Jewish Ethics and the Environment

by Idelle Packer, CBHT member, Social Justice Committee member and liaison with the Energy Sub-committee of the Preserving Our Planet Initiative.

• Resources in the Asheville Community Region


• National and International resources linking Judaism and the Environment


• Prayer for lighting the Sabbath candles (from CBHT Eco-Shabbot 2009)


• New ritual for Pesach Seder service (from CBHT Eco-Pesach Seder 2008)

Why might Jews care about the environment? Is there a link between Judaism and the environment?  How does my Jewish heritage support the concept that I have a personal responsibility to act to protect and preserve our planet? As Jews, what is our role as global citizens? Should Jewish people consume with a social and ecological conscience?  Is climate change a social justice issue?

To give meaning and answers to these questions, let’s look at various texts, prayers, and commentary including excerpts from our own Eco-Shabbot  service 2009 and Eco-Pesach Seder 2008 to use again in Sabbath services or Passover Seders at home or at Temple.

Yes, Judaism has a history and rich heritage of respect for our natural surroundings. The value and responsibility of taking care of our environment is emphasized in the Torah and in our rabbinic literature - caring for creation is integral to Judaism.

Yes, climate change is a Social Justice issue. Torah teaches that we must work to alleviate the pain and suffering that climate change causes – that the Social Justice aspects of the environmental crisis must not be ignored. Climate change affects human health and livelihood for all of us, but most profoundly, for the vulnerable in our society - from the effects of increased severity of storms, rising tides in coastal areas, and the poor paying a disproportionate percent of their income on energy cost or being forced to make unviable choices between the cost of heating a home in the winter and needed food or medicines.

Book of Deuteronomy 16-20    “Tsedek Tsedek Tirdof”  “Justice Justice you shall pursue”  

As Jews, we are called to both protect the environment and to aid those less fortunate in our society.

What makes these actions “Jewish” is the connection we feel to Torah text and the concept of Tikkun Olam defined as “repairing the world”.  Jewish tradition views “God’s creation” as the totality of the physical world in which we live. When we participate as partners with God in creation our efforts become Holy acts. Our commitment to Tikkun Olam guides us to nourish and protect creation - to leave our earth a little better than we found it. As we help make our planet healthier, we become closer to God.

Where we are despoiling our air, land, and water, it is our sacred duty to safeguard humanity’s home and all the diversity of life by taking action to reverse such degradation.

Ecclesiastes 7:13  

 \"Consider the work of God: for who can make straight that which has been made crooked?\"

Midrash Rabbah , commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:13 

 \"When God created the first human beings, God led them around the Garden of Eden and said: Look at my works! See how beautiful they are, how excellent! Take care not to spoil or destroy My world, for if you do, there will be no one to repair it after you.\"

Genesis 2:15 

Adam and Eve are commanded to work and take care of the Garden of Eden, to serve and protect it.

Judaism stresses that we are not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value… 

Deuteronomy 20: 19-20

Bal tashchit (do not waste/destroy) - Sefer HaChinuch, Parshat Shoftim, Mitzvah 529

\"… conserve resources, love the Good and the Greater Value and cling to it. That is the path for Righteous People and People of Good Deeds – who love Peace and are happy with the goodness of the Creation and draw themselves to Torah.  … do not waste anything, not even a kernel of mustard.\"       

\"…When you lay siege and battle against a city for a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding an ax against them.  You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down.\"

Following the principle of learning the Torah called kal v\'chomer (Hebrew for \"the simple from the more difficult\"), Torah’s specific prohibition during warfare can be applied to any less difficult context.  In the case of bal tashchit, our rabbis understood that there is no situation more difficult than that of warfare. Consequently, the law of bal tashchit applies to every aspect of our lives, charging us not to use more than we need, not to needlessly destroy anything, not to use something of greater value when something of lesser value will suffice, and not to use something in a way it was not meant to be used (which increases the likelihood the item will be broken or destroyed. 

Reduce, reuse and recycle are three ways of practicing bal tashchit. Every time a single act of bal tashchit is manifest the world becomes a better place. Every day we are given opportunities to reduce the amount of waste we produce and the amount of resources that we waste or needlessly destroy…

… and work toward a sustainable world for future generations. Judaism asserts that a wise person considers the long-range consequences of any behavior - we must plan for future generations. We must reaffirm and bequeath the tradition we have inherited. We cannot accept the escalating threat to our air, water, food, and energy sources.

