Community Corner

Five Everyday Ways To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

A guide for West Hartford residents to green choices in daily life.

Reducing your carbon footprint may involve big choices and lifestyle changes, but it can also involve small choices that add up day after day. Here are five everyday ways you can be greener in West Hartford:

1. RIDE THE BUS: Did you know that Connecticut Transit buses run along Farmington Avenue between Hartford and West Hartford center at roughly 10-minute intervals throughout most of the day, every weekday? There are also routes between the center and Bishops Corner, Farmington and Westfarms mall, as well as a route between downtown Hartford and Elmwood.  Most routes are also served on weekends. The fare is $1.25.
How it helps: If you drive, your car is almost certainly your biggest contribution to carbon dioxide emissions. Switching to public transit can reduce those emissions by up to 20 pounds a day, and commuting by bus or train can reduce your household’s total carbon emissions by up to 10 percent, according to the American Public Transportation Association.
More information: Connecticut Transit, www.cttransit.com

2. EAT LOCAL: West Hartford is no longer a farming community, but it has two seasonal farmers markets with produce from around the area. The West Hartford Center Farmers Market is held three times a week from May through December in the municipal parking lot on LaSalle Road. The hours are Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The West Hartford Whole Foods Farmers Market is held on Mondays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. from June through November in the Whole Foods parking lot at 50 Raymond Road. You can take the localvore idea a step farther if you have the room to plant a garden.
How it helps: The closer the source, the less energy is used to transport the food. Keep in mind, however, that the total carbon footprint of a piece of produce also depends on how it was grown. A tomato from a local greenhouse may ultimately cost far more in energy and carbon than an imported field-grown tomato.
More information: Connecticut Department of Agriculture, www.ct.gov/doag

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3. COMPOST:  You can compost your yard waste even if you don’t have a compost bin. The town will pick up yard waste three times this spring – on the weeks starting April 11, May 9 and June 6. Leave your yard waste out in biodegradable paper bags on your regular trash collection day, with any small branches bundled with twine, and the town will take it away to be composted.
How it helps: Composting keeps waste out of the garbage and out of trash incineration plants, so it’s friendlier to the environment. It also saves the town money.
More information: www.west-hartford.com/publicworks

4. WASH IN COLD: Not you – your laundry. You can conserve electricity and reduce carbon emissions by washing your laundry in cold water with a cold-water detergent. Washing full loads also cuts overall energy use. And bypassing the dryer to hang the laundry out just adds to the greenness.
How it helps: About 90 percent of the energy that a typical top-loading washing machine uses to clean a load of laundry is consumed by heating the water, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
More information: Project Laundry List, www.laundrylist.org

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5. AIR DRY THE DISHES: If your dishwasher has an air dry option, use it. If not, turn the machine off before the drying cycle, prop the door open and let your dishes air dry. The Department of Energy also recommends that you avoid using the “rinse hold” for small quantities of dirty dishes because it uses extra hot water. (Experts generally agree that washing dishes by hand consumes considerably more energy and water than machine washing, by the way.)
How it helps: The drying cycle uses about 15 percent of the energy it takes to clean a load of dishes, according to the Green House Project.
More information: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Savers, www.energysavers.gov/tips


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