UCD fair offers tools to save planet

Size up your carbon footprint at the grocery store checkout. Use online tools to tally your energy use and out-conserve your neighbor. Reduce water use and waste with biocomposting toilets.

University of California, Davis, students, community members and policymakers Thursday pushed these ideas, and more, as part of an effort by universities and public schools nationwide to demonstrate that individuals can combat global warming.

The goal of the event – billed as a "teach-in" – was to connect people with ideas and to provide a forum for state and city officials from throughout the region to brief students on steps that governments are taking to reduce carbon emissions.

More than a hundred people turned up on a rainy evening to soak up mounds of information about global warming solutions. Frederick Fox of west Davis likened the table-to-table information gathering and conversing to "speed dating." It's literally too much information, he said. Fox said he came to the event to learn about the global impact of biofuels from corn.

UC Davis Freshman Emilie Olson scanned poster-size charts displaying climate change solutions. She said her favorite was a campus project that turns food waste and dairy cow manure into biofuel.

"It's a little zany, but I love UC Davis' commitment to the environment," she said.

The poster showed how to expand the campus-scaled project to the state or national level.

Earlier in the day was an Idea Fair – with the feel of a science fair combined with a big-top circus. Attendees milled about booths set up at Freeborn Hall, sampling sustainable, locally grown food.

But there was no bottled water in sight, with that product high on the list of carbon-unfriendly consumer goods these days. Instead, there was a water- tasting booth, which asked tasters to discern a difference between tap and bottled water.

In some cases, tap water tastes as good as bottled water, Clara Elias, a volunteer organizer and graduate student studying ecology, wanted people to know. "And filtered water uses fewer resources and energy," she said.

Elias said event organizers hope consumers will walk away with more information on how they can live sustainably, daily.

During the evening's roundtable discussions, some participants tried to bridge the gap separating climate change solutions, government policy and consumer behavior.

"The tools are out there to do home energy audits and the light bulbs are out there," said Daniel MacDonald, an MBA candidate at UC Davis and leader of the "Confront Carbon at Home" group. Spurring people to make lifestyle changes is more difficult, he said.

MacDonald's team presented an online site that conducts energy audits. This allows users to enter data from utility bills to track their carbon output over time.

The tools are out there, but it's another thing to spur people to use them, participants said.

McDonald's team proposed setting up friendly competitions in workplaces and schools to get people excited about charting their progress.

Meanwhile, Gabriel Paulino wants to change consumer behavior in store aisles.

Paulino's team introduced a food index that promises to build consumer awareness about the distance food travels, and how much pollution is produced transporting goods from fields to store shelves.

The team proposed using an index on foods, ranging from 1-3, with the lower number signifying the least pollution.

Paulino, a postdoctoral student, said sustainable, locally grown food travels a shorter distance, while processed and frozen foods tend to require more energy.

"Just by buying food and eating food, we are emitting carbon emissions … in eating with consciousness, we have ability to change impact on environment," he said.

Viewing posters, Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, said she welcomed the creative ideas, saying "all are possible, some more likely than others, but they are worth considering."

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Ngoc Nguyen, (916) 321-1041.