Tuesday Tip: 10 Tips to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

10 Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

By now, just about everyone agrees that carbon pollution poses a serious threat to our planet. Even our science-bashing conman in chief is building seawalls around Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Ireland to protect the place against climate change.

At this point, we must accept the grim reality that some level of global warming is inevitable. But by taking action now as individuals, we can still avoid the worst effects. According to a recent study in the journal ”Environmental Research Letters,” the four steps that most substantially shrink a person’s carbon footprint are: eating a plant-based diet, living without a car, avoiding air travel and having a smaller family.

Americans emit 16.1 tons of carbon per person per year, according to the World Bank. This is less than in the 1970s when that number was around 22.5 tons, but it’s still far above the 2050 goal set by the Paris Climate Accords, which is 2.1 tons of carbon per person per year.

We’d better get started. Here are 10 steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint.

Go car-free. Short of having one less child (which cuts the climate change impact by 120 tons of CO2 emissions per year, if you include carbon that the child’s children would emit), living without a car is the biggest step you can take. According to the EPA, the typical passenger vehicle emits around 4.7 metric tons of CO2 each year.

Inflate your tires. If you do drive, make sure your tires are properly inflated. This can cut your carbon emissions by up to 700 pounds a year.

Take a staycation. One round-trip flight from New York to Europe or New York to San Francisco creates a warming effect equivalent to an average year’s worth of driving.

But don’t worry about being cooped up too long. There’s hope that changes in both aircraft design and fuel source are on the horizon.

Eat less meat. People who eat more than 3.5 ounces of meat per day – a serving about the size of a deck of cards – generate 15.8 pounds of CO2 each day, vegetarians just 8.4 pounds and vegans only 6.4 pounds.

Try going vegetarian or vegan one or two days a week. And when you do eat meat, choose poultry, which is less greenhouse-gas intensive than beef or pork.

Recycle. You likely recycle to some extent already, but you may not know what an impact it can have. If you recycle half your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of CO2 annually.

Adjust your thermostat. Move your thermostat up 2 degrees in the summer and down 2 degrees in the winter. You’ll reduce your carbon emissions by 1 ton per year.

Wash in cold water. Almost 90 percent of the energy used by a washing machine goes to heat the water. Switching to cold water for your wash cycle will cut your carbon dioxide emissions by around 1,600 pounds a year. While old laundry soaps worked well only with hot water, new soaps are formulated for cold water and perform as well as or better than traditional detergents.

Dry on a clothesline. Drying one load of laundry in a machine puts 0.1 metric tons of CO2 into the air, so line-drying your clothes makes a real difference over time. Another plus: Your clothes will last longer because they won’t get roughed up in the dryer.

Buy an Energy Star fridge. Refrigerators 15 years or older use twice as much energy as a new Energy Star fridges. Replace your old fridge with an Energy Star model, and you can cut your carbon footprint by 8,200 pounds, and save as much as $260 in the first five years.

Tune up your water heater. There are two ways you can make your water heater more efficient. One, wrap it in an insulating blanket. It costs only about $25 at your local home center, and it will cut your carbon emissions by up to 1,000 pounds annually. Two, turn down the thermostat from 140 degrees (the standard factory setting) to 120 degrees. Each 10-degree reduction reduces your carbon emissions by 600 pounds (electric) or 440 pounds (gas) a year.

There you have it: 10 tips to reduce your carbon footprint.

What are some methods you’ve tried? We’d love to hear what’s worked for you.

5 Apps That Will Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

5 Apps That Will Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s Resolutions? Meh. What’s the point?

According to this psychologist, 80 percent of our resolutions fail by the first week in February.

But you may be overlooking an important ally that can help to keep you on track for a healthier, happier year: your phone.

Today’s phone apps are smarter and more sophisticated than ever. And while they can’t actually go to the gym or meditate for you, they can provide (almost) effortless accountability.

Here are five awesome goal-setting apps that give you tips and help you keep your new year resolution.

(Standard disclaimer: App creators’ views and values are their own and are not endorsed by CREDO Mobile. Before downloading any app, please confirm that it meets your personal standards for corporate ethics and protection of privacy.)

1.    HabitBull

Resolution: Create a new habit or break a bad one

Want to eat healthier, exercise more, or learn a new language? How about stop eating processed foods, give up negative self-talk, or stop watching more than two hours of TV a night?

