My score is 2.5 -- which is pretty good, compareable to averages of those who live in Mexico and Brazil. I still feel guilty though. What about all the laundry I wash each week? My warm cozy house heated by gas? My light up holiday decorations? I can think of a few questions that would make these surveys more accurate.

Our utility bills took a dive when our son went away to college this past fall. No more washing the many sets of athletic clothes he wore each day. I have been washing in cold water and line drying (most things) for years. Cold water washing not only saves energy, but also saves your clothes. We are also seeing the energy saving results from unplugging the electronics, too.

At the last panel discussion at CIA, I met a guy who reminded me of a great place to shop when next we need to replace an appliance. I've been there, and it is worth the drive. It is Lehman's in Kidron, Ohio. It’s a no to low voltage hardware store that serves the Amish community there. Visit there on a Tuesday morning and experience a weekly livestock auction in person.

I reread an article from Andrew Postman in the NYTImes called the Energy Diet. Here's a quote.

"There were other bad habits that were just as easy to break. A friend suggested this quickie: Call retailers to get them to stop sending the print catalogs to which our house had become addicted. I chose 10 -- L. L. Bean, Crate & Barrel, J. Crew, Eddie Bauer, Garnet Hill, Design Within Reach, Lands' End, Restoration Hardware, Hammacher Schlemmer and the Company Store. (Originally I'd included Williams-Sonoma, but my wife vetoed that idea.) It took me 22 minutes total to cancel them -- eight phone calls and two e-mails. Ninety (the average number of pages) times 12 (number of issues per year we seem to get) times 10 (retailers) equals 10,800 pages. Since my research shows that one tree produces about 25,000 pages of the coated, lower-end virgin paper used in most catalogs, I'd just saved 43 percent of one tree. One tree produces 260 pounds of oxygen, 43 percent of that is 112 pounds, which converts to 154 pounds of CO2 saved."

Find the article by visiting CPL.org and using your libraray card number and the last 4 of your phone number. Ithe article can be found at NYTimes also, but they want $4.95 for it. It's free at the library. It choprnicles how he saved/and will save 1700 lbs of CO2 annually with a few simple changes like the one quoted above.