Changing the Climate One Person at a Time

In terms of addressing climate change, Berkeley is on the cutting
edge — possibly more so than any other city in the nation. Two
years ago, residents overwhelmingly approved ambitious goals for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Then this fall, the city council
adopted an innovative solar financing plan. The city also is on track
to finalize a comprehensive climate action plan after the New Year.

But to a large extent, the city’s sweeping proposals depend on the
actions of others to succeed. After all, Berkeley is unlikely to meet
its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent in the next
40 years unless power companies and commuters outside the city also
turn away from fossil fuels, stop burning petroleum and natural gas,
and embrace clean, renewable energy sources on a grand scale. But that
doesn’t mean there aren’t simple things that individuals and small
groups of people can do to make a difference.

That’s what the Berkeley’s Ecology Center is attempting to address.
Through a series of free workshops, the center is offering tips and
ideas for how each of us can significantly downsize our carbon
footprints. The workshops, known as the Climate Change Action Program,
feature small groups of people exchanging ideas for how to reduce
global warming and save the planet. “It’s about individuals trying to
meet that goal,” said Debra Berliner, the center’s climate change
action coordinator and facilitator of the workshops. “And community
building is a huge part of this, too.”

The workshops lean heavily on the Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day
Program to Lose 5,000 Pounds, a 2006 paperback published by the
Empowerment Institute of Woodstock, New York. The book includes
numerous ideas for how to reduce your own greenhouse gas emissions and
provides some eye-popping statistics about how much carbon dioxide
Americans spew each year. For example, the typical US household
produces 55,000 pounds of CO2 annually compared to the average German
household, which produces 27,000 pounds, and to Sweden, which emits
just 15,000 pounds. Taken collectively, the United States is directly
and indirectly responsible for 25 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide
emissions.

The book recommends that you start by calculating your own carbon
footprint on the Empowerment Institute’s web site. Then by faithfully
following the low-carbon diet, the average household can reduce its
carbon emissions by at least 22 percent, according to the book’s author
David Gershon. So what are the tips? Most of them are basic, and assume
that you don’t currently do much to address climate change, such as
installing your own solar system for your electricity and hot water.
The tips can be divided into three general areas — home,
transportation, and diet:

For your home, weather-strip your doors and windows and turn down
your thermostat to 65 degrees to 68 degrees Fahrenheit when you’re
there during the day and 55 degrees to 58 degrees when you’re sleeping
at night (or when you’re out of the house during the daytime). It means
putting on that extra sweater in winter, but on average, it can save up
to 1,400 pounds of CO2 emissions annually. Also, you can save 150
pounds of CO2 each year by turning down your water heater to 120
degrees. In addition, replacing your light bulbs with compact
fluorescents can slash CO2 emissions each year by 100 pounds per
bulb.

As for transportation, there is no bigger thing you can do
personally to cut CO2 than get out of your car. According to Berkeley’s
draft Climate Action Plan, gasoline-powered vehicles represent more
than 29 percent of the city’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Walking,
riding a bike, taking BART or AC Transit, or buying a hybrid are all
good alternatives, but if those options don’t work for you, there are
still things you can do. “It doesn’t have to be all or nothing,”
Berliner notes. “You can still find ways to reduce your footprint.”

For example, try limiting your speed to 55 mph and changing your
daily route to limit idling in traffic. These simple moves can save
1,100 pounds of CO2 annually. In addition, keep your car tuned up and
limit your non-commute trips for shopping and errands — or better
yet, try combining those trips with your daily commute.

And finally, in terms of diet, eat vegetables; it’ll make a much
bigger difference than you probably imagine. “A person with a red meat
diet emits the global warming equivalent of approximately 5,000 pounds
of CO2 a year more than a person with a vegetarian diet,” Gershon
explained in Low Carbon Diet. In addition, try growing your own
vegetables in your yard, or starting or joining a community garden in
your neighborhood. And of course, buy locally grown foods.

The Ecology Center’s workshops have been going on now for a few
months. Each workshop includes a group of about five to ten people who
meet one evening a week for an hour for four weeks. Berkeley resident
Sharon Siskin told Eco Watch that she decided to join a workshop with
her husband and her ten-year-old twin girls. They made it a family
outing and learning experience. Her daughter Rachel said she didn’t
know that changing light bulbs could make such a significant
difference, while her twin Maya said they’re now biking to school more
often. Siskin said she also got a lot out of the workshops because they
coincidentally included some of her West Berkeley neighbors. “It was
just nice to know a larger community of people has the commitment,” she
said.