HR: 1340h
AN: ED23A-0970    [Abstracts]
TI: New Hampshire Carbon Challenge: Reducing Residential Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
AU: * Schloss, A L
EM: annette.schloss@unh.edu
AF: Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, United States
AU: Bartlett, D
EM: david.bartlett@unh.edu
AF: Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, United States
AU: Blaha, D
EM: denise.blaha@unh.edu
AF: Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, United States
AU: Skoglund, C
EM: cjskoglund@yahoo.com
AF: Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, United States
AU: Dundorf, J
EM: julia@nhcc.unh.edu
AF: Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, United States
AU: Froburg, E
EM: efroburg@gust.sr.unh.edu
AF: Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, United States
AU: Pasinella, B
EM: brett.pasinella@unh.edu
AF: Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824, United States
AB: The New Hampshire Carbon Challenge is an initiative of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space at the University of New Hampshire. Our goal is to educate New Hampshire residents about climate change and also encourage them to reduce their household greenhouse gas emissions by 10,000 pounds. The Northeast region is undergoing climate changes consistent with those expected due to increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, while also contributing to climate change as the world's seventh largest source of CO2 emissions. In the USA, approximately 40 percent of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion come from residential energy consumption for space heating, electricity usage, and transportation. Homeowners typically are not aware that modest energy reductions can result in significant carbon savings. Most campaigns that raise awareness of climate change and residential energy usage disseminate information to consumers through newspaper articles, brochures, websites, or other traditional means of communication. These information-only campaigns have not been very effective in changing residential energy consumption. Bombarded with information in their daily lives, the public has become quite adept at tuning most of it out. When much of the information they receive about climate change is confusing and contradictory, residents have even less incentive to change their behavior. The Challenge is unique in that it couples accurate information about climate change with concrete actions homeowners can take to reduce their carbon emissions. Our strategy is to utilize the tools of Community Based Social Marketing, which has been shown to be effective in changing behavior, and also to leverage existing networks including the NH Department of Environmental Services, UNH Cooperative Extension, faith-based communities, municipal energy committees and Climate Project volunteers, to effectively reach residents throughout the state. The response to our program has been very positive. We gave 74 presentations to 4000 NH residents since the program was launched in October 2006. We are currently developing web-based tools tailored to New Hampshire residents that will enable them to track reductions in their energy usage and connect those reductions to reduced emissions, and will provide us feedback as to which actions households are willing to take. This type of information exchange is essential in creating and sustaining an effective and scientifically accurate public outreach campaign.
UR: http://carbonchallenge.sr.unh.edu
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 1637 Regional climate change
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting