Showing 190 publications
Cutting food waste is one of the most effective, and affordable, ways to push back Earth Overshoot Day, the yearly indicator of how fast we’re consuming our planet’s finite resources.
Believe it or not, the fuzzy leftover you just scraped into the compost is a hopeful sign. It’s proof of slack in our system: food you paid for, lost track of, and can simply eat next time, no extra...
At highway speed, most of your vehicle’s energy goes into shoving air out of the way. This week, do something to make that job easier.
At highway speeds your car isn’t working much to move you. It’s mostly moving air.
Whoever tends your yard—you, a lawn service, or a landlord—determines how well it protects water from excess nutrient run off.
Start a wise yard care plan for the ground around your home, ensuring that excess nutrients from fertilizer are not running off and causing environmental devastation downstream. This is Coral Reef...
Sow carrots, beets, or radishes into a grow bag filled with potting mix this month and you’ll be enjoying sweeter-than-summer roots this autumn—no garden bed required.
The month after the summer solstice is the month to start your fall carrots, and you don’t need a large garden to do it. A deep grow bag on a balcony, porch, patio, or sunny stretch of driveway is...
Bioplastics can turn back into soil—but only in a hot industrial composter. Check whether this service is available locally, which it rarely is.
A plastic cup made from corn could be a sustainable marvel, doing the work of petroleum without the petroleum. Reaching for compostable bioplastic shows a real concern for our planet, and that...
With a few sustainability principles in mind, you can find outdoor furniture that you can keep, repair, and trust for many years.
Late June is outdoor furniture’s big moment in the United States. Everyone’s outside, every chair is in use—even that one with the wobbly leg.
Understand what AI is and how to use it sustainably as a practitioner
Today is a solstice: the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and the shortest one south of the equator. The trend of lengthening days, which has felt so reliable for months, reverses...
You can put more renewable energy on the grid, wherever you live and regardless of whether you rent or own your residence.
Many moves on the Energy pathway require careful planning: insulating your house, installing a heat pump, adding solar power to your property—each one usually means hiring a contractor, obtaining a...
As summer sun arrives, try “reusable sunscreen” (i.e., clothing) first, and mineral-based sunscreen lotions second
Summer is finally here in the northern hemisphere, and with it, the simple pleasure of spending more time outside under more intense sunlight. This week’s step is to give a little thought to...
A few decisions made in the right order can cut summer cooling costs by a quarter—before you ever touch the thermostat
Most North Americans treat their air conditioners like a light switch. Hot.
Charcoal, propane, electric—the environmental gap between them is bigger than most people guess
Memorial Day weekend is the second-biggest grilling weekend of the year, behind only the Fourth of July. Roughly three out of four American adults own a grill or smoker, and a lot of them are about...
Honey bees aren’t native to North America—but wild bees that are will pollinate your tomatoes better, if you give them a place to live in your yard or on your balcony
If you ate a blueberry, a tomato, a squash, or an apple this week, a wild bee almost certainly had something to do with it—and that bee was probably not a honey bee. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are...
Most songbirds migrate after dark—turning lights off at night is the simplest help you can offer to keep them on course
On spring nights this time of year, the skyway above your house is busier than the roadway in front of it. Millions of warblers, thrushes, orioles, tanagers, and sparrows are passing overhead after...
All you need are a few pots of soil, seeds or seedlings, a sunny spot, and one weekend to start
Walk into any hardware store or nursery in America today, and you’ll see the seedling tables loaded up—tomatoes, peppers, basil, lettuce—and people loading them into carts as if they all have a...
The right tree in the right spot can cut your home energy use by up to a quarter—for the rest of your life
National Arbor Day in the United States was Friday, April 24, and if you watched anyone plant a tree this weekend, you probably saw the same small ceremony: a hole, a sapling, a pat of soil, maybe a...
The classic cleanup is a great choice, but you can explore a whole world of options growing up to celebrate Earth.
Earth Day is this Wednesday, April 22. If you don’t yet have a plan to celebrate it, today is the day to make a plan.
A 30-minute spring tune-up is your ticket to the cleanest way to travel
The most energy-efficient vehicle ever invented might be leaning against a wall in your garage right now, tires soft, chain stiff, maybe with a fine layer of winter dust on the saddle. A bicycle or...
Plant the right seeds now and you may never need to buy more
This is an extraordinary week on the calendar. Today is Easter for Western Christians (Orthodox Pascha follows next Sunday).
Seven Pathways to Sustainable Living
The essential guide that reframes sustainability as a question of stewardship — what one soccer-field-sized share of Earth can do, when you protect its potential. A perfect read for a book club or green team that wants to translate environmental values into effective action for a healthy planet.
Every time you turn your soil, you’re undoing the work nature already did for you
Spring is here in the northern hemisphere, and that means millions of gardeners are reaching for their shovels and rototillers, ready to “prepare” the soil for planting. It’s one of the most deeply...
To produce a single pound of beef, it takes about 1,800 gallons of water—a massive footprint of rainfall, irrigation, and runoff that you can trim with a simple dietary step this week.
You probably know the basics of saving water at home: fixing leaky faucets, taking shorter showers, running full loads of laundry, and so on. Those habits truly matter and are worth cultivating.
Just putting items in your recycling bin doesn’t magically make them recyclable
You probably know someone—maybe it’s you—who hates to throw away yogurt cups, plastic bags, old phone chargers, and all sorts of other random things and thinks, I’m not sure, but maybe they can...