     Genesis 9:12

“This [the rainbow] is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations.”

     Kohelet Rabbah 

Emperor Hadrian saw an old man cutting down shrubs in order to plant saplings. He said to him, “Old man! What is your age?” He answered, “One hundred.” “You are 100 years old and you stand here cutting down trees in order to plant saplings? Do you think you will eat of their fruits?” He replied, “If I am worthy, I shall eat. If not, just as my parents toiled for me, so shall I toil for my children.”

Imagine… a community devoted to learning how to assess our home, workplace, and Temple life to better understand how directly or indirectly our habits and activities might be harming the planet and contributing to climate change.

Imagine a community’s cumulative effect through a conscious effort to conserve energy has made a difference.

Imagine a world passed on to our children and their children – a world where they can prosper in health and happiness, delighting in the beauty of all living things, clean air, water, food, and bountiful sustainable energy.

That community is us!

\"If not now, when?\"

Hillel, sage and scholar associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud. 

Prayer for Shabbat

from CONGREGATION BETH HATEPHILA Eco-Shabbat 2009:

As our eyes take in the beauty of the Sabbath lights we are reminded of how precious are the energy sources of our planet Earth. The sun gives us life – the source for most of the energy on earth - the power source for plants, the cause of flows of atmosphere and of water, warmth that makes life possible. As the air flickers these Sabbath flames we are reminded of the power of the wind and its promise to be harnessed and developed as a sustainable energy source.

We dedicate ourselves as Jews to be partners with God in all of creation, to treat all life as a precious gift, to take care of the earth, not waste or harm it. Environmental justice and the driving message of Tikkun Olam demands that we increase our awareness about what is happening to our earth, and that we turn our attention daily to what we can do to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, that we leave our planet to our children in a better state than it was given to us.

An Eco-Seder with a new ritual from CONGREGATION BETH HATEPHILA Eco-Seder, Passover 2008:

The Seder table has a new element: a pot of dirt and the four seeds for the ritual reading and planting described below:

Planting the seeds of Commitment

Our world was blessed with abundance of water, which quenches our thirst and sustains all life. And yet, today we are using wasteful irrigation practices in our agriculture causing the world to be on the brink of massive water shortages. Despite the Clean Water Act and other clean-up efforts, half of our country’s waterways and lakes are still polluted with agriculture runoff and household chemicals rendering them unusable for swimming and fishing. And we have over-fished and destroyed 80% of the oceans’ edible species. Let us plant seeds of commitment to conserve our earth’s life giving waters, to fill our cupboards with organic foods and cleaners and to refrain from eating endangered fish and ocean life, limiting our contribution to the plagues destroying our water.

Our land was blessed with nutrient rich soil capable of nourishing plants that sustain us, and every living thing in the great web of life. And yet, today we have chosen to till our land using chemicals and pesticides that rob and degrade the nutrients from the soil and we allow livestock overgrazing, transforming acres of farmland into deserts. These practices as well as over-development are causing massive species extinction that could rob the earth of ½ of all biodiversity within 50 years. Let us plant seeds of commitment to support organic and other farming practices that are sensitive to preserving our earth’s soil, to eat a less meat-centered diet and to support organizations and legislation which seeks to preserve the world’s endangered species and stop our participation in these plagues destroying our land.

Air used to be the invisible breath of life. And yet, today we fill our air with carbon dioxide as we have created an entire economy driven by CO2 producing coal and oil, which fuel our cars, homes and businesses. Moreover, we are still cutting down for paper, timber and ranching the old growth forests that would absorb harmful CO2 from our atmosphere. Let us plant the seeds of commitment tonight to find alternative ways to harness our planet’s kinder and healthier energy resources, find used, recycled or responsibly harvested wood, and eat a reduced meat diet to fight the worsening of this environmental plague polluting our air.
 

