PORT TOWNSEND — A climate action group is seeking participants for an experiment designed to recognize and decrease the carbon footprint of individuals in East Jefferson County.
Taming Bigfoot is a three-month project planned to begin in mid-January and end in mid-April.
It is a game in which participants will form eight-member teams that compete to lower their carbon footprints during their daily routines by keeping track of their activities and compensating for the increase with ecologically-based actions.
A carbon footprint is a measurement of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with various activities.
Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the Earth’s average temperature and causing a change in climate, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The game doesn’t cost anything; it will be run by volunteers and supported by business sponsorships.
Applications are due by Dec. 15. They are available at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Taming, which also outlines details of Taming Bigfoot.
The activity is organized by the Local 20/20 Climate Change Outreach Group.
The group is a subset of the Climate Action Committee formed by the city of Port Townsend and Jefferson County to cut greenhouse gas emissions to a point that is 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
The teams that achieve the greatest carbon footprint reductions will win prizes, which organizer Bob Binschalder said will have a combined worth between $1,500 to $2,000.
“Part of the motivation is for us to teach people how to best reduce their carbon footprint, but we also want to reward people for putting forth their best effort,” said Binschalder, a retired NASA scientist now living in Quilcene.
“We want them to understand the real impact of their actions, and encourage them to decrease their carbon output by taking fewer trips and paying attention.”
The eight-member teams are designed to have a representative diversity of county residents.
Each is to include a person from a household with one or two members, one from a household with four or more members, a person living within the Port Townsend city limits, one living outside city limits, one already living a “green” lifestyle and one not doing so, at least one member younger than 30, and a member who is recognized as a prominent county resident.
Binschalder said the last requirement has some flexibility. He’d like to see elected officials participate but will accept clergy “because they make large contributions to the community.”
Binschalder is hoping that complete teams with all the qualified people apply, but this isn’t required.
While filling out the applications, individuals check off as many categories for which they qualify.
They then will be matched with a partial team or other individuals to form a balanced team, Binschalder said.
“We’ve made it really easy,” he said.
“Each participant will keep a tally sheet every day to keep track of what they have done that results in carbon emissions.
“They will learn what has a greater impact, what conservation measures work and what do not.”
Carbon footprints will be measured by using a calculator compiled specifically for Jefferson County, which is provided to each team in the form of an Excel spreadsheet.
It does not include every possible source of greenhouse gases but covers most of the major greenhouse gas-producing activities by individuals.
It provides a means of converting easily measured quantities of a person’s lifestyle to quantitative emission values (measured in pounds of carbon dioxide), according to the group’s website.
The primary greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. That gas constituted 82 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2013, the EPA says.
Others are methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases such as hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride.
Binschalder would like to see at least six teams participate, saying the experiment would best operate with eight to 12 teams.
Anything more would be unwieldy, he said, adding “if we get 20 teams, we will have to spread it out.”
Binschalder said information about carbon footprints will be disseminated by team members to the general public, primarily by word of mouth.
“There are measurable amounts of greenhouse gas,” he said.
“If we can get more people to think about it in those terms, behavior will change,” he added.
“They will learn that reducing individual carbon emissions is the right path to take.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
