation and includes commercial activities like the travel and shipping industry. The transportation sector is a major contributor to air pollution and climate change and is responsible for about 27% of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. In fact, transportation is one of the largest sources of air pollution in Canada and may account for up to two thirds of all smog forming pollutants in some urban areas. Smog is particularly harmful to children, the elderly and those with cardio-respiratory problems.

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