TEST- how much do you contribute to global warming?

http://reference.aol.com/nowyouknow/...ing/calculator

I feel so miserable - my family of 3 contributes 30,000 more lbs. of waste than the average family And the worst culprit is my husband's suburban teamed up with his job (lots of commuting with odd hours that prohibit car pooling). Not to mention that we have three households, 2 are 22 miles apart, the one in the midpoint is 7 mi from one, 15 from the other. And I heat all my homes exclusively with fire wood, and cook on the woodburners, yet I still cause so much pollution
Now when I read about the perma-frost melting, I have GUILT

Thanks for posting. This is an interesting test.

My score was very low (12,665 pounds compared to the US average of 45,000) because I don't have a car. I live in the city and I walk (or use transit) all the time. I am planning on avoiding owning a car for as long as possible. If I can go through my whole life without a car, I'll be happy.

38,091 with just two of us - its the truck my BF uses for work that makes it so high

38,038 for the two of us. It should drop a bit after we move at the end of the month (we're moving about 10 miles closer to our work places).

I dont want to even put my # down, it was really high, but it kept going up based on my montly electric bill .....

Originally Posted by marie-p

Thanks for posting. This is an interesting test.

My score was very low (12,665 pounds compared to the US average of 45,000) because I don't have a car. I live in the city and I walk (or use transit) all the time. I am planning on avoiding owning a car for as long as possible. If I can go through my whole life without a car, I'll be happy.

Click to expand...

Yea, that. I don't have a car either and my score was a couple hundred less than yours (so pretty much the same). It's amazing that not having a car immediately makes your personal contribution to global warming about 25% that of the average person.

30000 for a family of two ... so about normal ...

20,822 for 2 of us! Not bad considering the heating in the winter! But my daughter is an environmental engineer so we toe the line around here as much as we can!

20,168 for us. I really wish we don't have the SUV, but then at least it is shared amongst three people (my BIL, hubby, and myself)

10,066 pounds for the 3 of us. I guess its because my dad only drives about once a week, if that.
If the emissions produced by buses and tubes were factored in the number would be Much higher!

I don't pay the bills so I have no idea how much they cost. Plus I have no idea in miles or gallons what the truck uses. I only know km and litres.

32,228 for a family of three, we are under the average of 45,000. We do need to start recycling though.

Let's just say, very, VERY little.

I don't own a car and don't plan to as long as I can get away with it. In fact, I go so far as to avoid even bus and rail when I can, preferring my legs or my bike.

My apartment is heated with old-fashioned steam radiators. THe building shares one main boiler, so I don't control the amount of resource I'm using in that respect unfortunately. We also don't have central a/c and I simply cool as needed with 5,000BTU energy star a/c window units in the summer. But I prefer just leaving my windows open.

I unplug the TV and computer and microwave when I'm not at home. I only blowdry my hair when it would otherwise freeze in the air outside.

I don't eat meat. That will SIGNIFICANTLY lower your emissions/waste, and I'm always disappointed when they omit that on tests.

Originally Posted by lionessrampant

I don't eat meat. That will SIGNIFICANTLY lower your emissions/waste, and I'm always disappointed when they omit that on tests.

Click to expand...

Neither do I!! (because doctor has ordered it - actually 3 drs., guess it's just that bad sometimes). And that is an EXCELLENT point because when you consider the amount of water it takes to have an agricultural product and realize that the farmers use diesel or gasoline to drive the pumps for the water (which is a big reason why the cost of food goes up when gas prices are high, esp. this summer with fruits & veges) and that to raise meat, the farmer has to provide food, which took water to grow....YEAH, I feel better - THANKS!!

Originally Posted by lionessrampant

I don't eat meat. That will SIGNIFICANTLY lower your emissions/waste, and I'm always disappointed when they omit that on tests.

Click to expand...

I agree! I rarely eat meat either, mostly for environmental reasons. Although since my cats eat meat, that might cancel it out.

Actually, I think they should have taken into account how much people consume. I mean, if you constantly buy stuff that you don't really need, you are really contributing to pollution by industrial production (and probably by producing a lot more garbage too).

It's great that they mentioned recycling... but to me reducing the amount of garbage is also very important (if not more).

9,821 for a family of two (perhaps I should have counted Jamie, though, as we often turn the heat on just for him). We recycle just about everything, and rarely use the car.

I hit just below 35,000. Both our cars get pretty good gas mielage and things. We have a small house so maybe that helps (electricity and heating and things.)

For a family of 3 we scored a 19 369. I've just started recycling and you can now get green energy through our local power company. I would up grade the furnace and such except I'm only a renter and I don't have AC. I alway recycle all plastics, glass and milk/ juice containors as well as paint and paper, cardboard and such.

I just started driving last year due to time restraints with daycare opening and when school starts other wise I'd be bussing it.

I'm looking into composting in the summer months and I just joined a group called freecycle, which is a group dedicated to keeping our landfill clear of things that don't really need to go there by recycling it through the community with people who can use the items.

Originally Posted by catsknowme

http://reference.aol.com/nowyouknow/...ing/calculator

I feel so miserable - my family of 3 contributes 30,000 more lbs. of waste than the average family

And the worst culprit is my husband's suburban teamed up with his job (lots of commuting with odd hours that prohibit car pooling). Not to mention that we have three households, 2 are 22 miles apart, the one in the midpoint is 7 mi from one, 15 from the other. And I heat all my homes exclusively with fire wood, and cook on the woodburners, yet I still cause so much pollution

Now when I read about the perma-frost melting, I have GUILT

Click to expand...

Mine was about 5,000 under what the normal 1 person household. YAY!

This is hilarious! Our household of 2 generates 62,204! Ooops, I just farted! Better make it 62,204.25!

Seriously, I am amused by this since they ask about the people in the household, but don't ask for the number of cars (MPG for both/either), or commuting distance for both cars, or give you a 'zero' heating cost option (no heating needs in Hawaii).