Cleaning products you use end up in water supplies—and most treatment plants can’t fully remove many chemicals in them
When you imagine what cleaning products do to the environment, your first instinct is probably to think about the air—that chemical smell you breathe while scrubbing the tub. But an even bigger...
Simple markers on glass can save millions of birds—and March is the perfect time to act
If you’ve ever heard that sickening thud against a window and walked outside to find a bird on the ground beneath it, you probably assumed it was a one-off collision, unfortunate but rare. Most of us...
Your house or apartment probably didn't come with operating instructions for a sustainable home—so write your own
Your car came with an owner’s manual. So did your dishwasher, your refrigerator, and even your electric toothbrush.
Meals featuring what’s actually in season are more sustainable—and often tastier—than out-of-season produce
Walk into most North American supermarkets this week, and you’ll find strawberries from Mexico, asparagus from Peru, and blueberries from Chile—all looking freshly picked under artificial lights....
2,000 tons of food waste will be generated on Super Bowl Sunday, but none of it needs to end up in a landfill.
Super Bowl Sunday generates an estimated 2,000 tons of food waste across the country—wing bones, guacamole scraps, paper plates, half-eaten sliders—almost all of it headed straight for a landfill....
A 30-watt ceiling fan can make your home feel much warmer all winter—if it’s spinning the right way
Right now, as temperatures plunge across much of the country, the warmest air in your home is hovering uselessly above your head. While you shiver on the couch and nudge the thermostat higher, a...
Children who learn environmental lessons don’t just develop good habits—they change their families
Yesterday was the International Day of Education, an annual reminder that what we teach shapes the world we share. This year’s theme celebrated youth as agents of change—and research confirms they...
Nearly 4,000 repair cafés worldwide have logged more than 200,000 repair attempts—and you don't need any skills to benefit from one
Somewhere in your home, a broken item languishes. Maybe it's the holiday gift that stopped working by New Year's Eve, or the lamp that flickered out months ago.
Nearly 6 in 10 American households still burn fossil fuel—but a simple plan can fix that problem permanently
What if you could draw a line from where you are today to a home that runs entirely on solar power. No natural gas bill.
Welcome to our first annual New Year's resolution edition—celebrating your power to inspire sustainable change
Happy New Year. We’re starting a new tradition here at One Step This Week: for our first issue every January, we’ll kick off the year with our New Year’s resolution edition.
Americans purchase approximately three billion batteries annually, with about 180,000 tons of them entering the waste stream each year.
At any given moment, a typical American household contains more than two dozen batteries of various kinds—some in remotes, flashlights, toys, and others scattered in junk drawers. Most end up in...
Why Conserve Habitat
A white-tailed deer steps cautiously through a meadow that might otherwise have been paved for a parking lot. Overhead, a red-tailed hawk circles brush spared from a bulldozer.
Share your experiences so we can learn from you!
You matter. You have influence, and as a subscriber to this newsletter, you are connected to hundreds of people like you who are taking practical action to protect our planet.
What the Return Label Doesn't Tell You
That sweater didn't fit quite right, so you printed the free return label, dropped the package at UPS, and felt virtuous knowing it would find its way to someone else's closet. Except it probably...
The best gifts satisfy deep human needs—here’s how to give them sustainably
What do people actually want when they get a gift. After decades of research, psychologists have identified four core desires that separate memorable gifts from forgettable ones.
Wise choices for lighting can save 75 cents per dollar spent on electricity, while protecting human health, wildlife, and starry skies
In today’s frenzied world, Americans rush in and out of rooms, leaving behind a trail of illumination, whether or not anyone actually needs the lights on. Our children live in homes that still have...
Americans receive over 100 billion pieces of junk mail in their physical mailbox annually—but you can opt out and eliminate 90% of it
Picture this: you arrive home after a long day, open your mailbox, and instead of the usual avalanche of credit card offers, furniture catalogs you never requested, and “urgent” notices from...
Household waste typically surges between Thanksgiving and New Year’s—but you can take a few smart steps to prevent that from happening this year!
What does a typical week during the holidays look like for you. Perhaps you’ll be preparing for a Friendsgiving around Thanksgiving, baking pies or bread for neighbors you’re thankful for, then your...
Take our quiz to find out!
The first Tuesday in November is voting day in the United States. How often have you found yourself in the voting booth, scanning your ballot and realizing you don’t know much about many of the...
Worldwide insect abundance has declined by about 10% per decade since scientists started carefully measuring it
Across North America, some neighbors are diligently devoting resources to neatly bagging every leaf, cutting every stem flush to the ground, and hauling it all to the curb. They’ve created what looks...
A 10-minute walk between errands provides health-boosting exercise and planet-saving pollution prevention
Have you ever been here: you pull into a parking spot at the grocery store, finish your shopping, drive three blocks to the pharmacy, circle for parking, drive two more blocks to the hardware store,...
Every molecule of warm indoor air wants to escape to the outdoors—but you can take steps to keep each one inside to save on heating costs
It’s 2 AM on a frigid January night when the power goes out during an ice storm. Or it’s 3 PM on a sweltering summer day when a heat wave pushes temperatures past 110°F just as your air conditioning...
Whole-house battery systems provide cleaner, quieter backup power than fuel-burning generators
What happens in your home during a winter storm when the lights flicker across your neighborhood, then go out. Do you wait in the dark, hoping power comes back on before the food in your fridge goes...
