How Can You Make a Difference?

The following represents several ways that each of us can decrease the amount of pollution that contributes to ground level ozone and greenhouse gases:

Get your vehicle serviced regularly:

• Getting you car serviced regularly will help you and the environment. You increase your fuel efficiency, decrease your greenhouse gas emissions, and add to the car's life. Get your oil changed on time and have your car checked for problems regularly. When your car gets checked out, mechanics can spot problems like a broken thermostat, low transmission fluid, sticky brake calipers, or a dirty air filter. By ensuring your car is running well you can increase your mileage. You can save up to $200 a year by increasing your mileage by 10%.

Slow down:

• Because wind resistance builds up so much with higher speeds, every mile per hour you drive over 55 decreases your fuel economy by 2%. In other words, if you're driving 80 mph you'll cut your fuel economy by half. Additionally, accelerating and decelerating abruptly is bad for your fuel efficiency and increases wear and tear on your car.

Report smoking vehicles:

• You can help the TCEQ get the word to owners of smoking vehicles in Texas . The next time you see a car, truck, or bus anywhere in Texas with dirty smoke coming from its exhaust for more than 10 consecutive seconds , write down the license number, date, time, and location you saw the smoking vehicle. Report the smoking vehicle, within 30 days, by submitting the online reporting form in English , in Spanish or calling 1-800-453-SMOG (7664). You do not have to give your name, and the report is free. The TCEQ will then notify the owner that his or her vehicle may be contributing to air pollution by smoking excessively. The TCEQ will also provide the owner with information about how car maintenance will improve the vehicle's performance.

Check your tires:

• Under-inflated tires increase the friction between the rubber and the road, and that friction accounts for poor gas mileage as well as increased carbon emissions.

Go in instead of using the drive-thru:

• If you spend just 5 minutes in the drive-thru for lunch each weekday, that's a total of 1300 minutes, or more than 21 hours, a year.

Turn to renewable energy:

• Look into using solar power, water or wind to decrease your need for combustible fuels.

Limit waste:

• Reducing the amount of waste you produce and reusing products are best because there is no reproduction process involved. Recycling is good, but it does require energy to break down and reproduce useful products, it still reduces the amount of waste send to break down in landfills.

Plant a tree:

• By shading our homes and offices, trees help to reduce the greenhouse effect. This can reduce air conditioning needs up to 30%, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned to produce electricity.

• One tree that shades your home in the city will also save fossil fuel, cutting CO 2 buildup as much as 15 forest trees.

• Approximately 800 million tons of carbon is stored in U.S. urban forests with a $22 billion equivalent in control costs.

• One mature tree can absorb 48 lbs. a year of carbon dioxide.

• A healthy tree stores about 13 pounds of carbon annually -- or 2.6 tons per acre each year. An acre of trees absorbs enough CO 2 over one year to equal the amount produced by driving a car 26,000 miles.

Look for eco friendly items when shopping:

• Buy recycled, saving energy used to make products.

• Bring your own bag when shopping, so you don't have to use plastic.

• Buy local, saving energy used to transport products. When you can, buy organic products.

• Look for the Energy Star label when buying appliances, home electronics, lighting, heating and cooling equipment.

• When you replace your car, buy the least polluting, most fuel-efficient car that meets your needs.

Sources:

Morales, D., Boyce, B.N., and Favretti, R.J., 1976, The contribution of trees to residential property value: Manchester , Conn. , Valuation, 23:27-43.

Morales, D.J., Micha, F.R., and Weber, R.L., 1983, Two methods of valuating trees on residential sites. J. Arboric., 9:21-24.

Nowak, D.J., 1994c, Air pollution removal by Chicago 's urban forest, in: Chicago 's Urban Forest Ecosystem: Results of the Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project, (E.G. McPherson, D.J. Nowak, and R.A. Rowntree, eds.) Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-186, USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Radnor, PA, pp. 63-82.

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