March 2024 Newsletter from the ASCP!

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Little things add up and make a big difference! There are several ways we can all do our part at home to practice sustainability. In households, some of the most relevant sustainable practices are in energy, water, food, and waste. You can start by gauging your current household emissions, using this Carbon Footprint Calculator by the University of California, Berkeley. Once you know your emissions, you can begin taking steps to decrease it! The calculator will give you some tips but below, we've also made a few suggestions in each of the relevant categories.

Energy:

Turn off the lights when nobody is in the room! For a given household, the Berkeley calculator estimates that this practice saves 600 lbs of CO2e per year, almost 5% of the national household average emissions due to electricity. Also, did you know that electricity flows through your devices that are plugged in, even when they aren't in use? This is called, “phantom energy”! Unplug these appliances and devices to conserve energy.
Keep your appliances up to date. Appliances use a lot of your household energy and if they are old, they are less efficient. Less efficiency means that more energy is being wasted.

Water:

As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states, “drops need watts”. Limit your running water. The average showerhead uses 2.1 gallons per minute. Cutting your showers by two less minutes each day saves roughly 1400 gallons each year!
This is a unique one: recycle your water where you can. One example is to empty the rest of your water bottle into one of your plants at the end of the day instead of down the drain! Find more water-conservation tips from the EPA here.

Food:

Try not to waste food. Food waste is a large challenge for greenhouse gas emissions and environmental justice to food access.
Buy locally and in-season. When we purchase out of season or non-local produce, the environmental cost to produce and transport those goods is much higher than when we buy in-season and/or locally.

Waste:

Recycle! The city of Denver provides free recycling bins for all single-family households and buildings under seven units. You can find more information about Denver recycling here.
Compost! Instead of tossing your food waste into the landfill, you can decrease your carbon footprint by putting it into compost. The city of Denver also recently launched a compost program. All households will be apart of a phased rollout for compost bins.