Doing Our Part

I thought I would share some of the things my family is doing to reduce our carbon footprint.

Our electric/gas hybrid heating system.

Reusable shopping bags.

This is my first attempt at growing our own vegetables. This year I started with zucchini and yellow squash and a lone pea plant. They are doing pretty well so far. You can't get more local than this, plus they are organically grown.

Buying local. Snohomish County values it's farms so we are lucky to have a variety of sources for locally grown products. Bob's Corn, pictured above, is one of our neighbors. Purchasing local products not only reduces your carbon footprint, it also supports the local economy.

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle through Waste Management.

We replaced all the lighting inside and outside with compact fluorescent light bulbs.

According to the World Resources Institute Data, 13.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are transportation related, the majority of those are emissions on roads (9.9 percent). In Washington State, transportation energy use is both the largest greenhouse gas producer and the fastest growing sector. My family purchased a 2009 Toyota Prius this year as our main driving car.