Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. You know the mantra.

We took the easiest one - ‘Recycle’, and made an industry out of it.

Now, with Climate Change staring us in the face, we are awakening to the reality that ‘Reduce’ should have been our first choice.

Let’s get some sobering facts straight.

Did you know that Canadians are using a greater amount of energy per capita than those in the United States? David Suzuki’s website has additional information and some sobering anecdotes to consider.

With less than 0.5 % of the world’s population, Canada still manages to be the 8th largest producer of GHG.

(Source: US Energy Information Administration.)

So what do we need to reduce?

Let’s start with our personal GHG emissions. Personal vehicles account for 50% of the total GHG that individual Canadians create. Heating and cooling our homes is nearly 30%. The other 21% is comprised of water heating, appliances and lighting.

There are many things you can do to easily reduce your GHG emissions by 20%. Your vehicle is a primary contributor to global climate change. Changing that alone could make a huge difference. Take my own car for example. I reduced my GHG by 5 tonnes per year by making a change to the smart car from a reasonably fuel efficient Suzuki Sidekick.

Project Green is Canada’s plan for honouring the Kyoto commitment.