REDUCING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT... in and around cape town this month
CALENDAR
Avoid sharp braking and accelerating to save petrol. • Car pool the kids - why have four parents stuck in traffic. Do lifts for other parents and vice versa.
www.wwf.org.za
.... by travelling smart Nearly 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions result from transport. It would be unrealistic to expect people not to travel, but there are real ways that you can travel more efficiently! With petrol and air travel costs skyrocketing (pardon the pun), now is a good time to change the way you travel, saving the planet and your pocket at the same time! DRIVING • Drive less. • Choose a fuel efficient car. • Check your tire pressure - incorrect tire pressure results in higher petrol/diesel usage. • Drive smoothly - your car burns the most fuel when you are accelerating.
FLYING Greenhouse gases which are released at high altitudes have an even greater impact on climate change. • Avoid unnecessary flying - urge your business to invest in tele- and videoconferencing facilities. • Fly direct - most of the fuel used when flying is used during the take off. Fly direct to avoid extra "take-offs".
.... at home KEEPING IT CLOSED Avoid opening the fridge, the freezer or the oven unnecessarily. For each minute a fridge door is open, it takes three energy guzzling minutes for it to cool down again. It can take a freezer as long as thirty minutes to regain its temperature if the door is open for just one minute. Every time you open the oven while cooking, you lose heat, making the meal take longer and use more energy. A BRIGHTER IDEA If one million people replaced one incandescent bulb with a Compact Fluorescent light bulb (CFL), more than 200 000 tonnes of CO2 emissions would be eliminated in a year. CFL light bulbs last ten times longer than traditional bulbs
and use a fraction of the energy. DON’T OVERCHARGE Turn off appliances at the wall. Cellular phone chargers, shavers and electric toothbrushes all continue to draw electricity even when they are fully charged. A television left in standby mode uses nearly a quarter of the electricity it uses when it is on. WARMING THE OL’ GEYSER Geysers can consume as much as 40% of a household’s energy. Set the thermostat to no more than 60 degrees and fit a geyser blanket (available at hardware stores) to reduce lost heat. DON’T POLLUTE THE ENVIRONMENT OR YOURSELF Clean your home and yourself with products that are good to the environment and to you. Enchantrix stocks a range of organic, biodegradable cleaning products and toiletries and a portion of their profits is donated to WWF. Buy online with a clear conscience at www.enchantrix.co.za. CAR POOL THE KIDS Sharing lifts with other parents is a great way to reduce traffic, emissions and save on petrol. KNOWLEDGE IS KEY Make sure your child’s teacher knows about the WESSA/WWF Eco-Schools Programme and encourage the school to sign up by calling the Eco-Schools head office at 033 330 3931.
WWF South Africa was founded in 1968 by the late Dr. Anton Rupert and was then know as the Southern African Nature Foundation. Throughout the past 40 years, this national office of the leading global conservation organization, are still committed to conserve the natural heritage of South Africa for future generations. WWF South Africa currently has 7 main programmes; Climate Change, Trade and Investment, Environmental Education, Species, Marine, Freshwater and the Ecosystems Partnership.
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