Humans used to take pride in being frugal and using every resource in our possession for good use. Every part of an animal, every piece of metal, every bit of water and land was used and then reused. And yet, today we have allowed ourselves to become a consumerist, throw away society where precious resources end up in land-fills instead of being used again, leading us to strip the earth of its limited resources. Our world is a gift from God. And yet, until now, for short-term comforts we’ve chosen to live unsustainably without mindfulness of how to responsibly use and compassionately share the earth’s abundance.  

Let us plant seeds of commitment tonight to changing our ways, to recognizing all that we have done and saying dayenu, it is enough. These plagues stop with me, so that my children and my children’s children and their children after them won’t be slaves to pollution, hunger and thirst and will enjoy all the gifts our world has to offer.

 1.) Tomato seeds: REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

(read while one person at the table plants a tomato seed.)

The mitzvah of  “bal tashkhit” found in Deuteronomy expresses a prohibition against wasting or destroying fruit bearing trees in a time of war.  Over the centuries, Jewish thinkers have elaborated that bal tashkhit applies to every person all the time, charging us not to use more than we need, not to needlessly destroy anything, not to use something of greater value when something of lesser value will suffice, and not to use something in a way it was not meant to be used (which increases the likelihood the item will be broken or destroyed. Reduce, reuse and recycle are three ways of living in the spirit of bal tashkhit. This Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato seed, passed from generation to generation, symbolizes the renewal of the earth and the sustenance we enjoy.  In honoring this seed, we are reminded that we are partners with G-d in caring for the earth, and of the commandment bal tashkhit, do not waste or destroy.

2.) Sunflower Seed: ENERGY 

(read while one person at the table plants a sunflower seed.)

Sunflower seeds represent sustainable energy sources.  As the seed gives life to the sunflower, the sun gives us life – the source for most of the energy on earth - the power source for plants, the cause of flows of atmosphere and of water, the warmth that makes life possible. None would exist without it.  As the sun moves on its course with respect to the earth the sunflower turns its head to face the sun, as the wind blows the stalk and flower’s movements remind us to use the sun to heat our water and homes to harness the wind as another renewable energy source to sustain our energy needs year round.

3.) Greasy Cut Short Beans: SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE/FAIR TRADE 

(read while one person at the table plants a greasy cut-short bean seed.)

The Greasy Cut-Short Bean has a funny name, but all Greasy Beans, which are like green beans but have larger beans inside their edible pods, are prized in the South for both taste and regional authenticity.  A southern Appalachian heirloom, they are a distinct food that is available here in our mountains and not from the global food supply. In this way, they represent the notion of eating LOCALLY.  This goal serves our efforts to create a sustainable partnership with the earth by forming closer relationships with local farmers and food sources, thereby using less fossil fuel to ship food in from distant sources, supporting small non-corporate farms that use cleaner methods of production, boosting our local economy and getting fresher and more nutritious food for our families.  All these benefits are consistent with the guiding principles of Tikkun Olam:  to take care of our planet and our selves.

4.) Sugar Snap Peas: TRANSPORTATION

(read while one person at the table plants a sugar snap pea seed.)

SUGAR SNAP PEAS are a variety of pea in a tender, fully edible pod, and have a sweet symbolism for the Transportation Group.  We see the pods as analogous to vehicles carrying multiple passengers (the peas) to their destinations.  Rather than growing in a field as individual, unprotected peas on a vine, Nature has placed a group of peas in a pod ready to be transported safely and efficiently to market, much in the same way that people can be transported safely and efficiently from here to there in carpools, buses and trains.  Like peas in a pod, we are all in the same “boat” when we consider that air polluted with carbon, lead and ozone from the fumes of fossil fuel burning vehicles affects us all negatively, and likewise, it is only in partnership that we can divert this disastrous outcome.  Perhaps God created the Sugar Snap not just to be delicious and enjoyed, but also to suggest a sweet green solution to our energy and pollution dilemmas.

ORGANIZATIONS IN THE ASHEVILLE COMMUNITY REGION ARE ALREADY AT WORK. 

The sources and links below do not reflect endorsement by CBHT or the SJC of CBHT. They are listed as community resources that may provide help in greening your home, workplace, or house of worship.