Americans generate 13 million tons of yard waste annually—but fall leaves are actually nature’s perfect composting ingredient, not waste at all
Which paints a prettier picture: your neighbors stuffing bags full of gorgeous autumn leaves, hauling them to the curb for municipal pickup, or you gathering this “waste” into a pile to transform...
One simple task you can do today could save you 10% on your winter heating bills
Your heating and cooling system is about to get a breather as the seasons turn. That “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” metal box in your basement or the outdoor unit getting covered in leaves is either...
With a wise plan, most households can reach 100% solar power while saving money at each step
Your monthly electric bill shows a credit instead of a charge, your home runs entirely on clean electricity, and you're no longer burning any fossil fuel to heat your home or drive your car. Sound...
Go from hundreds of disposable wrappers per year to zero with a thoughtful approach to packing lunch
That satisfying snap of a quality lunch container closing, securing a colorful array of fruits and vegetables—it’s a small sound that signals something bigger. You’re ready for the day, keeping money...
Preventing "phantom loads" in a single typical home frees up enough electricity to power hundreds of thousands of AI queries every year.
Labor Day is meant to honor hard work, but it’s also about taking a well-deserved rest. While you’re taking time off this weekend, why not give your appliances and home systems a little rest, too.
Billions of dollars of rare-earth elements and other recoverable resources are dumped in landfills rather than recycled.
It’s that time of year again—new backpacks, sharpened pencils, and fresh devices. Laptops, tablets, and phones are now as common as notebooks for students, and back-to-school season often means an...
Americans throw away nearly 60 million tons of food annually, with fruits and vegetables making up more than one-third of that waste.
Picture yourself in January, opening a glass jar of summer tomatoes you preserved yourself—their rich flavor bursting with August sunshine, no plastic packaging clouding the view. Or imagine reaching...
Have a burning desire to know something? Using far less energy than it takes to make a teaspoon of hot coffee, AI can deliver a detailed answer.
Just this week, OpenAI launched GPT-5, their most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) model yet, promising access to "PhD-level intelligence" for everyone. Meanwhile, you’re trying to get up to...
A single refrigerant leak can release as much climate pollution as burning 1,460 gallons of gasoline
What's wrong with this picture: you’ve switched to LED bulbs, drive an efficient car, and put in heat pumps, which you keep topped up with refrigerant every year to maintain peak performance. LED...
AI Will Help, Not Hinder, the Transition to Clean Energy
Is artificial intelligence (AI) increasing our demand for electricity on power grids. And if it is, can we deploy solar power fast enough to keep up with demand, or will we need to build new coal or...
703,000 miles of streams were found to be impaired by pollution across the United States in 2022, up from 424,000 miles in 2010
During the next heavy rainstorm, watch how water flows on your driveway. Does it cascade into the street carrying oil, fertilizer, and debris into local streams, or do you see rainfall puddling, then...
A single lightning strike can destroy electronics in milliseconds—but you can easily protect your equipment
You've just invested in solar panels, a smart home automation system, and all-new energy-efficient appliances to improve your environmental impact. Then a summer thunderstorm rolls through, lightning...
Your Sustainable Food Journey
How a fork becomes a tool for climate action — small, repeatable changes to what you eat that quietly compound into the largest impact most households can make.
Your Guide to Sustainable Finances
A short guide to aligning your money with your values — spending, saving, and investing as everyday acts of sustainability.
Earth's oceans produce half the oxygen we breathe and are the home for an estimated 80% of our planet's life.
If you could make one small shift in your daily routine to help safeguard the home for over 80% of Earth's life, would you do it. Shark Awareness Day on July 14, amid the height of summer beach...
A thoughtful family can eliminate hundreds of pieces of unnecessary single-use plastic annually—but strategy matters more than perfection
You’ve just finished your morning coffee and realize you’re already stuck with a dozen pieces of plastic garbage before starting your day: the coffee pod, creamer cup, yogurt container, granola bar...
Air conditioning can demand nearly 70% of residential electricity during summer heat waves—but passive cooling techniques can cut your need for A/C by 30% or more
Consider this heat wave scenario: it’s 95°F outside, your air conditioner is humming at full blast, and your electricity meter is spinning like a roulette wheel. Across your neighborhood, dozens of...
Your Guide to Sustainable Composting
Returning what you are done with to productive use — organic matter back to living soil instead of methane in a landfill.
A year of natural light in your home is the energy equivalent of a million ChatGPT queries
We’ve just passed the summer solstice—the longest day of the year when Earth’s northern hemisphere tilts closest to the sun, delivering up to 15 hours of natural daylight. Yet as you read this,...
Money isn’t the only inheritance—knowing how to fix what’s broken can be more valuable
Picture this: your vacuum cleaner starts making an ominous grinding sound, signaling its impending doom. Is your first instinct to start shopping for a replacement, or to channel your inner MacGyver...
Up to 700,000 microplastic fibers break off in every load of laundry—but simple changes can cut that number dramatically
Picture this: you're standing on a “pristine” beach watching waves crash against the shore, yet those waves contain over 51 trillion particles of unseen microplastic pollution. Microplastics are...
Up to 25,000 gallons of water annually can be wasted by each automatic landscape irrigation system that isn’t properly maintained
Picture this: it’s 6 am, and while you’re just waking up, your neighbor’s sprinkler system kicks on, sending water cascading not just across their freshly sodded lawn, but down the street in a...
