Many of our daily activities - such as using electricity, driving a car, or disposing of waste - cause greenhouse gas emissions. There are two options for entering reduction data into this calculator. If you purchase some or all of your electricity as green power, enter the percentage here. Harsco's CEO: Is Your Company Helping to Reduce the Natural Resource Debt? Note: Only applicable if your Primary Heating Source is Natural Gas or Fuel Oil. You can specify two sources; if in doubt use "Average UK Grid Electricity".Note that although UK emissions are in kgCO 2 e, for other countries they are only in kgCO 2, not taking into account any associated emissions of methane or nitrous oxide and use 2015 data. These changes affect calculating greenhouse gas emissions from electricity and fossil fuels. United States Environmental Protection Agency. If 100 of your friends took these actions, over 5 years their households would avoid [#] If you enter your average monthly fuel oil use in gallons, you'll get a more accurate estimate. DEFRA has released a new set of guidelines for 2014 and the potential exists for companies using these conversion factors to experience significant shifts in both individual emission factors and overall Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. To reduce contamination in the recycling stream, one focus of the draft strategy involves increasing public awareness of the mechanics of recycling as well as the economic benefits of recycling. This will be achieved through improvements and update operations at Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) and at the collection level, Wheeler said. Recycling is only one way to reduce your emissions from waste. 692 pounds of CO2 equivalent per year is about average for a household of 1 person. On average, green power costs roughly 2 cents per kWh more than conventional power. Please try again or use a different ZIP code. Ensuring that the appropriate factors are in place and correctly applied can be a challenge. You can find your car's rated fuel efficiency at. New Jersey and other states are considering similar legislation. For example, California recently passed AB 793 to require that products such as plastic beverage containers be composed of a minimum percentage of recycled material, beginning with 15% in 2022 and increasing to 25% in 2025 and 50% in 2030. If the appropriate indicators correctly are set up within the system, the use of these new emission factors should not require significant effort. Conversion factors allow organizations to calculate the GHG emissions from a range of activities. “It sets forth objectives that are ambitious but largely preliminary,” Bothwell said. Measurement is a quantitative exercise; however, some of the questions surrounding where to draw boundaries and the scope of measurement can be a judgment call. “Over the last two years, we’ve heard from our partners about the challenges facing our nation’s recycling system, and in particular for municipal solid waste recycling” said EPA Administrator Andrew R. Wheeler when introducing the strategy. Many of our daily activities - such as using electricity, driving a car, or disposing of waste - cause greenhouse gas emissions. Gather your utility bills (electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, propane) to calculate your average use over a year. If you enter your monthly propane use in gallons, you'll get a more accurate estimate. You must have an entry for Monthly Electricity bill. 1. $37/month is about average in the United States for a household of one person. EPA's Climate Change Site: What You Can Do at Home, EPA's Climate Change Site: What You Can Do on the Road, EPA's Sustainable Materials Management Program, EPA's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/gpmarket/index.htm. Looking specifically at electricity emissions over the last 20 years in the UK, around 5 to 10 percent of electricity emissions have come from the transmission and distribution of electricity around the network. Even though it's a gas, CO2 is measured in units of mass such as pounds, kilograms, and tons. Wheeler also hosted the EPA’s second annual America Recycles Summit held two days later, where he used the occasion to announce the administration’s National Recycling Goals, which also are embodied in the strategy. Strengthen markets for recycled materials. No plastic bags or wraps should be in recycling bins; they should instead have separate recycling bins at participating grocery and retail stores.”, Increase processing efficiency. Webinar: Evolving Your Chemical Management with Digital Solutions, Chemical Safety Board Announces Update to Texas Hydrogen Sulfide Investigation, Survey Says Consumers Looking to Companies for Sustainability Efforts. The calculator then automatically sums the total GHG emissions and CAC reductions that will result from implementing all the selected activities. To learn more, visit the Department of Energy's Programmable Thermostats page. “While the draft strategy sets sweeping goals to grow domestic recycling capacity and improve markets for recycled materials, it offers little in the way of specific plans or future policies,” Bothwell stated. While these changes undoubtedly will require a re-drawing of existing CO2 baselines, the increased GHG accuracy and reporting capabilities are worth the required effort and will provide companies that adopt this new methodology with a more-accurate overall emissions total. If you enter dollars, our calculations assume that you pay $10.68/thousand cubic feet. In addition to enacting laws banning plastic bags and plastic straws, states also recently have focused on efforts to increase the use of recycled material through minimum recycled content mandates applicable to manufacturers.