North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light (NCIPL): http://interfaithpowerandlight.org/state/
NCIPL is mobilizing a religious response to global warming in congregations through the promotion of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and conservation. CBHT has been designated a “cool congregation” and has sponsored and partnered with NCIPL in numerous projects. NCILP work includes educating congregations and helping them buy energy efficient lights and appliances, providing energy audits and implementing the recommendations, encouraging people to buy more fuel efficient vehicles and to drive less, supporting renewable energy development through “greentags,” working on large-scale renewable energy installation projects such as rooftop solar and advocating for sensible energy and global warming policy.

Asheville Green Opportunities (Asheville GO) http://www.greenopportunities.org/asheville-go/
Asheville Green Opportunities (Asheville GO) is an organization with Social Justice values in its action programs. Through its paid job training and placement program unemployed, out-of-school young adults in and around Asheville receive life skills training, mentorship and support services while working living wage jobs in promising fields of green construction, clean energy, recycling, ecological landscaping and restoration, and sustainable agriculture. GO actively recruits/trains members of the community who are too often left behind—low-income youth and youth of color—offering them quality opportunities to prepare for profitable green-collar careers. All nine of the GO members for the pilot program were recruited from low-wealth communities, all were unemployed prior to the start of the program, and all possessed at least one barrier to employment. Other statistics about the Asheville GO pilot class include: 89% lived in public housing; 55% did not possess a high school diploma or GED; 89% were African American; 33% were single moms; the average age was 23. With the support of the program: 78% of GO members completed AB Tech coursework (including OSHA Construction certification course, Basic Computer Skills, and Pathways to Employment); 60% of GO members lacking a General Education Degree or high school diploma are enrolled in programs to complete them; 100% of the GO members who had unresolved court issues at the start of the program resolved them with the support of the program 

Green Brothers Solar www.greenbrothersservices.com
Accem Scott, owner, (828) 280-7287 
Green Brothers Solar works in partnership with Asheville Green Opportunities to train young people in solar installations. Green Brothers provides the services of Solar thermal (hot water) (SRCC certified) installation and training as well as full service building weatherization for home and business locations to reduce family or business heating costs plus help the customer take advantage of a 65% tax credit (Federal and State) that reduces the initial investment. Green Brothers offers the after market service of helping the customer obtain proper tax forms, fill them out, and file them correctly.

Appalachian Institute of Renewable Energy (AIRE) http://aire-nc.org/about-aire/
Executive director: Steve Owen, (828)268-5022
AIRE educates about, advocates for, researches and develops appropriate technologies for community owned renewable energy projects across Southern and Central Appalachia. AIRE seeks to reduce the region’s dependence on mountain-top removal coal mining and other nonrenewable energy sources, and to create economically and environmentally sustainable livelihoods.

Solutions http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/
A nonprofit print and online publication devoted to showcasing bold and innovative ideas for solving the world\'s integrated ecological, social, and economic problems, Solutions’ mission is to provide a forum for developing and discussing seriously creative ideas to solve society\'s most pressing problems in an integrated way. 

Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute http://blueridgesustainability.org/
Drawing on the region’s extraordinary human and natural resources, applying hard science and advanced economic thinking, encouraging fresh ideas in government and industry, and providing practical tools for policymakers, educators, community activists, and entrepreneurs, the Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute addresses the urgency of Western North Carolina’s environmental challenges.   http://blueridgesustainability.org/green-mondays/   Monthly seminars open to the public.

Ashevillage Institute http://www.ashevillage.org/avi/index.php
Based in Asheville, NC, the Ashevillage Institute creates sustainable living solutions through education, demonstration and action. It promotes urban sustainability through its eco-demonstration center that serves local needs, hands-on sustainability workshops for local leaders & citizens, community outreach, organization and advocacy. http://ashevillageinstitute.blogspot.com/

Kanuga Conference Center http://www.kanuga.org/aboutus/press/solar_thermal09.pdf  – largest Solar Thermal System in region -

Warren Wilson College (WWC) www.warren-wilson.edu
http://www.mountaingreenwnc.org/
http://warren-wilson.edu/blogs/mtngreen/2010/07/21/can-a-wind-farm-transform-appalachias-energy-future/ 
WWC acknowledges that a complex web of economic, social, cultural, spiritual and environmental factors determine the well-being of any community. They empower students to
recognize their power as individuals and in community to influence these complex, interdependent relationships. WWC strives to make responsible decisions that take into account the multiple dimensions of sustainability in order to ensure quality of life now and for generations to come. 

