Speaker: Mike O'Brien of OSD - How's Your Carbon Footprint? A quick energy audit.

http://www.portlandpeakoil.org/content/mike-obrien-hows-your-carbon-footprint

Start: Nov 12 2008 - 7:00pm Start: Nov 12 2008 - 9:00pm

We know that tracking our personal energy use and carbon emissions is critical to reducing needs for importe../../node/d_energy__our_impacts_on_the_climate__and_on_the_environment._As_Lord_Kelvin_so_famously_said___quot.css;That which cannot be measured, cannot be improved."

As of today, we have to figure out our own ways to measure our energy and carbon footprints. Some parts are fairly easy--for example, our utility bills can tell us a lot about our energy use. But what about food? What's the embodied energy and carbon emissions of our diet? Did you know a meat-eater could reduce their CO2 as much by going vegetarian as by switching to a Prius?

And how does your carbon footprint compare with others in the US and aceross the world? Where do you stand? What yardsticks can we use to make comparisons?

Join with Mike O'Brien, Green Building Specialist from the City's Office of Sustainable Development, who will walk us through some ideas and useful tools for tracking our progress as we make choices and changes in our lives. This should be interesting and, at the very least, offer some insights into the impacts of our lifestyles.

We'll start with a reading of your utility bills, so bring your last year's electric and gas bills (October 2007 to October 2008). Here's where to call for copies:

* PGE 503-228-6322 or 800-542-8818 * Pacific Power 1-888-221-7070, * Northwest Natural 503-226-4211 or 800-422-4012.

Location St. Francis Dining Hall 1182 SE Pine Portland, OR