The vast scale and urgent implications of the climate crisis can feel overwhelming. But every individual action, no matter how small, contributes to the collective effort to combat climate change. By taking one step at a time, from reducing energy consumption and composting food waste to choosing locally-grown food and repurposing usable items, we have the power to drive positive change and create a cleaner, greener and more climate-resilient future for our community. 

Want to know what you can actually do about climate change? Here's a simplified, step-by-step playbook. 

The playbook is based on the typical greenhouse gas footprint of one person living in a home in Granville. Add a second person to that home, and the household total rises only about 50% — not 100% — because heating, base electric load, and the home itself don't scale with occupancy. The real increases come from an added vehicle and roughly double the food, clothing, personal services, and discretionary spending. 

A typical single person, living in a standard standalone home in Granville, Ohio, has a total carbon footprint of approximately 16 to 18 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) per year.  CO₂e is a universal unit of measurement for the total warming impact of all greenhouse gases combined. 

Because Ohio relies heavily on a mix of natural gas and coal for its electric grid and winter heating demands are high, our location skews our housing-related footprints higher than the global or national averages. 

Let’s take a look at our typical emission sources, some reduction tactics, and the resultant impact. The reduction tactics listed below are all practical, and within your ability to get done without any local, state, or federal policy changes (or new technology breakthroughs). You'll find much more detail across the Go Green Granville website and other online resources, but this is a shortcut to get you from wondering to acting.