Reduce
Make choices today for future generations
If human activity on planet Earth is to become carbon neutral, it will be one person, one organization, and one county at a time. In time a new tipping point may be reached—the tipping point to a carbon neutral planet.
Below is a list to help you reduce your carbon footprint in the areas of Food, Transport, Home, Money and Spending, Yard, and Community. This is followed by a more extensive list with resources, adapted from Checklist Toward Zero Carbon by Ken Levenson, with thanks, and adapted for Marin County.
Food
Feeding the average family of four takes 930 gallons of gasoline per year. You can reduce your food footprint by eating local, seasonal, and organic food. Small organic farms use 60% less fossil fuel per unit of food compared to conventional farms, 37% of this saving is attributed to eliminating synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
To find your local farmers market, click here to see a complete list.
For a list of Marin Organic farmers, click here.
Growing your own food eliminates food miles. Conventionally farmed and transported food travels on average more than 1,000 food miles before it reaches your plate, using 7.3 calories of fossil energy for every calorie of food energy.
Contact one of Marin County’s local gardening organizations to start your own edible garden.
If you don’t have space in your own back yard contact one of following community garden plot associations:
- Terra Linda Community Garden - (415) 485-3344
- Larkspur Recreation Garden Plots - (415) 927-6746
- San Anselmo, Robinson Harrington House Community Garden Club - (707) 265-8245
- City of Mill Valley Community Gardening - (415) 383-1370
- Purchase products and services from local businesses that support local organic farmers and producers.
One quarter of America’s food goes to waste.
The Marin Organic School Lunch Program is working to reduce this amount, so far 90,000 pounds of Marin Organic produce have been gleaned and delivered to participating schools, camps and underserved communities. “Gleaned Food” is produce which would otherwise be left in the fields because it doesn’t meet the strict aesthetic requirements of restaurants and retail markets.
Marin Organic foods are picked up from farms within a 15-mile radius, and delivered by a bio-diesel fueled truck often on the same harvest day and always within 24 hours. Each week this program enables 12,000 children to eat organic foods grown from Marin Soils. Now that’s local!
Click here to learn more about this program and to view a list of participating schools, camps, and underserved communities.
Transport
38% of California’s global warming pollution comes from transportation. This amounts to Californians using more than 16.5 billion gallons of gasoline per year; help reduce this.
Bike to work and find safe routes for your children to bike to school:
Marin County Public Transportation
- Eliminate unnecessary journeys.
- Work at home, telecommute.
- Only fly when you have to. Book direct flights.
- Buy a hybrid when your old car is inefficient.
- Keep your vehicles in good shape.
- Drive calmly—save gas.
Home
25% of California’s global warming pollution comes from electricity production. The Marin Solar Program through the County of Marin provides resources on solar basics, your homes solar potential, incentives and financing and much more.
Encourage your company and city to support Marin Clean Energy. This is expected to result in 15-20% reductions in greenhouse gases, returning us to 1990 levels in three years.
- Turn off appliances when not in use.
- Run your dishwasher and washing machine only when full.
Take advantage of the many rebates and incentives Marin County is offering when you implement water conserving fixtures and appliances such as high efficiency toilets and washing machines.
Water related energy use consumes 19% of California’s electricity, 30% of its natural gas and 88 billion gallons of diesel every year. MMWD has many great resources to help you save water and energy.
The average American generates 1,460 pounds of waste per year. Consider reused items before purchasing new items and think about what you can do to reduce the amount of waste you generate by diverting goods from the landfill to our local free materials exchange website MarinMax.
See also: Marin Sanitary Service
Money and Spending
Shop Green in Marin County from small businesses. Pay the true cost for products that save on greenhouse gas emissions.
- Watch www.storyofstuff.com – you'll be enlightened.
- Share goods. Does every household need one of everything?
McKinsey Global Institute reports that with targeted annual investment of $170 billion, investors could cut by half the rate of projected global energy growth over the next 13 years – while earning an average annual return of 17%.
Invest in companies that share your values, who are working to reduce their ecological footprint.
Invest in banks that are empowering individuals, businesses, and organizations to achieve financial goals while using resources sustainably.
Yard
More info: Rainwater Harvesting (PDF)
- Plant native gardens.
- Use native deciduous trees on the south side of your house, providing summer shade and winter light.
Californians throw away 5 million tons of food scraps each year. Composting keeps organic material from going to the landfill, saves you money on disposal costs, and creates a useful product.
- Get out in nature, recreate locally.
Community
Marin County and many of its communities are working to address climate change. For more information on the activities, initiatives, and events coordinated by these organizations please visit the following links.
- Join the Green School Initiative.
- Check out www.marincarbonproject.org and stay tuned for updates.
Consider a local sustainable burial (but only when you are ready). Sustainable burials are more ecological than conventional burials, which use embalming fluids, concrete lined graves, and caskets made with heavy metals and varnishes, and water and fertilizer intensive landscapes.