What Policy Rollbacks Mean for Your Family and Earth's Future
To understand what's happening, it helps to know the baseline: without special legislation, federal tax rates do not depend on a taxpayer’s energy or vehicle choices, and states generally cannot...
Over 561 billion disposable plates, cups, and utensils are used in America each year—but you can make this Memorial Day weekend a little bit better
Picture this: millions of families gathered around grills this Memorial Day weekend, celebrating the start of summer with the people they love most. Now imagine if each of those celebrations...
People who cycle to work have a lower risk of death from all causes compared to people who drive or take public transportation.
We’re glad you’re a part of our community of sustainability change agents; we hope our Handbook and other resources inspire and empower you to use practical sustainable technologies and techniques to...
Happy Mother's Day! Celebrating Mom with Love for the Planet
Happy Mother's Day. Today, millions of us are celebrating the extraordinary women who shaped our lives.
Combining water-smart gardening strategies can reduce water demand by 80% without compromising aesthetics or yields.
We hope our Handbook and other resources inspire and empower you to use practical sustainable technologies and techniques to protect our Earth for the benefit of all. While we eagerly welcome...
With just 10% of your lawn, you can boost pollinator populations by 50%.
We’re glad you’re a part of our community of sustainability change agents; we hope our Handbook and other resources inspire and empower you to use practical sustainable technologies and techniques to...
Your Handbook for Effective Action
The deep-end companion to Your Earth Share — metrics, implementation levels, and the science underneath every practice. For readers ready to commit.
Community initiatives achieve much more than individual actions alone.
It’s here. You can order an e-copy of Sustainable Practices: Your Handbook for Effective Action for $24.
The average American generates a dozen gallons of plastic waste per year in just one room: their bathroom
Note: Before we present today’s One Step This Week, we are announcing our Earth Day book launch of Sustainable Practices: Your Handbook for Effective Action. We expand the action steps shared in this...
What time of day we use electricity can prevent pollution, save money, and make our whole electric grid work better for everyone.
What if your washing machine could help fight asthma. Or your electric car could stabilize the power grid.
Use proven data within scientific frameworks to make a positive difference today
Many people feel that individual actions are meaningless against massive global challenges. However, research demonstrates that the social contagion of sustainable behaviors is evident when our...
500,000,000 disposable plastic pots are buried or burned every year
Have you ever marveled at how a tiny seed can survive even the darkest and dreariest winter, patiently waiting for the right conditions to sprout and flourish. Helping this miraculous transformation...
If just 10% of American households practiced greywater diversion, we would prevent over 175 billion gallons of wastewater treatment annually
In a world where freshwater resources face increasing pressure and wastewater treatment plants can’t always keep up with demand, redirecting household greywater to your house plants or garden offers...
Who eats more meat than France? Pets in the United States!
Did you know that if American pets formed their own country, their meat consumption alone would rank fifth in the world. The collective environmental impact of our beloved animal companions is...
Batteries are a critical step for the transition to clean energy
When your neighborhood goes dark during a power failure, imagine your home with lights still on, your refrigerator humming, and your phones charging. No noisy generator, no scramble for...
Sprouts and microgreens are an easy way get more natural nutrients in your diet
Imagine walking into your kitchen on a snowy February morning and harvesting a handful of fresh, vibrant greens for your breakfast smoothie. No plastic packaging to throw away, no transportation...
Americans spend approximately 90% of our time indoors, so indoor air quality is crucial for our health and comfort.
As winter tightens its grip, we spend more time indoors, with windows sealed against the cold. This creates an important challenge: maintaining healthy indoor air quality.
Whether your home contains 3,000 or 300,000 items, you probably own more things than you really need or could ever count.
What barely-used tools are lurking in your garage or storage closet. We all have them—from pressure washers that see daylight once a year to camping gear that dreams of adventure to food dehydrators...
30% of carbon pollution could be eliminated with greener trip planning.
Imagine your ideal trip for work or errands. Perhaps you're cruising silently in an electric vehicle, feeling good about the zero emissions.
Everyone can get on the pathway to 100% clean energy
Almost everyone who owns or rents property that gets a little sunshine has started thinking about how to make their own electricity from free sunlight. Every business and family can get on the...
Preventing illness at home to eliminate trips to the pharmacy or doctor is a great way to reduce medical waste
As winter tightens its grip and flu season reaches its peak, many of us find ourselves making trips to the pharmacy or doctor, accumulating plastic bottles, blister packs, and disposable medical...
10% of homes have water leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day, according to the EPA.
A single hidden water leak can waste thousands of gallons of precious water and—worst of all—quietly cause devastating structural damage to your home. Undetected leaks in toilets and sinks can add...
Billions of dollars per year are wasted on lights that people simply forgot to turn off.
Imagine your home anticipating your needs and effortlessly optimizing your energy use in ways that would be tedious to do manually–cutting off power-hungry devices automatically, adjusting...
Keep your home operating at peak efficiency with a do-it-yourself energy review.
January can be a real shock when those post-holiday energy bills arrive. But instead of just digging deeper into your wallet, why not take practical steps to trim waste and improve comfort.
Get a free month of utility bills every year by setting back your thermostat every day.
Before reading about an ideal New Year’s Resolution, we at Sustainable Practice want to remind you that there are just a few more days to get 20% off a yearly paid subscription for the new year....
Keeping tires aligned and at the right pressure enables them to last up to 25% longer and maintains optimal fuel economy.
