New England Carbon Challenge

Overall Town Rankings
Households Taking the Carbon Challenge
#1 Portsmouth, NH
#2 Concord, NH
#3 Keene, NH
#4 Reading, MA
#5 Rye, NH
#6 Williamstown, MA
#7 Hampstead, NH
#8 Dover, NH
#9 Pelham, NH
#10 Lynnfield, MA
17,751,394
Total CO2 Pounds Reduced So Far by All Carbon Challenge Takers!

THE NEW ENGLAND CARBON ESTIMATOR^TM

We've designed this tool to help you identify actions you can take in your home to reduce your energy consumption, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. As you select actions to reduce your energy usage, we'll give you estimates (tailored to your household) of what you might expect to save. Using this tool you can "Take the Challenge" and join the many residents throughout New England who are reducing their energy costs and environmental impact.

The estimated time to use the Carbon Estimator^TM and take the Challenge is 10-15 minutes. The average savings per household is $737 per year. If this is your first visit, please view our Quick Tips Guide for using the Carbon Estimator^TM.

Have you taken the Challenge before?


	PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR HOUSEHOLD: Let's start by gathering some essential information about your home and how your household uses energy. Consult your fuel and electric bills for your annual consumption of electricity, home heating, and hot water fuels.
If you don't have your bills handy, use our fuel tool to estimate your fuel consumption. It will give you a reasonable approximation for your household, which you can update later when you have the actual bills. We also provide household fuel averages.

My household has people in it.
We live in: State: City:
I heat my home with	I heat my water with
FUEL USAGE: (in whole numbers; no decimals)
My household uses kilowatt-hours (KWH) of electricity per year.
My household uses gallons of oil per year.
My household uses therms of natural gas per year.
My household uses gallons of propane per year.
My household uses gallons of kerosene per year.

VEHICLE EMISSIONS:

Every gallon of gasoline produces 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, and therefore vehicles are a significant source of greenhouse gases. There are several ways to reduce automobile emissions.

Please tell us about your vehicle(s):

My first vehicle gets MPG and is driven miles per year.

If you are unsure of your car's fuel economy, you can look it up at fueleconomy.gov.

A typical vehicle is driven 12,500 miles per year.

ACTIONS YOU COULD TAKE

I'LL PASS

I'VE DONE IT ALREADY

I WILL TAKE THIS ACTION

CO2 SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

DOLLARS SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

Replace my vehicle with a more fuel efficient car that gets MPG.

Adhere to speed limits, avoid quick starts and stops; maintain adequate tire pressure.

Drive fewer miles per week (through carpooling, telecommuting, putting kids on the school bus, combining errands etc).

My second vehicle gets MPG and is driven miles per year.

If you are unsure of your car's fuel economy, you can look it up at fueleconomy.gov.

A typical vehicle is driven 12,500 miles per year.

ACTIONS YOU COULD TAKE

I'LL PASS

I'VE DONE IT ALREADY

I WILL TAKE THIS ACTION

CO2 SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

DOLLARS SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

Replace my vehicle with a more fuel efficient car that gets MPG.

Adhere to speed limits, avoid quick starts and stops; maintain adequate tire pressure.

Drive fewer miles per week (through carpooling, telecommuting, putting kids on the school bus, combining errands etc).

My third vehicle gets MPG and is driven miles per year.

If you are unsure of your car's fuel economy, you can look it up at fueleconomy.gov.

A typical vehicle is driven 12,500 miles per year.

ACTIONS YOU COULD TAKE

I'LL PASS

I'VE DONE IT ALREADY

I WILL TAKE THIS ACTION

CO2 SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

DOLLARS SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

Replace my vehicle with a more fuel efficient car that gets MPG.

Adhere to speed limits, avoid quick starts and stops; maintain adequate tire pressure.

Drive fewer miles per week (through carpooling, telecommuting, putting kids on the school bus, combining errands etc).