It all sounds great except for one thing – creating new habits, or breaking bad ones, can be painful if not impossible.

Enter HabitBull. Based on Jerry Seinfeld’s productivity secret and The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, this app takes quite a bit of the agony out of building new habit or breaking a bad one.

HabitBull creates a sort of game out of habit tracking, and can track up to 100 habits (one is plenty for me!) each with their own calendar and reminders.

FREE, in-app products $3.49 – $62;  available for iOS and Android. Prent Company: App Holdings

2.    Countable

Resolution: Fight for change in Washington

One of the most effective ways you can participate in federal policy making is to actively lobby your Congressperson.

While pestering your reps isn’t a magic bullet, it does make a difference. This is especially true when impassioned citizens mobilize in shock-and-awe numbers.

A notable beneficiary of this approach is the Affordable Care Act. As of this writing, it’s still with us, thanks in large part to the lobbying of millions of concerned citizens.

For help staying on top of the issues that matter most to you, check out Countable. You can set this clever little app to send you legislative alerts on issues you care about, including social justice, education, immigration and more.

When an alert catches your eye, simply tap a button to email or call your representative. (Pro tip: don’t just leave a comment on the app. According to Capitol Hill staffers, mere comments rarely reach the legislators.)

Countable also alerts you immediately when one of your representatives casts a vote — which can provide valuable ammunition for future lobbying and social activism.

FREE, available for iOS and Android

3.    Headspace

Resolution: Live more mindfully and enjoy the moment

OK, I just did a one-minute mini exercise with Headspace. So now watch me write freely, joyfully, and with focus. (Wait, where did I put the shopping list?)

Kidding aside, daily meditation is one of the best things you can do for yourself in our relentlessly busy culture.

Just a few minutes in the morning can set the tone for your whole day. It can also relieve stress and even help you sleep better.

The best thing is, you don’t have to be a total Zen master to benefit. The Headspace app makes getting started with mindfulness as easy as binge-watching Netflix (but far more productive).

The free version of the app includes a “Basics” pack of ten meditations for beginners. None of these runs longer than ten minutes, which makes it easy to squeeze mindfulness practice between your morning coffee and commute.

Users can unlock additional meditation packs with a paid subscription. These include themed packs (sports, creativity, kids) and those geared to certain life challenges (anxiety, sleep, pain management).

And while competition is so not the point, the perfectionist in me was thrilled when Headspace tracked my meditation stats for me.

FREE and PAID versions, available for iOS, Android, and Amazon

4.    TaskRabbit

Resolution: Spend more time with your loved ones

Would you rather play outside with your kids than drive across town to pick up your dry cleaning? Well, now you can have someone else do the legwork for you.

TaskRabbit connects you with local, background-checked “taskers” who can help with shopping, cleaning, yard work, and even putting together your IKEA furniture.

Founder Leah Busque conceived the idea when she had to choose between going out to dinner with her husband and running to the store for dog food. She envisioned her company as a community of neighbors helping neighbors.

As a taskmaster (my word, not the app’s), you can choose your own assistant from a list of profiles. Or for a slightly higher hourly rate, you can have TaskRabbit handle the booking for you.

Quotes for a quick dry cleaning pickup and delivery in my area ranged from $20 to $35, with one of the taskers working exclusively by bicycle. So there’s the option to reduce carbon emissions while spending precious moments with your loved ones.

TaskRabbit currently operates in 39 U.S. metro areas and London.

FREE (um, the app, not the tasks), available for iOS, Android, and your desktop computer.

5.    Sleep Cycle alarm clock

Resolution: Sleep better and wake up refreshed

There’s nothing more miserable (OK, almost nothing) than being wrenched from a deep sleep by your alarm. Especially if you fell into bed just four hours before!

Well guess what? That never needs to happen again thanks to Sleep Cycle alarm clock.

Most sleepers cycle through periods of light and deep sleep several times a night. Sleep Cycle alarm clock allows you to set your alarm for a 30-minute interval. The app then wakes you when you’re sleeping lightly, leaving you alert and refreshed.

It also displays your sleep cycles graphically. To really weird yourself out, check out the graph after a night of boozing it up. Scary!