Before reading about holiday travel, we at Sustainable Practice hope you’ll consider the most sustainable holiday gift you could give this year: 52 weeks of a digital copy of One Step This Week....
More efficient holiday lighting can free up billions of watts of electricity for other uses in North America.
Before reading about holiday lights, we at Sustainable Practice hope you’ll consider the most sustainable holiday gift you could give this year: 52 weeks of a digital copy of One Step This Week....
Research shows that people are more satisfied with shared experiences than material possessions.
Before Sustainable Practice presents detailed information about sustainable gift-giving for your holidays, we also encourage you to consider the most sustainable holiday gift you could give this...
Weatherstripping can reduce air leakage by 25-40% and cut heating costs by 10-15%.
Before Sustainable Practice presents information you and your friends and family can use for energy savings this winter, we want to encourage you to consider the most sustainable holiday gift you...
The holiday season brings a dramatic increase in household waste, with the EPA estimating a 25% jump between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.
The holiday season brings joy, celebration—and a massive surge in household waste. But this year can be different.
If we decide that enjoying an eco-friendly meal with loved ones is how we want to give thanks for our time together on Earth, we can plan menus based on our environmental ethics.
When autumn arrives, many families begin planning their holiday menus—a tradition that has a global impact, given that feeding ourselves accounts for over half of habitable land use and a quarter of...
5.3% of Americans are volunteering on any given day, according to the American Time Use Survey.
Here’s a simple, empowering, and positive step for sustainability this week: volunteer. “Local volunteerism is a fundamental resilience strategy and a property of resilient communities,” reports the...
About 76% of winter sun that reaches a standard double-pane window enters to become heat, according to the US Department of Energy.
As the season turns to winter in the northern hemisphere, it’s time to check every window to make sure it’s tightly shut. In a superbly sustainable home, closed windows are a passive heating system,...
Toilets are by far the main source of water use in the home, according to the EPA.
Before I opened my store for sustainable goods and supplies, I had no idea that replacing an old toilet was something most handy homeowners could do in an afternoon—and that it provides such a huge...
You can now buy solar modules for less than $0.30 per watt, have complete systems installed for less than $3 per watt, and get a 30% tax credit in the United States.
How fast we’ve ramped up solar electricity since 2014 has surprised experts: next year, the United States will generate more electricity from sunlight than from hydropower. My guess is we haven’t...
We so appreciate your support, which enables us to provide empowering knowledge for people practicing sustainability in their own homes and organizations. To say thank you, we want to give you a...
Heat pumps turn one watt of electricity into three or four watts of heat, an efficiency feat that seems to violate the laws of physics!
Maine is making headlines nationally by taking steps to stop burning diesel fuel (called “#2 heating oil” to avoid the tax levied on diesel intended for on-road use) with no pollution controls in our...
Batteries and car technologies have vastly improved since 2010, when electric vehicles started making their global resurgence.
People started building electric cars long before they started making fuel-burning cars, and if current trends continue, electric vehicles will continue being made long after gasoline and diesel...
Induction ranges "generally outperform every other kind of cooktop," according to Consumer Reports' tests.
If you haven’t discovered induction cooking, you’re in for a treat. This technology is three times more efficient than gas stoves, which means you can boil water and prepare meals in less time for...
A 15-year-old refrigerator wastes 30% of every dollar used to keep it running, compared to a new one.
One of the easiest ways to save a lot of energy and protect our environment is to upgrade an old refrigerator. If your fridge is 15 years or older, give serious consideration to surprising your...
Consumers could save $21 billion over the next 30 years using more efficient residential clothes dryers, estimates the United States Department of Energy.
Hanging laundry to dry uses no fuel or electricity and produces no pollution, but takes a little more time than throwing a damp load in the dryer. Another way to save energy is to upgrade from a...
The United States could save $8.8 billion every year in avoided energy costs by installing efficient water heaters, according to ENERGY STAR.
Heating water with heat pumps is much more efficient than other water heating technologies. Using an electric heating element to keep a tank of water warm can be used as the baseline for efficiency.
Heating water consumes about 90% of the energy to wash clothes, according to ENERGY STAR.
Washing clothes in cold water saves energy and can be more effective with the use of detergents specifically formulated for cold water. The active ingredient in cold-water laundry detergents are...
Lawns cover an estimated 40 million acres in the United States, four times as much land as used to grow fruits and vegetables.
Our one step this week is Landscaping 101: Planting Native Species. Turfgrass lawns became popular in the United States in the 1870s and have since become the dominant idea in residential and...
LED lighting is four times more energy efficient and lasts up to 100 times longer than old-fashioned incandescent lighting.
Our one step this week is Lighting 101: LEDs. Light-emitting diodes (or LEDs) were discovered at Marconi Labs in 1907, but it wasn’t until the 1960s and 1970s that red, orange, yellow, and green LEDs...
90% of homes in the United States are under-insulated, according to ENERGY STAR, the federal government's program for energy efficiency.
Our one step this week is Insulating 101: Sealing and Insulating Attics and Basements. Of all the areas in a building, sealing and insulating the basement and attic does the most good due to the...
Up to 5 trillion (5,000,000,000,000) plastic bags are used each year, according to the United Nations.
Our one step this week is Plastic 101: Avoiding Single-Use Plastic. Like other effective practices for sustainability (including Walking 101: Short Trips by Foot), this is deceptively easy to...