WWC puts its principles into action:  getting food and lumber from its own organic gardens and managed forests (chainsaws even use soy oil!), campus vehicles include biodiesel-run, hybrids and solar-charged carts and the college is a leader in green building and design with solar-powered streetlamps and low light pollution. Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/10-greenest-colleges-460708#ixzz0wcBSg4He

Conservation Pros http://conservationpros.com/  (828) 281-7466
Conservation Pros take a holistic approach to the analysis and retrofitting of homes from duct sealing to complete green renovations. Services include: energy audits, duct sealing, air sealing, sealing crawl space foundations, insulation, windows, renovations and green home repairs. Conservation Pros is a proud member of the Western North Carolina Green Building Council  

Right Building
http://rightbuilding@gmail.com
Owner, Michael Hurd, 828-329-2369
A green renovation company, Right Building specializes in all interior residential construction (except HVAC) and most exterior work from flooring, framing, trim, built-in shelving, cabinetry, windows/doors, tree houses, saunas, custom kids room furniture, metal roofing, etc - from punch lists to additions. Right Building also offers project management - assisting customers in getting the right products and services from their construction team, in the most efficient and satisfactory way.

FLS Energy  http://www.flsenergy.com/Based in Asheville, NC, FLS Energy is a solar energy generation company whose mission is to establish solar as a mainstream technology. (Provided solar thermal system for Kanuga Conference Center.) FLS Energy specializes in solar energy systems that provide hot water and electricity to our clients as a hedge against rising energy costs and a clean source of sustainable energy.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS LINKING JUDAISM AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The sources and links below are for additional reading and knowledge and do not necessarily reflect specific political views of the members of CBHT SJC:                  

Religious Action Center (RAC): http://rac.org/advocacy/issues/issueenv/issuecc/action/
For nearly 50 years, RAC, mandated by 900+ congregations of the Union for Reform Judaism and over 1,800 Reform Rabbis of Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), has been the hub of Jewish social justice and legislative activity in Washington, D.C. As the DC office of the Union for Reform Judaism, the RAC educates and mobilizes the Reform Jewish community on legislative and social concerns, advocating on nearly 60 issues, including economic justice, civil rights, the environment, religious liberty, Israel and more. Representatives of URJ and CCAR form the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, which governs the RAC’s policy positions.

The Jewish Nature Center: http://www.jewishnaturecenter.org/bal_tashchit.html
Promoting Jewish environmental nature education in all types of formal and informal educational settings, The Jewish Nature Center, established in New Jersey on 1250 acres of campgrounds in May of 1997, pioneers new ways of making nature a partner in Jewish education, develops curriculum integrating Jewish studies and nature experiences, explores the application of ancient Jewish ecological wisdom to contemporary Jewish life, and serves as a forum for Jewish naturalists and environmentalists. 

The Teva Learning Center: www.tevacenter.org
Working with Jewish Day Schools, Congregational Schools, synagogues, camps and youth groups, The Teva Learning Center (office in NYC) is a non-denominational Jewish Environmental Education Institute. Its mission is to renew the ecological wisdom inherent in Judaism. All Teva programs are built on a thematic progression - from Awareness to Interconnectedness to Responsibility. The Teva Learning Center is a program of Surprise Lake Camp and a UJA-Federation beneficiary.

The Big Green Jewish Website –Judaism and the Environment: http://www.biggreenjewish.org/
Providing an on-line meeting point between Jewish and environmental ethics, The Big Green Jewish Website seeks to educate about climate change and aims to inspire readers to make a difference to the planet. Founded in 2006 as a joint venture by The Noah Project and ESIAG (Environmental and Social Issues Action Group) at The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the site was redeveloped and launched in November 2009. It is an initiative of the Jewish Social Action Forum, a body of organizations in the UK Jewish community that, collectively, are committed to raising awareness of issues of universal concern. 

Canfei Nesharim: http://www.canfeinesharim.org/
Connecting traditional Torah texts with contemporary scientific findings, Canfei Nesharim educates and empowers Jewish individuals, organizations and communities to take an active role in protecting the environment, in order to build a more sustainable world.

