My husband and I try really hard to be eco-friendly in our daily lives. So I felt pretty confident we'd score well in the Green Guide's Greendex.
Of course we can do more, but already we compost, grow our own food, recycle tons, buy local/organic, support community businesses, live close to work, use energy-efficient appliances, wash most clothes in cold water, use CFLs and keep the house temperature low in winter and high in summer.
Our score, 51 out of 100, beats the U.S. consumers' pitiful 43.7 by a decent margin. Of the 17 countries indexed, the U.S. was the least green, India was most at 59.5 and Brazil's 57.3 was second most. Our score took hits for driving to work individually (me in an SUV), eating too much meat and living in a heated, air conditioned 7+ room house. These dings are consistent with all Americans.
Try the Greendex calculator, see how your household is doing and leave me a comment with your score.
From 2008 to 2009, the U.S. was up 1.3 points. I am every hopeful we can make a more substantial jump in 2010. Let's aim for a 10% improvement to a 48!
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