All human activity has had an impact on the planet. This is not a problem as long as we respect the capacity of nature to sustain us.

EECOM, The Environmental Education Council of Marin is dedicated helping by:

• Informing and educating the public about the impact Marin is having
• Engaging the community in energy reduction activities
• Playing a lead role in bringing the Marin community together
• Supporting the work of other County and National organizations
• Developing a campaign to focus Marin residents on specific reduction goals
• Continuing to work with community leaders to build synergy

Join the EECOM's Ecological Footprint Campaign to Stop Global Warming

EECOM's Ecological Footprint campaign is a leading county level campaign to stop global warming and reduce Marin residents and businesses energy consumption.

The goals of the campaign include:

• Educating all Marin residents about their greatest impacts to the environment and providing information about how to reduce their consumption;
   
• Focusing our energies on making significant progress in reducing our impact in specific areas — i.e., energy consumption — already identified by the county and the world as being the most destrutive to the environment;
   
• Highlighting local companies and businesses products and services that can help people live more sustainably;
   
• Highlighing specific actions residents and business owners can take;
   
• Coordinating community wide events/actions happenings to build community wide commitment to reducing our footprint.

Following is a list (not exhaustive by any means) of pledge ideas:

• Reduce carbon emissions by buying locally grown food.
   
• Turn lights out when leaving rooms, reduce bulb sizes, install dimmer switches and motion sensors wherever possible. This can reduce your lighting load by 50%; saving energy, money and reducing emissions.
   
• Replace four incandescent with compact fluorescents bulbs. Annual savings is $30 and 718 lbs. of carbon dioxide (CO2) not emitted into the atmosphere.
   
• Unplug VCR, DVD, stereo, computers, in fact all electronic appliances when not in use in order to stop phantom losses. Annual savings is $112 and 633 lbs. CO2 not emitted.
   
• Enable your computer sleep feature after 5 minutes of non-use. Annual savings is $22 and 435 lbs. CO2 not emitted.
   
• Carpool, hike or bike to work as much as possible. Annual amount of savings by carpooling or taking public transit one day a week instead of driving can be $100s per year and thousands of lbs. CO2 not emitted.
   
• Dust off that bike and ride. The annual savings of taking three 8-mile bike rides a month instead of driving to a destination is $188, Calories burned annually are 11,520 and 833 lbs. CO2 not emitted.
   
• Brush or vacuum your refrigerator condenser coils twice each year. Annual savings is $32 and 651 lbs. CO2 not emitted.
   
• Wash clothes on cold water setting and use moisture detector on dryer. Annual savings $76 and 1,533 lbs. CO2 not emitted.
   
• Use air-dry setting on your dishwasher, open door, let dishes air dry. Annual savings is $33 and 663 lbs. CO2 not emitted.
   
• Wrap water heater and reduce water heater thermostat 10 degrees. Annual savings is $33 and 697 lbs. CO2 not emitted.
   
• Install four faucet aerators and two low-flow shower heads. Annual savings is $255 with 1,671 lbs. CO2 not emitted and 10,950 gallons water saved annually.
   
• Add water filled displacement jug into two toilet tanks. Annual savings is $35 with 581 lbs. CO2 not emitted, and 6,840 gallons water saved annually. Or better yet, replace older toilets with low-flow water efficient ones.
   
• Use filtered water jug or faucet filter and tap water rather than buying filtered water in plastic containers each week. Annual savings is $936 and 580 lbs. CO2 not emitted.
   
• Get a furnace tune-up at lease every two years, regularly change furnace filter and turn down thermostat 10 degrees at night when you sleep. Annual savings is $76 and 2059 lbs CO2 not emitted.
   
• Install and use hot-tub cover and/or pool cover. Annual savings is $38, 1,476 lbs. CO2 not emitted and 4,551 gallons water saved, not to mention pool and tub chemicals.
   
• Replace weather-stripping and caulk leaks from outside, including where pipes come through the wall. Annual savings is $50 and 692 lbs. not emitted.
   
• Insulate the attic to maximum recommended. Annual savings of 600 sq. ft. attic area with R-38 insulation is $225 and 2,149 lbs. CO2 not emitted. Call PG&E for a free energy audit of your entire home or business.
   
• Wrap heating ducts and seal with aerosol (a material that seals the cracks in ducts better than caulk or tape. Annual savings is $82 with 2,250 lbs. CO2 not emitted and a total amount saved over the life of the duct sealant (10 yrs) is $820.
   
• Install solar water heating unit on your roof and use old water heater as back up. Annual savings, taking into account initial costs, $38 and 5,479 lbs. CO2 not emitted. Savings over the lifetime of a solar water heater (25 yrs), including cost of installation, is $950.

Most of the calculations on this pledge list were based on the most recent national averages available and came from: "You Can Prevent Global Warming And Save Money" by Jeffrey Langholz, Ph.D. and Kelly Turner, Andrews McMeel Publisher, c 2003.

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