Vehicle(s) subtotal:

CO2 currently
lbs

CO2 saved
lbs

Dollars saved

ELECTRICITY EMISSIONS:

Power plants use many fuel types (coal, oil, natural gas, biomass, hydro, nuclear) to produce electricity, and several of these fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) are rich in carbon creating a lot of carbon dioxide when they are burned to produce electricity. Reducing our electricity consumption lowers these emissions.

ACTIONS YOU COULD TAKE

I'LL PASS

I'VE DONE IT ALREADY

I WILL TAKE THIS ACTION

CO2 SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

DOLLARS SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

Change incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescents (CFLs).

Turn off all lights when not in use.

Replace my old refrigerator with a new ENERGY STAR refrigerator.

Unplug an underutilized freezer.

Air-dry dishes when using dishwasher.

Unplug an older (20+ years) dehumidifier.

Replace an older (20+ years) dehumidifier with an ENERGY STAR dehumidifier.

Put electronic devices (computers, TVs) on a UL-approved power strip and turn the power strip off when not in use.

Replace older ceiling fans with ENERGY STAR ceiling fans.

Dry loads of laundry per week on a clothesline instead of the dryer.

Electricity subtotal:

CO2 currently
lbs

CO2 saved
lbs

Dollars saved

HEATING AND HOT WATER EMISSIONS:

How we heat our homes and hot water are frequently the largest sources of household carbon emissions. Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce these numbers.

PLEASE NOTE: Some actions listed below can't be taken together.

ACTIONS YOU COULD TAKE

I'LL PASS

I'VE DONE IT ALREADY

I WILL TAKE THIS ACTION

CO2 SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

DOLLARS SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

Replace my 20 year (or more) heating system (oil or gas) with an ENERGY STAR model.

Install a flame-retention burner (or replace an older flame-retention burner) in your oil heating system.

Use B5 Biodiesel instead of traditional home heating oil.

Use B20 Biodiesel instead of traditional home heating oil.

Seal ductwork in my forced hot air heating system.

Get an annual heating system tune-up.

Weatherize my home by sealing around windows and doors.

Turn my thermostat down degrees in winter.

Put an insulating blanket around my hot water heater and insulate the hot water pipes.

Wash laundry in cold water. I do loads of laundry per week. My washer
is
is not
an ENERGY STAR.

Install a low-flow showerhead. My household takes showers per week.

Heating and hot water subtotal:

CO2 currently
lbs

CO2 saved
lbs

Dollars saved

RECYCLING AND WASTE REDUCTION EMISSIONS:

Recycling cans, plastic, paper, and glass, reduces greenhouse gas emissions since a lot of energy is used to create new materials and containers. Some types of recycling have a bigger impact on the environment than others, though all recycling is advantageous.

ACTIONS YOU COULD TAKE

I'LL PASS

I'VE DONE IT ALREADY

I WILL TAKE THIS ACTION

CO2 SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

DOLLARS SAVED ANNUALLY
(assumptions)

Recycle aluminum cans.

Recycle newspaper.

Recycle office paper.

Recycle other paper.

Recycle plastic.

Recycle glass.

Compost food waste.

Stop junk mail.

Recycling subtotal:

CO2 currently
lbs

CO2 saved
lbs

Dollars saved

Results for your household:

Vehicles:

CO2 currently
lbs

CO2 saved
lbs

Dollars saved

Electricity:

CO2 currently
lbs

CO2 saved
lbs

Dollars saved

Heating and Hot Water:

CO2 currently
lbs

CO2 saved
lbs

Dollars saved

Recycling:

CO2 currently
lbs

CO2 saved
lbs

Dollars saved

Grand total:

CO2 currently
lbs

CO2 saved
lbs

Dollars saved

I pledge to join the growing number of residents throughout New England who are making simple lifestyle changes in order to reduce the risk of climate change and to increase our nation's energy security. I will do my part by taking the actions I have indicated above.