5  EASY steps to a cleaner, greener, healthier environment!

1. Complete the Cleaner and Greener Home Energy Savings Checklist and learn how to reduce your home energy use.

2. Look for the Certified Cleaner and Greener® Seal (above) when you shop and ask the places that you shop to become certified.

    * Buy from certified companies.
    * Improve awareness by giving Cleaner and Greener Greenbacks when you shop.

3. Ask your workplace to become Certified Cleaner and Greener.

4. Ask friends to join Leonardo Academy's Cleaner and Greener® Program.

5. Offset the emissions caused by your energy use.

JOIN the Cleaner & Greener® Home Program!
Download the Cleaner & Greener® Program Brochure!

 For more tips on how to incorporate sustainable actions into your daily life, download the Leonardo Academy

HOME SUSTAINABILITY ACTION GUIDE.

We All Cause Air Pollution!
 

How Much Air Pollution Do We Cause?

An average family in the United States causes the following amounts of air pollution each year:

Climate Change Pollution (CO2) = 56 Tons 
Ozone-Causing Pollution (NOx) = 458 Pounds 
Acid Rain Causing Pollution (SO2) = 374 Pounds
Particulate Pollution (PM10) = 63 Pounds
Toxic Lead Pollution (Pb) = 1.2 Ounces
Toxic Mercury Pollution (Hg) = 0.8 Ounces

Health Effects of the Pollution We Cause

Exposure to emissions of lead, mercury, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and ozone-forming nitrogen dioxides are hazardous to public health. Toxic compounds like mercury and lead poison organ systems and can lead to brain damage and death. Fish consumption advisories have been imposed in parts of the country where lakes and waterways have been contaminated with mercury from electric power plants. Other pollutants, like ozone and particulate matter, cause respiratory and other health problems, particularly in children and the elderly.

Environmental Effects of the Pollution We Cause

Climate change on a global scale has been attributed to increased emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas. Possible consequences include melting of polar ice caps; an increase in sea level; and increases in precipitation and severe weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, floods, and droughts. All of these effects put a stress on ecosystems and agriculture, and threaten our planet as a whole.

Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds are precursors to ground level ozone (urban smog) which causes health problems and reduces visibility. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides cause acid rain, which is detrimental to forests and other vegetation, soil, and lakes. Acid rain also causes monuments and other buildings to deteriorate.

How Do We Cause Air Pollution?

We cause air pollution when we use fossil fuel-based electricity, other home fuels, and fossil fuel-based transportation. We also cause air pollution indirectly, when we buy goods and services that use energy in their production and delivery. Most of this air pollution we cause results from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, natural gas, and gasoline.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a good indicator of how much fossil fuel is burned and how much of other pollutants we cause to be emitted. Using CO2 as an example, the average family in the United States causes air pollution in the following ways:

wpe23.gif (2793 bytes)

Since our own electricity use is only responsible for 14% of our total emissions, using cleaner electricity will only address part of our total emissions. If we want to clean up the environment, we need solutions that address all of the emissions we cause. The Cleaner and Greener Environment Program makes it easy to address all the emissions caused by both our direct and indirect energy use!

Cleaner & Greener® Business/Organization Certification

Air pollution is a byproduct of the production and delivery of the goods and services we buy. Some companies take action to reduce this pollution by decreasing their emissions of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, lead, mercury, and particulates.

Consumers can now identify these proactive companies by the Certified Cleaner and Greener® Seal. As consumers, we can reward these companies for their pollution reduction actions by showing a preference for buying goods and services from Certified Cleaner and Greener companies. List of certified companies.

More Information on Cleaner and Greener Company Certification

Offset your emissions

In addition to using the Certified Cleaner and Greener® Seal to guide your purchasing decisions and reward companies for reducing their emissions, we encourage you to offset the emissions from your own energy use.
Offsetting the emissions caused by your energy use can be low-cost and painless, and not require any changes in your lifestyle. Simply make a tax deductible donation to Leonardo Academy's Cleaner and Greener® Program. Your donation will support Cleaner and Greener and will be used to buy and retire emission reduction credits in your name that offset the air pollution caused by your energy use.

We Make it Easy for You to Lead the Way to a Cleaner Environment:

Simply make a tax deductible donation to the Cleaner and Greener® Program and we will purchase and retire emission reduction credits in your name that offset (cancel out) the air pollution caused by your family’s direct and indirect energy use.

For only $7 a month, you can offset the emissions caused by your family’s electricity use.

A donation of $20 per month lets us acquire and retire emission reduction credits equal to the emissions caused by an average family's electricity use, other home fuel use, and vehicles.

$50 a month will buy enough emission reduction credits to offset all the emissions that result from your family’s home energy use and vehicles, as well as the production and delivery of goods and services consumed by your family—that's 56 tons of CO2, 458 tons of NOx, 374 pounds of SO2, 63 pounds of small particulate matter,1.2 ounces of toxic lead, and 0.8 ounces of toxic mercury!

You can also offset the emissions of a school, organization, or event.

The more you contribute, the more emission reduction credits we can acquire and retire. Since the price of emission reduction credits varies, we will send you a certificate recognizing you for the actual amount of credits purchased with your donation.
   
Emission Reductions

Air pollution sources that are able to reduce their pollutant emissions create “emission reductions”. These sources may report and receive credit for their emission reductions. Emission reduction credits (ERCs) reward those who take action to reduce their pollutant emissions and therefore encourage pollution reduction actions. Credits for emission reductions provide an incentive to find the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions, since once an emission reduction credit is created, it can be sold on the open market.

Emission reductions can be created by increasing reliance on energy efficiency and renewable energy, and switching to cleaner fuels. Emission reductions produce health and environmental benefits by reducing CO2, SO2, NOx, lead, mercury, and particulate matter emissions.

The Cleaner and Greener Program uses the free market to reduce pollution by participating in the emissions trading system. But when we buy an allowance or emission reduction credit, we retire it, without emitting any pollution. Once retired, allowances and credits can no longer be bought, sold, or used to offset pollution.

Your contribution to Leonardo Academy's Cleaner and Greener® Program will be used to buy and retire emission reduction credits. By donating, you are reducing the amount of pollution that is discharged to the atmosphere, rewarding those who take action to reduce their pollutant emissions, and helping to stimulate the development of a market for emissions reduction.

Contributions are Tax Deductible

Leonardo Academy's Cleaner & Greener® Program is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit environmental organization under US tax regulations. For this reason all contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowable by law. We welcome contributions from people in other countries, but the tax effects for you will depend on the rules in your country.

Your Contribution Helps Clean Up the Environment

Your contribution to the Cleaner and Greener Program supports our work on cleaning up the environment.

JOIN Leonardo Academy's Cleaner & Greener® Program!