What can you do?
Answer questions about how you travel, how much energy you use, and your shopping habits to calculate your own carbon footprint. You may also compare your household to other similar households to see how they compare in terms of emissions. Explore a variety of suggestions tailored to your current lifestyle to see what actions you can take to reduce your carbon footprint. You may find that you end up saving money by switching to more energy efficient devices. It is easy to see that just one change can make a major impact. Try a change for 21 days to make it a habit!
Find out if there are education or community action events in your area. You may find links for online learning on the weather and climate in your area.
Success stories
As more people become aware of how we as individuals can take steps to reduce our impact, we can encourage actions be taken to protect our communities.
Flagstaff, Arizona, adopted a modification of the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code in 2008. The fire department began working with community development staff to require hazard mitigation for wildfires on all properties prior to development. The city’s Regional Plan 2030 includes guidance on investments on forest health and watershed protection measures, public awareness of the region’s forests, and protection of diverse ecosystems.
A Caughlin Ranch, Nevada, homeowners’ association (HOA) enacted a number of changes including: banning bark mulch, increasing the grounds crews’ activities to reduce hazardous fuel between parcels, and hosting community fire safety meetings in partnership with an agricultural extension. They also changed the HOA’s rules to make it easier to replace flammable vegetation with fire-resistant plants (Ecosystem Workforce Program).
Colorado Springs, Colorado, passed a roof ordinance that banned wood shake roofs and required roofing materials and assembly to keep fire from penetrating the roof and igniting the structure below.
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Sources:
City of Colorado Springs Fire Department, Ignition Resistant Construction Design Manual, (Colorado Springs, CO: City of Colorado Springs Fire Department, 2016), https://coloradosprings.gov/sites/default/files/final_hillside_wildfire_mitigation_design_manual_final_document_third_printing.pdf.
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Ecosystem Workforce Program, Homeowners Associations as promising Structures for Wildfire Risk Reduction, (Eugene,OR: University of Oregon, 2014), https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/19618.
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Mowery, Molly and Barrett, Kimiko, Land Use Planning to Reduce Wildfire Risk: Lessons from Five Western Cities