Green cleaning can help reduce the nearly $2.3 billion in U.S. healthcare costs due to unintentional ingestion of toxic household chemicals.
Our one step this week is Cleaning 101: Using Safer Solutions. Like last week’s practice (Drinking 101: More Tap Water, Fewer Bottled Beverages), this is a practice everyone can afford—plus it would...
An estimated $221 billion was spent on carbonated beverages worldwide in 2020, about the same as the global investment in solar power that year.
Our one step this week is Drinking 101: More Tap Water, Fewer Bottled Beverages. This is a practice everyone can afford; in fact, it’s one of the easiest ways to save money—hundreds of billions of...
Organic farms use 45% less energy while maintaining or exceeding yields compared to conventional farms, according to a forty-year study by the Rodale Institute.
Our one step this week is to buy local organic food in season. This is Eating 102, continuing our sustainable practices regarding food.
Students scored an average of 52% on a survey of environmental literacy among United States undergraduates in 2018. Continuing work on that is a priority.
How much better would our world be if everyone had a better understanding of environmental problems—and knew exactly what they could do to help solve them. We know from surveys that environmental...
Eating a plant-based diet can prevent 75 percent of the pollution caused by people who eat more than 3.5 ounces of meat every day.
Choosing to eat delicious and nutritious plant-based meals instead of chowing down on burgers and steaks is really good for our health and pocketbooks—and our planet. Eating more plants, and less...
Celebrate these special days on our trips around our sun!
Add more fun to your years by celebrating our planet and its passengers as we circle our sun on our journey through the universe. Click on the underlined day to visit the day’s page on our website...
Walk to save energy, prevent pollution, reduce risks, and build community.
For most of us, walking is like flossing our teeth: we know it’s good for us, but we just don’t do it enough. Unlike flossing, making walking a healthy habit isn’t just good for us; it’s good for our...
Create less garbage and more healthy soil on your property.
As a leader for sustainability in your community, you know that composting saves money, prevents pollution, and improves soil quality while meeting the daily need to manage waste. These benefits earn...
From composting to growing community, these twenty household and organizational practices are the most important for a sustainable future.
You can most certainly protect our environment and help secure a future for everyone on Earth by achieving twenty sustainable practices in your home or organization: Compost organic solid waste....
Here's how to compost most of your organic waste, using advanced techniques you won't find in most composting guides.
You’re into the province of “advanced” composting any time you’re managing organic waste beyond the “basic” recipe. To recap the “basic” composting guide from last week: outdoors, during warm...
77% of Americans understand the importance of separating compostable organic waste from household garbage.
Stinky garbage is a sign that we’re not being smart about recycling. Anything that can rot really doesn’t have to go to a landfill or a waste-to-energy facility.
In the United States, 51.4% of our landfill space is filled with waste that could be composted instead.
Composting is part of a sustainable diet—putting water and nutrients back to work, and growing more food, paper, wood, and other organic goods. It’s probably the single most effective thing we can do...
Growing your own lettuce can do more for our planet than giving up bacon.
In 2015, Carnegie Mellon University professor Paul Fischbeckmade headlines by saying, “Eating lettuce is over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon. ” Of course, the real...
Like no place else on Earth, New Zealand is in a race to save thousands of unique species from extinction.
This week’s action guide is my final dispatch from New Zealand. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ideas for sustainability from this fascinating country.
Scientific assessments of the twenty three distinct populations of wild tuna show that 61% are at a healthy level of abundance.
This action guide for tuna rounds out our three-part series on sustainable seafood. (See part one for sustainable salmon and part two for sustainable shrimp.
New Zealand has begun electrifying its mining industry, showing a sustainable way for the world to obtain the materials we need to transition to clean energy.
Gold and coal play a big role in the history of New Zealand—and both will probably continue to play a big role in the future of our planet. The lessons of the historic gold rushes and coal fields of...
All wild-caught shrimp raise concerns about bycatch or fishery management; farmed shrimp are your best environmental choice.
This action guide is the second of a three-part series on sustainable seafood. Shrimp is by far the most popular marine seafood item in the United States.
New Zealand's Ministry for the Environment has a pretty good list of what you can do for the environment.
After the conservatives won the last New Zealand election, there’s been some grumbling that the country is abandoning responsible environmental management. Labour and the Greens are no longer in...
The United States has found 1,000,000 tons of lithium reserves so far, but mines only about 5,000 tons per year.
Batteries are the key to our clean energy future, but what about the materials necessary to make them. How “dirty” are batteries.
The United States imports more than $6 billion of salmon and trout each year.
This action guide is the first of a three-part series on sustainable seafood. Shrimp, salmon, and tuna are the “big three” for seafood in the United States.
Salmon spawn in New Zealand, but only because European settlers have spent more than a century introducing and re-introducing foreign fish species to the island nation.
If you see fish on a menu in New Zealand, chances are it’s salmon—which seems odd since all salmon are native to the northern hemisphere. If you see fish in a river in New Zealand, small ones might...
Plant-based milk accounts for 15% of total milk sales in the United States.
How to enjoy “dairy” and save our planet depends on how flexible you are about the definition of “milk. ” If you feel that milk must be squeezed out of a cow, then you can’t enjoy very much of it...
Kiwis drive hybrids, pay almost $7 (US) per gallon for gas, and rarely stop for pedestrians.
Every American traveling around New Zealand should know five important things: first, you need a car outside the big cities; second, they drive on the left; third, gas is about $3 (New Zealand) per...
