Your carbon footprint is determined by the amount of carbon dioxide that you emit as you ago about your day-to-day activities. Even the most menial of tasks, like turning on the TV and driving a car, add to your carbon footprint.

Some more obvious contributors, such as air travel, are also a huge burden – air travel alone accounts for 3.5 percent of the human contribution to global warning – but it is more so the compounding effects of continuous simple, mindless tasks, such as turning on the lights in your house, that is making the difference. The following 8 ways to reduce your carbon footprint and save the world are just a few ways you can turn the difference in Mother Nature’s favor.

According to the most recent research, the earth’s glaciers are melting some  ten times faster than previously predicted and greenhouse gases are at the highest levels ever. This has caused species to increasingly go extinct, weather conditions to reach new extremities, sea levels to rise and the incidence of long-term droughts. In 2011, the US set a record with $14-billion worth of weather disasters.

According to the UN, each American is, on average, responsible for some 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. The world’s average under 10 tonnes per capita. Clearly, Americans can get by on fewer emissions, if the rest of the world serves as an example, and there are many ways to both reduce and offset output.

All it takes are a few simple tips to reduce your carbon overload. Start with these 8 tips:

1. Turn down your thermostat 2 degrees in the winter and up 2 degrees in the summer to save 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (and nearly $100 in heating and cooling bills).

2. Replace three bulbs in your house with energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs and save $60 a year. If every household in the U.S. did this, it would cut a trillion pounds of carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere.

3. Unplug electronic devices, even when they are turned off, to save drawing power throughout the day – 1 watt per hour per plug.

4. Weatherize your home. Weatherization is essentially weather-proofing, or protecting the interior from outdoor elements. This can save hundreds of dollars and 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

5. Install double-pane windows to save 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

6. Buy local produce to reduce the demand for fruits and vegetables that require thousands of miles of transportation to get to your local supermarket.

7. Walk or bike for short distances. For longer distances, try to share a ride or purchase an energy-efficient car. Consider carpooling with a work buddy to work in the morning and home in the evening or with friends when going out to reduce fuel costs and emissions.

8. Offset your emissions by calculating your output at Go Zero, where you can then donate to plant the equivalent number of trees needed to compensate for your carbon footprint.

Photo Credit: Twicepix

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There are few things as important to new parents as The Diaper.

While you may use organic cotton diapers on your baby at home, it’s not always practical in other settings. The disposable diaper is a convenient feat of modern science—and it’s traditionally been quite a caustic one, too.

Acrylate, the chemical used in the superabsorbent material in diapers, is toxic and produced en masse: billions of tons every year go into diapers (and eventually landfills). Made from propylene (from crude oil) the problem is that acrylate forms a polymer that resists breaking down, leaving them a toxic nightmare in landfills, leaching into waterways and the air, causing pollution and health problems.

But, there may be good news as scientists at Brown University have discovered a new way to produce the chemical with carbon dioxide and an acid, in essence taking a harmful greenhouse gas abundant in the environment, and turning it into a less harmful substance that will eventually go back to the landfill and…well, you probably get the picture, right? A low-impact production cycle that reuses its own byproduct…now that’s novelty.

Published in the journal Organometallics lead researcher chemist Wesley Bernskoetter used chemicals known as Lewis acids in creating the acrylate substance by opening the five-atom ring of oxygen, nickel and three carbon atoms in the molecule. It has proven so successful that scientists are hopeful that it could be scaled up to produce acrylate in industrial settings.

While there are no plans as of yet to produce diapers using the new technology, Bernskoetter is hopeful that it could happen relatively soon. But if you simply can’t wait until then to have a baby, look for environmentally-friendly disposable diaper options at your local health-minded shop.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Image: Carbon NYC

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The first ever large rooftop solar power system is ready to run at Harvard University after a year of construction. It is expected to generate enough energy to power 83 homes per year and offset 367 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. And like many consumers, the university sought out tax credits so the upgrade to reduce carbon would eventually pay for itself. What a smarty!

The system of T5 Solar Roof tiles was co-designed by SunPower of San Jose and installers CarbonFree Technology, and installed atop the century old Arsenal on the Charles complex in Watertown, Mass. which was once used as a military installation before Harvard acquired it nine years ago.

According to CNN, this is a unique system since it combines a high-efficiency SunPower solar panel, frame and mounting system into a single pre-engineered unit. The design tilts the panels at a five-degree angle allowing the system to double the energy generated per square meter compared to flat mounted systems typically seen on commercial rooftops.

The big undertaking was funded in part by a $1.1 million rebate offered by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which is promoting grid-tied photovoltaic systems, such as this one owned by Crimson Solar, LLC – a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Services, Inc. Harvard will purchase the power and renewable energy certificates for 25 years at an agreed upon rate.

“We are delighted and honored to help Harvard deliver on its commitment towards achieving its meaningful environmental and energy goals,” said Joel Jansen, managing director of energy assets for Integrys Energy Services, Inc. “The leadership demonstrated by Harvard on this project should serve as a model, inspiring others to take an active role in protecting the environment and managing their energy.”

