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Class 2: Energy Call to Actions

Individual Action:

Transitioned to transit-as-default for work / point-to-point travel like our classes.

Systemic Action:

'Change starts at home' - So, I thought getting educated on my own household electricity carbon footprint was an interesting (and necessary) aspect to look into.

Never having paid any attention to this before [Thanks! Bellevue Climate Leaders program for the inspiration :) ], my research started with the obvious question 'how do I calculate carbon footprint from a utility bill?'. Jumping through websites, I happily discovered that there is considerable documentation and online calculators available. Here are some that I found helpful and easy-to-use:

EPA GHG Calc (easiest): https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator#results
EPA Carbon footprint Calc (includes more holistic household factors): https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/carbon-footprint-calculator#
PSE Renewables Calc (gives CO2 lb reduced): https://www.pse.com/en/green-options/Renewable-Energy-Programs/greensolarcalculator

WA Dept of Ecology - 2026 Utility Specific Carbon Intensity Values for producers (gives emissions breakup as Upstream, Production-to-Consumption and CI*: https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/publications/documents/2614021.pdf

*New (to me) unit of measure:

Carbon Intensity (CI): Measures life-cycle GHG emissions to produce a unit of energy, shown as grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule (gCO2e/MJ)

Class 2 Homework

Individual Action:Walked when I had time; used Lime scooters instead of the Bellhop Circuit. It was hard to use the Lime scooters because construction is happening by my apartment, and sometimes they close the sidewalks.I plan to walk to City Hall for tonight's class!Systemic action:My mom shared their most recent utility bill, their household used 972 kWh of electricity. Using PSE's emissions factor of 0.901 pounds of CO₂e per kWh, their household produced approximately 875.8 pounds of CO₂e from electricity use during the billing period Carbon footprint: ≈ 876 lbs CO₂eMy family can make small changes that can contribute to…

Week 1 CTAs

For my individual/family action - I enrolled our home in PSE Flex. While I was immediately excited and up for it, I had to convince my husband to shift his habits, but he supported me. For essential actions like laundry and cooking, timing them outside the event window surely helps the grid, but in addition, I also see these event windows as an invitation to also just cut down my energy use. I get off screens and read a book or do some quiet reflection or garden or even fast some evenings or really just exist in a bit of…