In 2022, about 6% of the food sold in the United States was certified organic. When we buy food from sustainable farms, we help them grow.
Thomas Malthus predicted in 1798 that population will grow faster than agriculture, condemning hungry humanity to a “perpetual oscillation between happiness and misery. ” Yet the rate of global...
Solar energy can provide an enormous opportunity for New Zealand, and they invested heavily in hydropower. What can we learn from another country's priorities?
The west coast of Te Waipounamu, New Zealand’s South Island, is one of the rainiest places on Earth; the Cropp River, which flows into the Hokitika River, has recorded an annual rainfall of 18...
Of all food produced, an estimated 11% is wasted in households rather than eaten.
You may be surprised to learn that preventing food waste is one of the easiest ways we can mitigate climate change and ameliorate global hunger. In 2021 the United Nations estimated that “8-10% of...
The system for drinking water in Kiwi cafés is practical and sustainable.
Sustainable living in the United States can sometimes feel like navigating an obstacle course—especially when dining out. Ask for water in a stateside café, and you might need to specify tap water,...
Three small changes in how we eat make the biggest difference.
One of the most difficult habits to change is what we eat. But if we’re serious about sustainability, encouraging sustainable diets is a challenge worth surmounting.
Homes are safer and more sustainable without natural gas.
We’re starting to have a national conversation about the role of natural gas in our energy future. A recent story from Maine quotes politicians from both major parties staking out unwise positions...
Squeezing your own fresh orange juice in a Hokitika supermarket is way more fun than buying bottled juice, and might even be more sustainable.
The New World supermarket in Hokitika on the west coast of New Zealand has something I didn’t know I needed until I saw it—a self-serve juicing machine. I love orange juice but hate packaging waste.
How to share resources effectively to increase community sustainability.
As environmental champions, we can share our time, money, and property to achieve sustainability goals in our community. Effective donations improve human well-being, increase the value of existing...
On New Zealand's Banks Peninsula, botanist Hugh Wilson's "minimal interference" strategy has worked to restore native forest from gorse-infested farmland.
Dr. Hugh Wilson is one of the most delightful humans you’ll ever meet.
In one study, 76% of goal setters achieved their goals by writing them down, keeping records, and checking in with a friend.
As a sustainability champion, you may be planning to take more steps toward sustainability in 2024, and we can join you. In this week’s action guide, I encourage you to decide how you will help...
Environmental champions managed to save Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau.
In this week’s Dispatch from New Zealand, I want to share a sustainability story from the fiordlands of the South Island about the power of environmental champions to protect our world. Although this...
Plastic production has more than doubled in the last two decades.
Microplastics are on the short list of our planet's worst pollution problems. Tiny plastic particles and fibers are now dispersed across our entire globe, from the air at the top of our highest...
From 1863 to 1987, they made gas from coal in Dunedin, New Zealand.
On Sunday afternoons in South Dunedin, New Zealand, you can see stationary steam engines in working order. The engine house, boiler room, boiler house, chimney stack, and the fitting and blacksmith’s...
Slowing down the transition to solar power and batteries would be crazy.
Should you believe the idea that a “crazy rush to green energy will push us to endless blackouts”. Or is it actually wise to “rush” to green energy.
98% of Americans have PFAS, a class of synthetic 'forever chemicals', in their blood.
This Sustainable Practice action guide helps you phase out the ‘forever chemicals’ called PFAS, which build up in our environment, find their way into our bodies, and can cause cancer and birth...
Thank you for supporting One Step This Week and being a sustainability champion in your household or organization. We can talk with Fred in a Q & A format about action steps!
Peggy Siegle from Sustainable Practice is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Sustainability Office Half Hour with Fred Horch Time: Dec 6, 2023, 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada).
A "predator-free Aotearoa" could help native wildlife survive on the fringes of the sheep farms and tree plantations that cover almost half of New Zealand today.
In the month we’ve been exploring the area around Ōtepoti (Dunedin), New Zealand, we’ve watched albatross flying (and landing. ), seen penguins nesting, observed sea lions arguing, and heard kiwi...
Despite recent headlines, green energy is growing and electric vehicles are working well for more people every year.
If you watch Fox News or read the Wall Street Journal, you might think that renewable energy and electric vehicles are not quickly gaining market share. Articles like “The slow demise of green energy.
82% of the clothes Americans own have not been worn in the past year.
This week’s sustainability step along the sustainable goods pathway is part of a “shop wisely” strategy for clothing—recognizing that we often buy clothing we rarely wear. When we give away or sell...
From multi-level bicycle parking on campus to "mug libraries" at farmers markets, Kiwis have great ideas for sustainability.
Every other week I’m comparing sustainability practices in North America versus New Zealand, where my wife and I are traveling on sabbatical from our home in Maine. As one of the last places on Earth...
Our personal action can change the narrative on climate change.
As the world prepares for the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), journalists are filing reports on the failure of public...
Choose sustainable gifts to help the circular economy evolve and revolve.
In the quest to find the perfect holiday gifts, adding sustainability as a factor can either complicate or simplify our lives. This action guide helps you use sustainability to make your life easier...
Per person, Kiwis use about 39% less energy than Yanks.
For the next six months I’ll be sharing sustainability dispatches from New Zealand, as my wife and I leave our home in Maine for a camper van and AirBnBs in Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu (the North and...
Solar power is more affordable than coal, oil, gas, nuclear, hydro, and wind power.
