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Consummate Consumer
Turning the Tide on the Environment 

					
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By Don Oldenburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 17, 2001; Page C12 

Changing everyday habits doesn't come easily -- especially in making personal changes that conserve resources and protect the environment. Think lights on in an empty room. Think overpackaging of grocery products. Think leaky faucets that drain the nation's water resources drip by drip.

That's why the folks at the Center for a New American Dream (www.newdream.org) decided in July to take a different approach to encourage Americans to be environment-minded, responsible consumers. In launching its online program called "Turn the Tide," the Takoma Park-based nonprofit group, dedicated to helping Americans change how they consume, was betting that results would speak for themselves.

The interactive volunteer program asks you to commit to taking nine simple actions in your daily lives over the next year. None of these ecologically smart adjustments is such a big deal. Each requires slight inconvenience but is easily achievable and produces a big payoff that is measurable.

The actions? As simple as taking steps to cut our junk mail by half or replacing the standard light bulbs in our houses with energy-efficient compact fluorescent units. One suggestion is to "skip a car trip each week." The reason: Automobile use is largely responsible for about a third of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, says the center.

By measuring the effects of these ordinary actions, the CNAD activists are counting on convincing Americans of the value of making small changes. Each time a participant logs on to his personal "Turn the Tide" page to report his actions, the site's calculator instantly totals the quantity of resources saved as well as the total savings of everyone in the program.

Eric Brown, communications director at the Center for a New American Dream, says this is a "powerful tool" that helps remind everyone involved that we are not alone, and that small and simple everyday acts add up.

"We've signed up over 1,700 people so far," says Brown, adding that a bunch of organizations are going to begin promoting the program to their memberships, which should drive up these numbers soon.

The current participants, he says, "will save over 5 million gallons of water, and prevent the release of over three-quarter million pounds of carbon dioxide over the course of a year," he says. "By and large, our participants are really excited that they feel like they're making a difference."

Recall



Last week, Wysco Inc. recalled about 95,000 Runt brand bicycles that, contrary to Consumer Product Safety Commission standards, were manufactured without any brakes. The $100 mini-bikes (about 24 inches long and 26 inches high with six-inch wheels) are red, blue, black or silver in color and display the word RUNT and a logo of a dog's face on the steering column. Bicycle, toy, discount, department, convenience and specialty stores nationwide, and mail-order catalogues and Web sites sold them from January through July. If you own one, call Wysco at 866-868-7868 for a free repair kit.

Got a consumer complaint? Question? E-mail details to oldenburgd@washpost.com or write Don Oldenburg, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. 

? 2001 The Washington Post Company


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