 Reduce Your Use
A Fairbanks guide to lessening your personal impact on the environment
Fuel and energy
By far the greatest impact the average American has on the environment is through use of fossil fuels. Some of these uses are direct - for example, every time you drive your car one mile, you add about a pound of carbon dioxide to the air, and every time you turn the thermostat up by one degree, you use 3% more fuel to heat your house. Some are indirect, such as buying produce grown at great distances, or buying anything that requires a great deal of energy to produce. Not only does fossil fuel use lead to more mining and drilling in areas that would better be left unspoiled; it also pollutes the air we breathe, contributes to global warming, and increases America's dependence on fuel imports. Because Fairbanks is far-flung, sprawling, and cold, our transportation and heating uses tend to be high. Here are a few ways to lessen your impact:
Heat efficiently - heating is a Fairbanks family's largest source of fuel use
- Don't choose a house that is bigger than your needs
- Build a house that takes incidental solar heating into account
- Make sure your house is well insulated in the walls, roof, and floor and well sealed with a vapor barrier
- Use the most efficient windows available
- Add an arctic entry and insulated doors to prevent heat loss
- Keep the thermostat down and wear a sweater
- Turn the heat down even further when you're out, and at night
- Use a heating source that is efficient and properly sized for your home
Save electricity - part of our electricity comes from dirty coal-burning
- Check the age and efficiency of your refrigerator, and in the winter, consider using a critter-proof box outside as a freezer - or keep your freezer outside
- Turn off lights, appliances, radios, computers and TV's you're not using
- Buy compact fluorescent light bulbs
- Put timers or powersavers on your plug-ins
- Use less hot water, and turn the water heater down to 120 degrees
- Insulate your water heater and pipes
Drive less - gasoline use takes a close second to heating fuel
- Share rides, carpool, and do several errands in one trip
- Bike, walk or ski on short trips or short commutes, at least part of the time
- Take the bus
Drive efficiently
- When you buy a car, get one that is as fuel-efficient as possible
- Keep your tires properly inflated, and remove your studs by May 1
- Keep your engine running cleanly and smoothly
- Don't get a vehicle that's larger than you need, and don't get a truck or SUV if a car would do
Other ideas
When choosing energy sources, remember that oil is cleaner than coal, and gas is cleaner than oil. Wood is as dirty as coal, but it's renewable.
Buy local products - save energy, and help the local economy too.
Materials
Plastic, wood, steel, concrete - we use all these substances, and more. Some are renewable, but even these can only be taken from the earth at sustainable rates. Some are recyclable, but this is only a useful quality if we buy recycled items and recycle them after use. All such items, whether new or recycled, take energy to produce, often adding to the fossil fuel load mentioned above.
Don't buy what you don't need
Don't buy overpackaged items - look for grocery store items in larger sizes and with less plastic and cardboard wrapping
Repair and reuse - or give away -- instead of throwing away
Cut down on printouts, and use both sides of paper, even as scratch paper
Recycle everything that is recyclable, including metals, organic waste, and paper.
For further tips, see our Reusing and Recycling fact sheet
Water and Air
We're 70% water ourselves. We take a breath every ten seconds or so. Yet we often take these most basic resources for granted. Our energy choices and level of use affect air and water quality, and our overall level of water use effects aquifers and watersheds.
- Follow the guidelines in the energy section above - less energy used and less fossil fuel burned means cleaner air. Cars produce the most air pollution for the first few miles of a trip, before they've warmed up - so get out that bike for short jaunts!
- Don't use anything with a two-stroke engine, including most snowmachines, four-wheelers, lawn mowers, and outboard motors. Ask for four-stoke engines or consider other alternatives.
- Plug in your vehicle when it's below +20 - a cold engine is a dirty fuel-burner
- Conserve water (whether or not you have running water in your home and workplace)
- Take short showers,
- Don't wash dishes or brush teeth under a running tap
- Don't try to grow a lawn - choose indigenous trees and shrubs instead
- Use a low-flow toilet or an alternative such as a composting toilet
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