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saveDAplanet

With the intensive rivalry with the Packers, who would have thought? Well it happened - the Chicago Bears, Constellation Energy, and Goby teamed up the week of the San Diego Chargers game to bring fans Sustainability Week.

The Bears posted Goby's green tips via Facebook, Twitter, and displayed them during the game. Goby also brought the Bears to Chicago Public School Hamilton Elementary (photos here) where the kids educated Nick Roach on all things green. They scared him a bit when they explained how the composting worms pooped on his tomatoes.

Transportation:

• Transit Benefit Fare Program: Taking public transportation (like buses and trains) instead of driving can save the U.S. 6.9 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions like it did in 2005. You can take the Red, Green, and Orange lines to Soldier field or the #128 or #130 bus.
• Most tire businesses check tire pressure for free. Keeping your tires properly inflated can save an estimated 2 billion gallons of gas each year.
• Get those little bears to the game safe; driving the speed limit is not only safer but it will help boost your mpg.
• Cruise into first place like the Bears did last year and use your car's cruise control feature, it can get you up to 15% better mileage.
• Get that old football gear out of the trunk. Extra weight in your car reduces gas mileage by 1%-2% for every 100lbs.
• Do not idle your car; turning it off and starting it back up actually uses less gas.
• Contrary to popular belief the best way to warm up a car is by driving it, not letting it sit.

Energy Savings:

• Find an Energy Star approved computer. When you buy an energy star computer, you have to make sure the energy saving feature is switched on or else it will use as much power as a standard computer. When the energy star feature is activated, it saves 10 watts of power. Think about it as taking 10 yards away from the opposing team's offense.
• Using the warm-cold water setting on your washer instead of the hot-hot cycle could save the energy comparable to 100,000 barrels of oil a day if everyone did it, warm and cold water will still get even the dirtiest football jerseys clean.
• Running out the clock is a good strategy in football, however running up your energy usage is not a good strategy for everyday life. Unplug or connect appliances to a strip that is easy to turn off when you're not using them. The amount each appliance draws may be small but it can cost you over $100 dollars a year if you add it all up.
• When watching the Bears on TV, decrease the brightness of your television. The brighter it is the harder your television will work and the more energy it will consume. Turning down the brightness also reduces eye fatigue.
• Clean the lint filter in the dryer after every load to improve air circulation and to prevent fires. If you haven't cleaned your lint filter in a while, clothes will not get as dry which could result in multiple cycles which means even more energy use.
• Soldier field doesn't leave the stadium lights on when there's not a game, so why leave your lights on if you're not in the room? Turning off the lights when you leave a room is an easy way to conserve energy.
• Unplug the charger when your appliance is done charging. A power strip that is not charging anything can still draw an amount of energy equal to $40 a year.

Water Savings:

• Meatless Monday: Bears don't only eat meat. Eating less meet can mean water savings. For example: It requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. You will also save some trees. For each hamburger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land, approximately 55 square feet of forest have been destroyed. Meatless Monday's is a global program that you can participate in.
• Julius Peppers stopped (sacked) the quarterback 8 times last year. If everyone stopped running the water when they brushed their teeth, daily savings in the U.S. alone could add up to 1.5 billion gallons.
• MeterSave Program; The Bears defense allowed the second fewest rushing yards per game in 2010, be like the Bears and tighten up those holes: leaky faucets that drip every second can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water per year.

Recycling:

• Recycling Drop Off Centers; Jay Cutler effectively found receivers for 23 touchdowns in 2010. Throw your aluminum products to the right receiver, the recycling bin. Twenty recycled aluminum cans can be made with the energy it takes to manufacture one brand new can.
• Kick your bad habits and recycle your glass products 100% of the time, like Robbie Gould kicked 100% of his extra point attempts through the uprights in 2010.
• Best Buy e-cycle Program: Devin Hester has an NFL record of 11 punt return touchdowns. Returning your e-waste to approved drop-off centers can have a big impact too.
• Recycling just the Sunday papers would save more than half a million trees every week, or enough trees to fill over 1,000 football fields.
• Household Chemicals and Computer Recycling Facilities; Of the garbage Americans throw out half could be recycled--enough to fill a football stadium from top to bottom every day.
• Keep using the plays that work. Recycling is a great step but reducing and reusing is even better.

Sustainability:

• Setup double-sided printing: Print on both sides of a sheet of paper. American businesses throw away 21 million tons of paper every year, equal to 175 pounds per office worker or about half the weight of a Chicago Bear offensive lineman.
• Put your cream and sugar in your cup before pouring your coffee. Each year, Americans throw away 138 billion straws and stirrers.
• Manage Junk Mail and Phonebooks: Cut down on paper use. The average office employee uses approximately 10,000 sheets of paper a year, creating a stack almost four feet high. If placed next to one another, it would equal 3055 yards, almost three times the amount of yards Matt Forte ran for last season or 30 ½ football fields.
• Write your grocery or shopping list on your cell phone instead of a piece of paper that will just be thrown away.
• Opt Out of Unwanted Credit Card Offers and pay your bills online. By some estimates, if all households in the U.S. paid their bills online and received electronic statements instead of paper, we'd save 18.5 million trees every year, 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste.
• Instead of getting your groceries in paper or plastic bags every time you shop, just bring your own cloth or fabric bags. If you grocery shop once a week, in five years you'll have kept about 250 to 1,000 grocery bags out of our landfills.
• Opt Out of Phonebook Delivery. Call an audible; tell your local phone company you'd like to stop receiving phonebooks if you don't use them.