Sleep Cycle alarm clock can track your movements with either your phone’s accelerometer or microphone. (The latter works better if you are sharing are bed.) Whichever option you choose, it’s important to position the phone correctly. The app provides detailed instructions.

After you use Sleep Cycle alarm clock for several nights, it will start giving you personalized sleep quality scores. I’ll admit I’m totally obsessed with this part. It definitely encouraged me to go to bed earlier and at the same time each night.

And after a few months of tracking, I finally scored a perfect 100 percent after sleeping in my mom’s quiet condo in the suburbs. (She was very proud.)

FREE, available for iOS and Android

So there you have it — everything you need to bring your New Year’s Resolutions to life (finally). Good luck and happy new year!

Do you use any apps to help you set and track your life goals? Comment below to share.

Tuesday Tip: How to Update Your Android Phone’s to the Latest Version of the Operating System

Do you ever ask yourself “should I update my device?” The answer is a solid yes. To get the most out of your phone or tablet, you should periodically update your Android phone to the latest version of the operating system. New versions of the OS offer new features, fix bugs and ensure that your device runs smoothly and efficiently. It’s easy to do. And it’s free.

However, you should consider waiting a short while before you download a new OS, because occasionally it will be accompanied by glitches that the OS maker (Apple or Android) will subsequently fix. A new OS may come with a range of issues. It may take hours to download. It might freeze your device. So think about waiting while the kinks get corrected.

Before you update any device, it’s a good idea to backup all your data in case something goes wrong.

Also, make sure your battery is charged before you start or plug your device in while you’re updating. And make sure to download updates while you’re connected to Wi-Fi, because updates are usually quite large.

Updating your Android phone to the latest version

Your device will alert you when there is an update available. It should appear at the top of your screen in the notification bar. In that case, simply pull down the bar and tap the alert to update your device.

If you don’t get a notification to update your Android phone or if you think you might have missed it, go to:

1. Settings
2. and scroll down to About (or About phone, About device or About tablet, depending on what device you’re using—Android interfaces vary)
   • If you don’t see About device (or some variation) tap System. On some Android devices, you’ll see a System updates option in the main Settings menu below About device. If you do see it, tap that instead.
3. System updates. (Or Software updates or Download updates manually.)
4. Check for update. (Again, the phrasing here may vary, depending on your device.)
5. If you’re asked to confirm, tap OK and your device will check for updates. This may take a short while.
6. If an update is available, tap Download or Yes and the update will download to your device.
7. Tap Install once the update has downloaded.

Your device will restart and begin the update process. It usually takes around 30 minutes to complete.

Apple

Looking to update an Apple device? Check out Apple’s excellent support article Update the iOS on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Tuesday Tip: How to Use Snapchat

How to use Snapchat

Snapchat. Unless you’re just getting back from a 3-year vacation in the Andromeda Galaxy, you’ve heard of it. The app is the most popular social media site among teenagers and young adults in the U.S.,that is used by almost 80 percent of internet users aged 13 to 24.

But as popular as it is, even many regular users have not mastered all its features. This is partly because Snapchat keeps evolving and adding new functions. It started out as a messaging app you could use to send photos and videos that would self-destruct after 10 seconds – AKA “that app people use for sexting.”

And it still is that. But it’s many other things as well. Snapchat now has a My Story section where you can post photos and videos viewable   you and your friends. It has cool filters you can add to your pics. It even has a Bitmoji feature you can use to make emojis out of your own face, so you can express yourself through a cartoon avatar.

But we’re not here to explain all that right now. We’re here to help you get started with Snapchat. From there, you’ll enjoy discovering the app’s many features as you use it.

Sign up

First things first. Download Snapchat from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Once it installs, open it and sign up for an account. You’ll have to enter your email and birthday and create a password.

Then you’ll choose a username or “unique identifier” for your account. This can’t be changed once it’s set, so give it some thought. Your friends will use this username to find you at Snapchat and it will appear beneath your real name in their Snapchat contacts list. (AwesomeUnicornLover? Perhaps not.)

Add friends

Snapchat will ask your permission to access your phone’s contacts list. Grant permission and the app will automatically pull up all your contacts who are also Snapchat users (easy) or you can add them manually (hard). If you do grant access to your contacts, Snapchat will present a list of potential friends and you can add them by tapping their names.