Driving Down Carbon Isn't So Hard

By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President

For our 2021 virtual kickoff Friday morning, we visited with Ray C. Anderson Foundation Executive Director John A. Lanier to discuss the Drawdown Georgia initiative.  John gave us a hope-filled, inspiring look at the country's only state-centered climate action program.  If you missed it, please take time to view the replay.

Sustainable Newton is committed to doing all we can to promote the Drawdown Georgia effort and bring its 20 carbon-reduction solutions to households, businesses, and local governments in Newton County. 

Starting a new year is the perfect time to assess what personal changes I can make towards "bringing climate solutions home," as they say at Drawdown Georgia.  Across the five key solution sectors (Electricity, Buildings and Materials, Food and Agriculture, Land Sinks, and Transportation), there are feasible actions we can each take to contribute to the overall 46 megaton carbon-reduction goal for the program.  (Each megaton is one million tons.)

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But first, how did I do with my 2020 commitments, which I shared in a previous blog post?  One action was to reduce my CO2 emissions by driving my new Honda Accord Hybrid.  Checking the results today, I'm pretty pleased.  I logged 6,101 miles last year, at an average of 43.6 miles per gallon (MPG).  Compared with the 20 MPG I was getting from my old car, the net difference is:

• 165 fewer gallons of gasoline bought and burned.
• 3,301 pounds -- or 1.65 tons -- less CO2 emitted into the atmosphere.
• $369 saved on gasoline purchases.

To put that into context, Drawdown Georgia has a carbon-reduction target of 9 megatons for  Transportation Sector solutions.  So, with 7.2 million licensed drivers in Georgia, that equates to 1.26 tons of CO2 per driver.  My personal reduction of 1.65 tons achieved 31% more than my personal share of the target.

I made my contribution to our statewide goal while saving nearly $400 and enjoying the new car I had to buy anyway, since my old one was shot.  What's not to like?  And, my miles driven are very low for our state, considering the average Georgian logs 18,920 miles each year (second only to Wyoming among US states).  Which means most drivers can do even better than I did, and your cash savings will grow even more quickly.

There are other ways to achieve your part of that 9 megaton reduction in Transportation, which includes these solutions:

• Mass Transit
• Electric Vehicles
• Energy Efficient Cars (That's me!)
• Energy Efficient Trucks
• Alternative Mobility (Also me, as I keep my car miles low by walking and biking whenever I can.)

My other 2020 resolution was in the Food and Agriculture sector, where I shifted to a more plant-forward diet by adopting the Meatless Monday program.  But, we'll save that for another post.