How Green is Your House?

With all the talk about being environmentally friendly on an individual, national and ultimately global level, have you ever wondered how much you are doing to help or harm the environment?

If you want to find out about your personal contribution, try using the green kitchen calculator Greendex. This short online survey, produced by National geographic, will calculate your personal Greendex number based on how you answer the 12 questions.

The Greendex is the result of a study completed by the international polling company GlobeScan in alliance with National Geographic to determine consumer progress toward environmentally sustainable consumption in 14 countries around the world. This site provides a global map with each countries Greendex on it, based on answers from 14,000 consumers.

The Greendex numbers on the map, ranging from 40.1 to 60.0, show how environmentally sustainable the behavior of those surveyed is. For example, the U.S. has the lowest Greendex, at 44.9, while Brazil and India have the highest. Reasons for these results, such as use of public versus private transportation and the consumption of locally grown or imported foods, are described more fully on the site.

As disappointing as this is for U.S. residents, there are a number of simple ways to improve you household Greendex. In order to have a green modern kitchen, it helps to start by using energy-efficient appliances, recycling or reusing waste products and minimizing the use of fresh water. For more tips, see www.greenguide.com/doc/Mag1/whatyoudo