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Special Report: What's Your Carbon Footprint? Save Email Print
Posted: 4:35 PM Apr 24, 2008
Last Updated: 4:25 PM Apr 25, 2008
Reporter: Lauren Zakalik
Email Address: lauren.zakalik@wilx.com
3 comments Poll


A | A | A

Front lawns aren't the only things going green in Mason these days.

 
Do You Recycle?
Yes
No
 

Parents like Greg and Stacey Molenda are too.

Along with their son Lucas, they're getting the ball rolling on becoming more environmentally friendly.

"I'd say we're fairly typical," Greg says.

"I'd agree," says Stacey. "We definitely try to do what we can. I wouldn't say we're perfect, but even just making a shot, doing what you can do would describe us."

Like many of their peers, the Molendas recycle. They drive sensible cars and eat organic food when they can. Their appliances are energy-efficient; their shower heads save water, too.

But even with all the steps the Molendas take to decrease their daily impact, they wonder if they're doing enough.

So we asked them to sit down and calculate their so-called "carbon footprint" by going to the Nature Conservancy's Web site.

The survey asks a host of questions-- from how much meat you eat to how many flights you take.

To their surprise, the Molendas scored better than the average Americans.

"We don't waste energy," Greg notes, "but there's more we can do to conserve."

That's not just true for the Molendas, but true for you, too.

"You don't have to do everything all the time," says Dr. Patrick Doran, director of science for the Nature Conservancy. "A lot of people think 'I have to carpool every day.' It doesn't have to be everyday. Just once a week, once every other week, everything you do really counts."

Doran says reducing our carbon footprint can mean anything from starting a compost pile-- like the one he has with his family-- to simply riding a bike.

"If I can reduce my gas costs, that's good for me. I ride my bike, I reduce my own waist line as well-- reduce two forms of waste!"

If you want to see how you measure up, go back to the main WILX web site and click on the carbon calculator link. There you'll also find tips to change your every day life to decrease your impact on the earth. You might also find yourself saving money.

"You also want to make sure you're not using more than you need to-- don't want to hog things," Greg Molenda says.

That's the idea behind it all: find out what you can do to do less, because when you're going green, less is definitely more.


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Comments are posted from viewers like you and do not always reflect the views of this station.
Posted by: tim Location: charlotte,mi. on May 1, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Why doesn,t someone crack down on the carbon footprint of US steel in Gary In. They don't care if trucks even fit in the building. I have seen many times in the dead of winter at zero degrees trucks hanging out of the building at Portage In and all of the heaters are running at full blast trying to keep some warmth inside the building. Try to curtail theses kind of practices that go on on a daily basis before you ask normal people to recycle or to use some sqirrally new kind of light bulb that is going to make no noticable difference.

Posted by: Pat Location: Haslett, MI on Apr 25, 2008 at 01:25 PM
Good job Greg, Stacey & Lucas! I'm more conscious of the environment thanks to your story!

Posted by: Geoff Location: Holt on Apr 24, 2008 at 10:22 PM
One thing my wife and I did to reduce our carbon footprint was to buy scooters from a local outfit called Campus Scooter. Now we get 100 mpg and already paid them off in gas savings.

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Do You Pack A Snack To Save Money On Road Trips?

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