Green Issue: The Power of One

On a recent flight (to DC for the regional NAPO conference), I was paging through Delta's SKY Magazine, and found this interesting article written by Jim Hackler, about how "the power of one" can make a huge positive impact on the environment. Check out these simple ways you can have an impact today...

It’s Too Darn Hot
If the thermostats in every house in America were lowered 1 degree Fahrenheit during the winter, the nation would save 230 million barrels of crude oil—enough to fill an oil tanker 400 times. (That’s the amount of oil being imported into the United States from Iraq each year.)

Honor Roll
      Replacing just one 500-sheet roll  of virgin toilet paper a year with  one 500-sheet roll of 100 percent  recycled paper in every American household would leave 424,000 trees standing—16 times as many trees as in New York City’s Central Park.

Wear It and Air It
        If just one passenger per each flight in the world this year packed 1 pound less of luggage, they would save enough fuel to fly a Boeing 737 around the world 474 times. If this isn't a good enough reason to start packing lighter, I don't know what is!

Check out the rest of the article and "power of one" tips online here.

Comments

[Marty]

Regarding toilet paper, most people don't realize that paper production for such items uses trees that are grown for that purpose.

Tree farms exist to supply our paper needs. If we didn't use paper, the tree farms wouldn't be planted to begin with.

Therefore it's a false statement of economy to say that reducing paper product consumption saves trees.

[Terry Lessig]

Good point, Marty. I think the single-degree difference is a skewed statistic, also. The writer probably lives in the east, where homes are heated by oil, and he figured out how much his town could save and then multiplied it by the entire population.

I live in the fifth largest city, and if we use heat at all, it's natural gas, or electric from a nuclear plant 50 miles west of town.

In a country of 300 million people, it's hard to buy the statistic that one degree will save nearly a barrel per person, even if every person used home heating oil.

A 747 doesn't use much fuel at cruising altitude and speed, so assuming one take-off, the third figure might work out. But, if the airlines were to discover the extra carrying capacity existed on a consistent basis, they'd fill it with cargo. More profit, but no barrels saved.

The last roll of TP I bought nad a note in it. It said, "I was supposed to be Monica's Christmas tree, but she didn't buy me."

[Brandie Kajino]

Great post Monica. It's amazing how such small changes can make a big impact.
I was at a meeting on Friday, and coach got up and explained how if you have two lines side by side, and they each have just a 1 degree of difference, you can't see it right away. As the lines continue, their difference will be very apparent after a while. Makes a great case for small changes in our corner of the world. ;)

[Monica Ricci]

Brandie, Terry and Marty,
As they say, you can make statistics say whatever you want to. That being said, (and you know I'm not a *Hardcore* Greenie), I do think it's worthwhile bringing these kind of articles to light, regardless of whether the stats are a bit skewed or not. Mainly because it does get us each thinking about what we can do individually to make small painless changes for the better! :)
~Monica

[Emily]

I agree, Monica. Regardless of the statistics, it is important to show people that being environmentally conscious is doable, and you don't even have to chain yourself to an old growth redwood to help prevent devastation of the earth. Small actions in our daily lives really do have a bigger consequence, and that goes both ways. Thanks for sharing the article!