Image: PV Tech

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Phantom energy sucks. Even when turned off, plugged-in electric devices are draining the juice in your house, a phenomenon that can add up to more than 65 billion kilowatt-hours of power each year. Save energy, and you save major cash.

The Union of Concerned Scientists calls the culprits of this waste vampires which silently suck away more than $5.8 billion annually of extra energy, which sends more than 87 billion pounds of heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Although few of us are in the dark about this waste, we do little or nothing to limit the stand-by mode of our glowing devices, mostly because we are too tired, or too busy, too lazy. Also, some cable boxes lose all their data when unplugged and microwave ovens are installed in 50s fashion – inserted in a wall shelf with no access to the cord.

Unplugging when possible is the easiest weapon to combat these vampires and the little things make a big difference. A huge time saver also is to plug your electronics into a power strip or surge suppressor that can be shut off with a single switch.

First, you should identify the nocturnal monsters. They’re not as hot as the Cullins family but are powerful nonetheless. Here are the top 10:

1. Adapters with rechargeable battery-powered cordless phones

We have these in several rooms and I’m sure you do, too. You don’t want the phones to go dead, but you also need to curb that extra $100 to $200 you are spending each year on those phantoms.

2. Cell phones and chargers

How many times do you leave the charger plugged into the outlet and hanging on the counter or your desk? Just start to notice this and pull the plug.

3. Televisions

If you’re able to get behind your TV unplug it after viewing. If not, connect it to a power strip. You’ll deserve an Emmy for effort.

4. Power Tools

Cordless drills and circular saws? Home Renovations suggests you go this route, and if you don’t, we suggest you keep your tools unplugged.

5. Microwaves

You should see the dinosaur in the teacher’s lounge at my kids’ school! Scary, and it never gets unplugged, unless I go in there and do the job. It’s so easy to unplug when these appliances are freestanding and not inserted into cabinets. Experts say the clocks use more power than the ovens themselves.

6. DVD players

These should be on the same power strip as the TV to avoid draining the grid.

7. Digital Clocks

It can be alarming to think these essential time tellers suck energy when standing by all day while you are away. CBS News tells us a good guide is to unplug anything with a digital clock. If you don’t mind the flashing clocks, put them on a surge protector and shut them off, and only turn them on when you’re using the appliance. The memory chips are on, even when we’re not using the appliance.

8. Computers

Is that lap top hooked up when you go to sleep? Is the docking station still active when you are getting your Zzz’s? Try powering down at night to have sweeter dreams.

9. Computer Monitors

We forget to unplug these, as well, wanting them fired up and ready to go when we are ready to work.

10. Digital camera chargers

Just like our cell phones, we get in the habit of recharging and forgetting. Learning new habits is challenging the results make for a much brighter energy picture.

Image: j/f/photos, alanclarkdesign, pasukaru76, UweHermann, mattbuck4950, William Hook, kanonn, samantha celera, Let Ideas Compete, g_kat26 and Andrew*.

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America runs on coal. It creates half of our electricity. And the unclean technology producing this source may be killing our children, grandchildren and the future unborn, not to mention our natural environment.

Is the fed sensing the urgency to limit the damage from this source we depend upon?

Not according to three environmental groups looking for clean coal technology. They are planning to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for being blatantly lax in limiting toxic discharges from power plants that threaten the health of local communities exposed daily to the pollutants.

According to Planet Shifter, the federal government is 26 years behind setting restrictions on the discharges which contaminate ground and surface waters and threaten aquatic life. Apparently, the EPA should have limited coal ash discharges to meet its own requirements for annual environmental reviews.

Back in December when a coal ash spill occurred at the Tennessee Kingston Fossil Plant, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson promised to issue regulations by the end of the year for nearly 600 coal plants with on-site coal ash storage ponds or landfills.

But the three groups planning to sue: the Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Integrity Project argue “the EPA need to stop kicking the can down the road and set a date for the regulation.”

There is evidence that these coal plants discharge millions of pounds of toxic pollutants every year. According to the report, in  Kingston, alone, more than 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled from a coal-ash holding pond last December when a earthen wall ruptured. The ash contains elevated levels of arsenic, selenium and lead, among other toxic substances.

In a 60 Minutes investigation on harmful waste by-products from coal, it was revealed that the tremendous amount we burn for electricity every year generates 130 million tons of waste. They even interviewed coal barons who have become rich off coal, who admitted being responsible for those smoke stacks that pump out 100-million tons of carbon dioxide every year.

Most of the waste emitted from power stations  is coal ash which is dangerous to humans and other living things. Environmental scientists tell us that the concentrations of mercury, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals are considerably higher in coal ash than in ordinary soil.

When properly disposed of  in dry, lined impoundments, coal ash is considered to be safe. But observers say it is often dumped into wet ponds (nearly 500 of them in the U.S.)  and in those cases the ash could pose health risks to the nearby communities.

Images: Tennessee Valley Authority, Earth Observatory, NASA

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