Coalition of the Environmental & Jewish Life: http://www.coejl.org/
COEJL is the leading Jewish environmental organization in the United States. Since its founding in 1993, COEJL has helped tens of thousands of Jews mae a connection between Judaism and the environment.

Hazon: http://www.hazon.org/
Hazon works to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community and a healthier and more sustainable world for all. Hazon aims to effect change in three ways:
• Through the direct human impact of its programs.
• Through thought-leadership (writing, speaking, teaching, campaigning).
• By supporting American and British Jewish environmental leaders and organizations, and by supporting the Israeli environmental movement

Jewish Climate Initiative: http://www.jewishclimateinitiative.org/
Jewish Climate Initiative is a not-for-profit organization created for the purposes of Tikkun Olam - literally \"Repairing the World\" in Hebrew - by providing a Jewish response to the climate change crisis that threatens the ecosystems of our planet during our lifetimes and the lives of our children.

Sviva Israel: http://www.svivaisrael.org
Sviva Israel is an educational start-up developing and implementing environmental literacy programs that create lasting partnerships between the people of Israel and our friends abroad to guarantee Israel as a sustainable home for the Jewish people. 

The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies: http://www.arava.org
The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) is a regional centre for environmental leadership. By encouraging environmental cooperation between peoples, the Arava Institute is working towards peace and sustainable development on a regional and global scale.
 

The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership: http://www.heschel.org.il/eng/
The Heschel Center is dedicated to building a sustainable future for Israeli society - environmentally, socially and economically - through education and reflective activism.

 
What You Can Do


Calculating Your Carbon Footprint

Since we as Jews have an obligation to protect the Earth, what can we do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Unlike many environmental problems where industry is the primary source of emissions, personal decisions are important in determining greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions account for 80% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation is the largest source of emissions, accounting for a third. Most of that is personal transportation, the cars, vans and SUVs that you and I drive. The residential sector, our homes, accounts for a fifth of emissions. The sectors we have most immediate control over account for half of total emissions.

Depending on the choices each individual makes, his or her contribution to greenhouse gas emissions will be different. The amount of fossil fuel we as individuals or households emit is known as our carbon footprint. A number of carbon footprint calculators are available on the Web, but the one we found most useful was the Cool Climate Network developed by the University of California, Berkeley (http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/). This calculator allows you estimate your household carbon dioxide emissions and compare them to similar U.S. households, the average U.S. household, or the world average. It also provides estimated costs and benefits for some of the actions you might take to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions.


Reducing Your Carbon Footprint and Saving Money
 
Some of the steps we need to take to reduce our carbon footprint cost nothing.  Being more careful about turning out lights when you leave a room cost nothing and saves both electricity and carbon dioxide emissions. Walking short distances rather than taking your car costs nothing and saves both gasoline and carbon dioxide emissions, and is good for your health too. Lowering your thermostat setting in the winter and raising it in the summer costs nothing and saves both heating and cooling costs and carbon dioxide emissions. You may have considered these actions before and decided that the savings was not worth the effort, but please consider them again with the in terms of their impact on carbon dioxide emissions. This may convince you that they are worthwhile. 
 
A second category of steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions have an initial cost, but that cost is repaid by energy savings. Compact fluorescent lights cost more than the incandescent lights they replace, put the electricity savings will pay for the increased cost many times over. Similarly, hybrid cars cost more than conventional cars, but the gasoline savings will pay for that investment over the life of the car. Large home appliances are now labeled with the amount of electricity they use and its average cost. More efficient appliances may cost more, often they don’t, but it is easy compare the saving to the increased cost. 

While it is easy to identify some carbon dioxide emission reduction steps, others, particularly home energy efficiency improvements, can be more difficult to find. The best technique for finding these opportunities is with a home energy efficiency audit. While the best quality audits are conducted by trained professionals, a Do-It-Yourself audit can often turn up surprising results. The U.S. Department of Energy provides a written description of such an audit on its website (www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11170). It advises checking for air leaks, insulation quality, and maintaining your heating and cooling systems. A second webpage (http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11180) describes the services provided by professional home energy auditors.

