how much air pollution do you put out?

this site has a calculator for it. you just answer some questions about how much you drive, how much electricity you use and stuff like that. very simple. then it calculates how many pounds of pollution you put out in a month. it also offers suggestions on how to lower it. did you know the average person puts over 1600 pounds of pollution into the air a month?

it also has a products emissions database, forum, health info and a bunch of other neat stuff. well laid out.

oh yeah and the site is http://www.airhead.org/index.php it's www.airhead.org

if you want to check out more sites like this check out http://www.seventhgen.com/html/recentnews.html#story06. it gives links to a site that tells you what's in your states air and water, safer cleaning products, a site that tells you the consequences of contamination using scientific evidence, and site for books if you want more info

Wow, surprisingly I was half the pollution of the nat'l average. That's nice to know, since I make no effort to conserve.

Dave

but isn't that scary?

Thanks for posting this interesting site. I came in at 1/2 the national average as well. Would probably have done better than that, but we live miles away from everything, so walking isn't an option.

i went through and played around with numbers put everything on national average and got 1/8 on the chart and i was like huh? this doesn't make sense. i forgot you have to click wether you drive a car or truck above miles for it to include that figure same with the electic bill you have to tell it whether the number is money or therms. i can up quite a bit after i put those things in.

I was way above...but, like bloomer, I have to drive 50 miles to get to work everyday.

The suggestions they give to reduce your car pollution are not applicable unless you live in a city where everything is within biking/walking distance. Or how about buying a hybrid car...well, that would work for people who don't need high ground clearance (snow on the ground here for 1/3 of the year) and who have the money to buy a new car every few years. Telecommuting works for a few jobs, mine not included. Buses, trains, subways...Nice if you work in/near a city, but they just don't run the rural routes.

The other thing I notcied was that they only included natural gas as the form of household heating. What about oil?

So, I am a polluter and there is not much I can do about it.

However, my garden is organic and we never use fertilizers, weed-killers, or pesticides on our yard...that must count for something!

-plant girl contributing more than her share to the hole in the ozone.

1600 lbs a month?????? Highly unlikely! That's 53 lbs a day! Think about it.......how much gas would you have to burn, to get 53 lbs of solid waste, per day? More than you could ever afford!

Talon5,
1600??

Mine is way above at 2511!!! Then again I drive 50 miles each way to work every day.

Removed by member request

Diesel.... the questionaire above never asked me about diesel use. If they had asked me for details about the operation of my farm, my score would certainly have changed!

Dave

Well mine was almost the national average - 1505. The bulk of that came from an airplane trip, without that, I would have been less than half that amount.

There are some things we can't do - we live too far to feasibly walk/ride to the grocery store or other errands. But I do make a conscious effort to group my errands together, and make a circuit trip instead of running back and forth to town several times; we carpool with the neighbors to take kids to school. We have a setback thermostat to reduce our energy consumption, and are working to make sure our home is as energy-efficient as possible. DH just bought a smaller car to conserve fuel, as he commutes 35 miles each way to work. We estimate that the new car will save us about $50 per month in reduced fuel costs.

There is just not much you can do if you have to commute 50 miles each way to work.

Maybe I should hire a private jet.

-pg :)

I don't see how this can possibly be accurate without asking how many times the household ate chili during the month. :>

i guess it can't be completely accurate unless you took a measurement of everything you used which would be difficult. it's a ballpark figure, use it as a rough estimation and add or increase depending on what you know, but it's better than nothing. if you have to drive- you have to drive, but at least you're thinking about it and about the other things you do - such as gardening. being aware is the first and most important step.

Quynh, apologies, I really was just joking about inaccuracies due to chili consumption. The calculator is indeed a very useful tool to get us thinking, especially about the wasteful things that we do solely out of habit. It's surprising how much you can cut back without significant degradation in comfort or lifestyle.

Won't turn off my growlights, though! :)

ahhhh! Essensia!!! too funny!!! I wonder if they would take monday in Louisiana into consideration and calculate that it is red beans and rice day!!! LOL!!! Anyway, i think i am doing pretty good...1050 was my score! Lisa

no worries essensia i knew and had a laugh myself. get into a serious funk sometimes so didn't write it.

Personally, I'd be curious to know what their definition of 1 lb of pollution is. The numbers and estimates have no cognitive value, without that, placing them in the category of meaningless dribble. Just my opinion, of course. X:-)

This message was edited Monday, Jun 25th 9:12 PM

I found it interesting when I entered my kwh and therm usage versus my electric and gas bills!!! it dropped my output from over 1000 to 743! californians beware!
(lucky me... I live 2 miles from work.)