…Green Start: The environmental issues facing the earth and its inhabitants today are daunting, to say the least. For instance, humans use a staggering amount of energy each day– energy which is primarily derived from fossil fuels. Various estimates indicate that there are approximately 36, 58, and 200 years worth of oil, natural gas, and coal remaining, respectively (1). This is at the current rates of consumption, however. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the world’s energy consumption will increase by 66% by 2030 (2). Even more chilling, a result from Jefferson’s 2006 study showed the global demand for oil being unmet by 2023 in a mid-case scenario (i.e. in between the best- and worst-case scenarios) (3).
In the face of such big, scary numbers, one might be tempted to feel helpless, that any effort they might make would just be a single drop of water in an ocean. If everyone feels that way and does nothing, then the out come is certainly bleak. However, the ocean is made up of many, many drops. So, what can you do to become one?
Ultimately, Green Start is for anyone who wants to “go green.” The idea behind the site is to provide tips on how to lead a more environmentally-friendly life in small, cheap, easy ways. Not everyone can afford to cover their roof in solar panels, for example, and not all living situations allow for such measures, either (apartments, dorms, etc). Enter Green Start— lessons on how to go green, for starters.
…The Author: My name is Kathryn Hannis. I spent the first half of my life in Phoenix, Arizona, in the United States– a very big, very dirty, very hot city. However, it was my world. Then, just as I was about to begin my freshman year in high school, my family uprooted and transplanted to The Hague, the Netherlands, Europe, for my father’s work. I realized that cities could be, well, small, clean, and green. The bike is King in the Netherlands. Not only is gasoline far more expensive in Europe, but the taxes face by automobile owners (even just to have the car parked on the street) are phenomenal. Furthermore, land is at a premium. There are 6,491,461 people in all the Netherlands (13,104 square miles), or 1,259 people per square mile (4). In other words, that’s twice the population of New York, New York in a space a little smaller than Lowell, Massachusetts (5). In the Netherlands, there are extensive (22,000 miles), well maintained, well-lit, well-signed bike paths, as well as a comprehensive public transportation network compromised of trams, buses, and trains (6). You really don’t need a car. The United States, on the other hand, only has 84 people per square mile, so you really ‘need’ a car to get from place to place.
Given how easy it is to get around the Netherlands without a car (and how expensive it is with a car), it’s no surprise that there are only 477 cars for every 1000 people, compared with the 812 for every 1000 Americans (7). Long story short, for the five years I lived there my family never had a car. When I returned to the ‘States for college, I tried to keep up this healthy, green tradition. It wasn’t easy, at all, but it did stave off the ‘freshman 15’ until I finally gave in halfway through my sophomore year and got a car. I still tried to bike, when I could, but Flagstaff, Arizona, was notably less bike-friendly than the Netherlands– there were only intermittent bike paths (and not separated from the road, like in the Netherlands), and sometimes not even a shoulder on the road, not to mention Flagstaff’s very high elevation and hilly geography (very different from the flat, sea-level Netherlands!).
I studied Environmental Engineering at NAU, in Flagstaff, and then later moved back to the Netherlands to get my Master’s in Sustainable Energy Technology. All the while, I felt bad that I couldn’t be more actively green. And then it struck me– why couldn’t I? Surely there is something that poor students, and otherwise-limited people, could do? So, I decided to do research and make a list, and here it is. Green Start— all the things I discovered, or wish I had known, about being green on the cheap and easy! I hope you enjoy.
Green Start 
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