A much more detailed home energy audit developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory can be found at http://hes.lbl.gov/consumer/. It estimates the cost and savings of upgrading various components of your home energy system, but uses detailed inputs that will require careful study of your utility bills and your home.

Progress Energy (www.progress-energy.com), our electricity company, offers a wide variety of energy efficiency information and support. One of their programs, EnergyWise, offers an up to  $75 annual rebate on electricity bills to customers who are willing to have their air conditioners, heat pumps and electric water heaters shut off for short periods of time during periods of peak electricity demand. While the impact of this program on carbon dioxide emission is small, it is the first example in our area of Smart Grid technology that is expected to optimize the U.S. electricity supply and reduce significantly reduce overall demand.
  
Professional home energy auditors in our area are listed in the Western North Carolina Green Building Directory, a collaborative effort between the WNC Green Building Council and the Mountain Xpress. It is available on-line at www.wncgreenbuilding.com , and besides providing information on home energy raters includes the names of contractors who can make the repairs identified by an energy audit.


Larger Steps to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint that May Cost Money 

Note: This section mentions several companies or organizations that are providing the services described. These references are not recommendations, but are offered as examples of the services being described.  

We pay the price of a polluted environment in terms of poorer health and damage to our ecosystem. If we allow atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to increase to dangerous levels, we will pay the price in the damages that will be caused by a changed climate. We now control air and water pollutants and pay for that control in the cost of manufactured products. The average car has about $1000 of pollution control costs built into its price. Many people are willing to buy green products, even if they cost more, to help protect the environment.

The general willingness to pay more to protect the environment has not yet extended to controlling carbon dioxide emissions. None of the bills that have been introduced in Congress to control U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have been enacted into law. Their cost is the argument that has most often been used to defeat them. However, as individuals we have the ability to chose to spend money to reduce either our own or others carbon dioxide emissions, money that will not necessarily save us more in the log-term.

One way of spending money to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is to buy offsets. Airlines and car rental companies are offering customers the opportunity to add a relatively small amount to the cost of their transportation. The money is used to support tree planting and energy effieicncy projects that will either absorb carbon dioxide or reduce its emissions. Properly designed and monitored projects of this type can make a small but real contribution to reducing global carbon dioxide emissions. Projects in developing countries can also help grow the local economy.

Other organizations, such as the Carbon Fund (http://carbonfund.org), sell offset credits that will allow you to offset your total carbon footprint. The Carbon Fund’s website describes the projects supported and how emission reductions are independently verified. This type of information should be obtained before purchasing carbon offsets.  

A similar program would add a few dollars a month to your electricity bill to purchase green electricity. When you do this you are not actually getting electrons generated from green sources such as solar or wind, but allowing the electricity company to purchase higher priced electricity from these sources. See www.progress-energy.com for more details of this program.
A still more expensive way to reduce your carbon footprint is to install a small-scale renewable energy system in your home. The most typical systems are solar PV (photo-voltaic) systems, which generate electricity, and solar hot water systems. Solar hot water systems are the simplest to understand. The use a mirror to concentrate solar energy to heat a pipe filled with water or glycol. The hot water can be used directly, the glycol is circulated through a tank of water to heat it. 

Solar PV systems use solar cells to generate electricity. Some people have used these systems in conjunction with batteries that store the electricity to live off-grid. Other sell the electricity into the grid for a price that is higher than the cost of the electricity they buy from the grid. The picture below shows both systems. The silver vertical plates are the solar hot water system, while the lower dark plates are a 2.1 kilowatt solar PV system. 

 

 Both North Carolina and the Federal government offer tax rebates for the installation of residential renewable energy systems. These rebates offset about a third of the cost of the system shown above. The price paid for electricity sold to the grid from this system is 17-18 cents per kilowatt-hour. At that price it will take about twenty years to recover the cost of the system not covered by the tax rebate. Assessing the return on the solar hot water system is more difficult since there is no direct measure of the amount of hot water it is supplying. However, information from both the manufacturer and independent sources indicate that these systems should recover their cost after tax rebate in about 5-7 years.

Several companies sell and install residential solar systems in the Asheville area. They can be found Yellow Pages or in the Western North Carolina Green Building Directory,  www.wncgreenbuilding.com.