Effective Environmental Choices

Our analysis shows that consumer choices really do matter for the environment.

Determining how environmentally "good" or "bad" our choices are has never been an easy task. Ranking the "environmental importance" of various activities has also been a challenge. With this in mind, The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) analyzed the affects that common consumer choices have on the environment. The fruits of their efforts is The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices. As Denis Hayes, Chair of Earth Day 2000 put it, "The Guide will help you distinguish the crucial from the trivial and make choices that are congruent with your values." We applaud their efforts and encourage you to support their efforts and pick up a copy of this thoughtful guide. Here is a summary of their ranking of the most environmentally significant consumer activities.

Cars and Light Trucks
The manufacture and, more important, the use of consumers’ vehicles cause more environmental damage—especially air pollution and global warming—than any other single consumer spending category. See Alternative Transportation

Meat and Poultry
Meat and poultry production requires large amounts of water and causes 20 percent of the common (as opposed to toxic) water pollution related to consumer expenditures. It also uses a significant share of the nation’s land—800 million acres for grazing livestock and an additional 60 million acres to grow animal feed. Red meat causes especially high amounts of environmental damage for the nutrition it delivers. See Eating Green by Walter Simpson

Fruit, Vegetables, and Grains
Irrigated crops grown to meet consumer demand use an enormous quantity of water (30 percent of consumer-related water use). Pesticides and fertilizers cause 5 percent of consumer-related toxic water pollution. Food crops also use substantial amounts of land. Joint a local cooperative organic farm.

Household Appliances and Lighting
Electricity seems clean and nonpolluting when it’s used in the home, but most of it is generated by burning polluting fossil fuels, especially coal. Appliances and lighting are responsible for 15 percent of the greenhouse-gas emissions related to consumer expenditures and 13 percent of consumer-related common air pollution. This is our specialty, keep browsing!

Home Heating, Hot Water, and Air Conditioning
Cooling and heating homes and water has an impact on global warming and air pollution similar to that of appliances and lighting. Systems that rely on electricity or oil contribute heavily to both problems. Most fireplaces and wood stoves are especially high air polluters. We discuss solutions to these problems in the Passive Solar and Solar Thermal sections.

Home Construction
The land and wood used for new homes are responsible for about a quarter of consumers’ impact on wildlife and natural ecosystems. Six percent of consumer-related water pollution comes from manufacturing the materials for new homes and disturbing the soil during construction. You don't need to build new to have a solar home! Ours is 100 years old. Or try Straw Bale!

Household Water and Sewage
Despite advances in sewage treatment, municipal sewage remains a major source (around 11 percent) of water pollution, especially affecting coastal areas and estuaries. Interestingly, households’ home water use is only 5 percent of the total, compared with nearly 74 percent for food production and distribution. See Composting Toilets