This site is hosted by
- 10g of carbon is equivalent to:
• Driving a gas guzzler 25 meters
• Making 1 cup of hot tea
• Having the lights on in a classroom for 1 minute
• 1140 internet searches
• Eating 1 hamburger
- Ottawa is a Zerofootprint City
Other cities include, Toronto, Edmonton, Seattle and Boulder. Together they encourage city-wide initiatives to engage individuals and organizations in the fight against climate change.
- The average small car will produce approximate 4,000kg of CO2 gas into the atmosphere each year – this is more CO2 gas than most houses emit.
- Large SUVs take 50% more energy to manufacture and produce around 80% more CO2 per mile than the average car.
- Turn off your car!
Idling a car for five minutes creates more than ¼ kg of greenhouse gases.
- Use public transportation
Public transportation generates 95% less carbon monoxide and 50% less carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide per passenger mile than a private car.
- Bottled water is less regulated than tap water.
- The average Canadian’s footprint is approximately 10 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
- It takes more energy to extract and refine petroleum from the tar sands than the oil produces.
- Styrofoam takes anywhere from 50 to 450 years to break down.
There are now compostable foam products available made from renewable plant products which decompose in as little as 50 days!
- Properly dispose of water filtration systems
Filters really do work to capture toxic metals, so tossing them into the trash will simply re-introduce those metals back into our waterways.
- Drink responsibly
Look for coffee that is Rainforest Alliance certified, organic, fair-traded and shade-grown. These certifications verify that you are purchasing a product that is socially and/ or environmentally responsible.
- Use phosphate-free dishwashing detergents
Algae in rivers and lakes thrive on phosphates, which in turn consume a large amount of oxygen. As a result, little oxygen is left for fish and they die.
How to save 1kg of CO2e:
- Make your lunch meatless
Replacing your meat-based lunch with a vegetable-based savse 1kg of CO2e.
- Shorten your morning shower
Cut ten minutes off of your shower time and save 1kg of CO2e.
- Turn off your computers!
Shutting down your computer overnight saves 1kg of CO2e over the course of 1 week
- Skip using bottled water
Replacing a 1L bottle of bottled water with tap water saves 1kg of CO2e.
- Recycle 50 pop cans
Instead of throwing them in the garbage and save 1kg of CO2e.
- Buy locally grown produce
Buying 20 locally grown apples rather than 20 imported apples saves 1kg of CO2e.
- Run the washing machine with cold water
Each load washed with cold water rather than hot water saves 1kg of CO2e.
- Cut down on household waste
Every 2 kg of household waste reduced saves 1kg of CO2e.