Ten years ago, a 6,000-watt solar electricity system cost $50,000; today, you can buy it for less than $21,000—and get a 30% federal tax credit on top of that. Going solar is now a wise investment:...
In California, 20% of solar installations are now paired with home batteries.
This action guide helps you buy big batteries to power your electric car or home, an essential step to a clean energy future. But first, an important announcement: Since May, we have been sharing...
Over the same wire, 48V batteries deliver four times as much power as 12V batteries
This action guide explores choices for batteries that are powerful enough to start car engines and operate tools. In each of our action guides, we cram crucial details for sustainability that you...
One rechargeable battery can do the work of hundreds of disposable batteries.
I just want to say one word to you, just one word. Are you listening.
Electric motors are way more powerful than combustion engines, with a power to weight ratio over 30 times better.
There’s a good reason massive machines like locomotives and mining equipment use electric motors instead of combustion engines: burning gas or diesel just doesn’t provide as much power with as much...
Electric heat pumps are now so efficient, even at low temperatures, that fuel-burning heating systems are unnecessary.
Before cold climate heat pumps were invented, people would get excited about increasing the annual utilization efficiency of their fuel-burning heating systems from 0. 8 to 0.
Super-insulated homes can be heated with a hair dryer, even in Maine's climate.
Heating a well-designed new home with a gas-burning furnace or boiler is like lighting birthday candles with a flamethrower. That might seem a little extreme, but consider the fact that a...
Use recovery ventilation to replace stale air with fresh air, and keep 80% of the energy in the exchange.
When we think about air pollution, most of us imagine a smokestack or a tailpipe. But according to a growing body of scientific evidence, we’re exposed to more pollution indoors than outdoors, even...
Air conditioning is almost 70% of our peak power demand.
This year, Texans and Californians have once again been asked to use less electricity during heat waves—and grid managers have prepared plans for rolling outages to prevent public power grids from...
High-performance windows let only light flow through.
Windows are responsible for 8. 6% of all energy used by buildings across the United States and 25% to 30% of the energy used to heat or cool residential buildings.
LED lighting saves 88% of the energy that incandescent light bulbs would consume.
LED lighting is a beacon on the pathway to sustainable energy. Last century, the 60-watt, 75-watt, or 100-watt “incandescent” (glowing hot) light bulbs we could buy could double as electric space...
In the United States, just 33% of our energy does all our work.
How quickly we use energy is one of our biggest net positive or negative impacts on our world. The slower we consume energy, the better.
45% of Americans have no access to public transportation.
Bicycles are best for sustainability, but when pedaling is a problem, a good option is public transit—where it exists. Unfortunately, almost half of the North American population cannot take a public...
All-electric air taxis may start flying in 2025. Will you be hailing one?
In the near future, we’ll fly on sunshine, using electric motors powered by batteries storing solar energy to move people and packages through the air. The “airspace blueprint” for all-electric air...
Get 132 MPGe (25 kWh/100 miles) in a fully electric car—much better fuel economy than any hybrid.
In 2022, the United States crossed the tipping point of 5% of sales leading to mass adoption of fully battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Within ten years, not driving electric will be odd.
We could build over 700 class 1 or 2 e-bikes with the batteries from a single Hummer EV.
Pedal power is phenomenal, but it’s even more fun electrified. Small motors and batteries can easily be added to bicycles and other lightweight vehicles.
Cycling is 100 times more sustainable than driving a hybrid car, and even 3 times more sustainable than walking.
Every time I see a cyclist, I think of H. G.
Americans take about four trips per day on average, more than 80% of them by car.
It’s summer, time to get outside and move your body. (Unless you’re in a scorched place on the planet where this could be hazardous to your health.
In a sustainable goods economy, we can close landfills and incinerators because we compost and recycle the materials we use. But until we reach the goal of 100% sustainable goods and 100% rates of...
North Americans could eliminate about half of what we send to landfills, by getting better at just one thing. Thanks for reading Fred Horch's Field Notes for Sustainability.
Sustainability is about making the world better for everyone, now and far into the future. We’re all on a journey to sustainability, together.
Do you wish your community were better at recycling. Here’s a proposed pilot project you can try in your own home, organization or neighborhood to show how recycling can be done well.
No one likes to be told what to eat. What we put into our own mouths to grow our own bodies is the most personal of choices.
What actually gets recycled. Metal and cardboard, but not plastic no matter how much we may wish it so.
Here’s a quick take on recycling for Rotarians—and anyone else who is interested in the issue: it makes great sense to recycle metal and clean cardboard. The value of recycling anything else...
How to choose and use sustainable cleaning products.
When I asked, “What are your sustainability goals. ” I wasn’t expecting, “Making my own soap.
A recipe for soap that you can make yourself, and some metrics for sustainability.
So last week when I launched Field Notes for Sustainability and let people know that I’m working on a Handbook for Sustainability, I asked friends and family, “What are your sustainability goals. How...
What do you need to know to go from good intentions to effective action?
I know what I want you to know about being sustainable, but what do you actually need to know. Imagine you want to help save the planet.
Seven practical pathways to sustainability.
Being sustainable is making the world better for everyone, now and in the future. If you are superbly sustainable, you leave the world better than you found it.
Going 100% electric eliminates the pollution you would otherwise emit by burning fossil fuel in your home or vehicle.
When are you switching to electricity for heating and driving. I ask because the sooner the better.
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