Sure, you turn off the tap when you brush your teeth and recycle the Sunday paper. That’s a good start. But other everyday habits may have a bigger impact on the environment than you think. take our quiz to find out what else you can do to make the world a greener place.
1. On average, how fast do you drive on the highway?
(a) 55 mph (b) 65 mph (c) 75 mph
2. When your vehicle needs a bath, do you:
(a) Grab the hose and a bucket and do it yourself (b) Go to a car wash
3. What type of driver are you?
(a) Aggressive (b) Calm and collected (c) Somewhere in between
4. It’s lunchtime and you’re craving a fast-food burger. Do you:
(a) Order at the drive-through (b) Park and head inside to place your order
5. Grilling season is almost here! This summer, you'll be throwing your burgers and brats onto:
(a) An electric grill (b) A charcoal grill (c) A gas grill
6. You’re hosting a cookout and need to stock up on beer. At the store, you fill your cart with:
(a) Cans (b) Bottles (c) A keg
7. Okay, you’ve had enough burgers and barbecue. It’s time for a healthy dinner: salmon. At the fish counter, you choose:
(a) Atlantic (b) Wild caught from Washington, Oregon, or California (c) Neither; you buy canned
8. Now let’s head over to the produce section. With fruits and vegetables, you look for this label:
(a) Organic (b) Locally grown (c) I don’t look at labels
9. Your spouse cooked dinner, so you’re on dish duty. Do you:
(a) Wash everything by hand (b) Rinse off food, then load the dishwasher (c) Go straight into the dishwasher
10. After mowing the lawn, what do you do with the clippings?
(a) Leave them in the yard (b) Bag them and put them out by the curb
11 When a lightbulb in your house burns out, you replace it with:
(a) An incandescent lightbulb (b) A compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL) (c) A light-emitting diode (LED) bulb
12. You’re cleaning out the medicine cabinet and find a bunch of expired medications. Do you:
(a) Flush them down the toilet (b) Toss them out but recycle the container (c) Return them to the pharmacy
1. On average, how fast do you drive on the highway?
(a) 55 mph (b) 65 mph (c) 75 mph
2. When your vehicle needs a bath, do you:
(a) Grab the hose and a bucket and do it yourself (b) Go to a car wash
3. What type of driver are you?
(a) Aggressive (b) Calm and collected (c) Somewhere in between
4. It’s lunchtime and you’re craving a fast-food burger. Do you:
(a) Order at the drive-through (b) Park and head inside to place your order
5. Grilling season is almost here! This summer, you'll be throwing your burgers and brats onto:
(a) An electric grill (b) A charcoal grill (c) A gas grill
6. You’re hosting a cookout and need to stock up on beer. At the store, you fill your cart with:
(a) Cans (b) Bottles (c) A keg
7. Okay, you’ve had enough burgers and barbecue. It’s time for a healthy dinner: salmon. At the fish counter, you choose:
(a) Atlantic (b) Wild caught from Washington, Oregon, or California (c) Neither; you buy canned
8. Now let’s head over to the produce section. With fruits and vegetables, you look for this label:
(a) Organic (b) Locally grown (c) I don’t look at labels
9. Your spouse cooked dinner, so you’re on dish duty. Do you:
(a) Wash everything by hand (b) Rinse off food, then load the dishwasher (c) Go straight into the dishwasher
10. After mowing the lawn, what do you do with the clippings?
(a) Leave them in the yard (b) Bag them and put them out by the curb
11 When a lightbulb in your house burns out, you replace it with:
(a) An incandescent lightbulb (b) A compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL) (c) A light-emitting diode (LED) bulb
12. You’re cleaning out the medicine cabinet and find a bunch of expired medications. Do you:
(a) Flush them down the toilet (b) Toss them out but recycle the container (c) Return them to the pharmacy
THE ANSWERS
1. (a) 2 points; (b) 1; (c) 0. Fuel efficiency decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. For every 5 mph you drive over 60, you pay an additional 31 cents a gallon.
2. (a) 0; (b) 1. Washing your car at home creates a toxic brew of oil, gasoline, and detergent that enters storm drains and flows directly into rivers, lakes, and streams. Most professional car washes use recycled water and drain their H2O into a sewer system, so sludge gets treated before reentering nature; they use 60% less water.
3. (a) 0; (b) 2; (c) 1. Aggressive acceleration, speeding, and hard braking at traffic lights or stop signs can deflate your highway gas mileage by up to 33 percent, according to the EPA.
4. (a) 0; (b) 1. Idling for 10 seconds or longer burns more gas than restarting the engine, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
5. (a) 0; (b) 1; (c) 2. According to a study from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, when in use for one hour, a gas grill emits 5.6 pounds of carbon dioxide, and charcoal 11 pounds; an electric grill doesn’t emit CO2 directly but accounts for a whopping 15 pounds owing to the production and transmission of electricity.
6. (a) 1; (b) 0; (c) 2. For big bashes, buying a keg and serving beer in reusable cups creates the least waste. Aluminum is the next-best choice—it’s lightweight and easily recycled, landing back on shelves in 60 days or less. Glass, while also recyclable, is heavier, which means more fuel is needed to transport it.
7. (a) 0; (b) 1; (c) 2. Canned salmon comes mainly from wild Alaskan waters; many salmon from other U.S. states are considered endangered or threatened. And “Atlantic” usually means “farmed,” a process that uses chemicals and unsustainable fishing practices.
8. (a) 1; (b) 2; (c) 0. The average meal can travel 1,500 miles to reach your table. You can cut down on emissions by buying local produce which is usually organic or grown with sustainable farming practices.
9. (a) 0; (b) 1; (c) 2. Running a fully loaded dishwasher may use half the energy and one-sixth less water than doing dishes by hand, according to a study by the University of Bonn in Germany. And research found that prerinsing can waste up to 6,000 gallons of water per household each year.
10. (a) 1; (b) 0. Every year, Americans produce millions of tons of leaf and grass clippings; some end up in landfills. In most cases, leaving the grass on your lawn is not just greener; as the clippings decompose, they actually make the soil healthier.
11. (a) 0; (b) 1; (c) 2. Super-efficient LED bulbs are expensive—you can end up paying over $20 a pop—but they last three times longer than CFLs and more than 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs.
12. (a) 0; (b) 1; (c) 2. Flushing pills can send them into waterways. Recycling the container is a good move, but it’s best to return medications to your pharmacist, who will dispose of them properly.
TALLY YOUR SCORE
0–7 points: Pale Green. It’s time to get more eco-conscious. Start small—for instance, by replacing just five regular lightbulbs with low-energy bulbs. When you shop, look for products with minimal packaging (read: less waste), and try to shave one minute off your daily shower—you’ll save up to 1,000 gallons of water each year.
8–14 points: Bright Green. The planet’s health is on your radar, but it’s not always your top priority. Want to take your good intentions a step further? For better gas mileage, use cruise control whenever possible and remove unnecessary weight from the trunk. Install low-flow showerheads and toilets in your bathroom. And buy power strips you can easily switch off when appliances are not in use.
15–21 points: Fluorescent Green. For an environmental expert like you, it is easy being green. So share your knowledge. Launch a reusable lunch box campaign at your kid’s school in which you ask parents to replace plastic baggies and forks with washable Tupperware and cutlery. Or start a neighborhood carpool for weekend errands—like a trip to the farmers’ market.