CoolCalifornia.org

CoolCalifornia.org is a website for Californians with resources to help them reduce their impact on the environment and combat climate change. The website is geared towards different audiences, including: individuals, small businesses, local government, youth, community organizations, and schools. The website currently features two carbon footprint calculators. One is for individuals and households and one is for small businesses; a similar tool for local governments is under development.[1]

History

CoolCalifornia.org was created by a team of California State agencies, universities and a nonprofit organization. Partners include the California Air Resources Board, the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, the California Energy Commission, Next 10,[2] and the California Public Utilities Commission.[3]

Tools

CoolCalifornia.org offers a variety of resources for all types of Californians looking to reduce their impact on the environment. Such resources include: carbon calculators,[4] ideas and tips to save money, case studies of small businesses and local governments that have "gone green," lists of rebate programs, and resource lists linking to other websites. The site offers guidelines called "toolkits" for small businesses, local governments, and schools. These toolkits help people learn how to create climate action plans.

The carbon calculators are California-specific and calculate both direct greenhouse gas emissions, such as from fuel burned in your car or a natural gas furnace, and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, such as those emitted at power plants, or embedded in food or purchased goods. For both the household and small business calculators, all calculations are transparent and references are provided.[5][6] CoolCalifornia.org's household carbon calculator has been ranked among the most robust available,[7] even though various carbon footprint calculators can produce different carbon footprint results.[8][9][10]

Awards

CoolCalifornia.org offered its first Small Business Awards in 2009.[11] One of the awards given out was for Organization of the Year.[12] Another award was given out for Small Business of the Year.[13] Excellence awards were also given out to organizations and businesses.[14]

See also

References
  1. "How big is your carbon footprint?". SFGate. 18 April 2008.
  2. "Next 10". www.next10.org.
  3. "About Us - Cool California". coolcalifornia.arb.ca.gov.
  4. "CoolCalifornia carbon calculator for households and families". www.californiagreensolutions.com.
  5. "Calculator for Households & Individuals - Cool California". coolcalifornia.arb.ca.gov.
  6. "Calculator for Small Business - Cool California". coolcalifornia.arb.ca.gov.
  7. Bottrill, Catherine (2007). Internet-based carbon tools for behaviour change. Report from the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford. Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Padgett, J. Paul, Anne C. Steinemann, James H. Clarke, Michael P. Vandenbergh (2008). A comparison of carbon calculators. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 28, 106-115.
  9. Rauber, Paul. Carbon Confessional: How to come clean about your greenhouse gasses. Sierra Magazine, September/October 2008.
  10. Trageser, Claire. Want to calculate a carbon footprint? Good luck, because numbers can vary widely. Seattlepi.com, July 25, 2008.
  11. "New Release: 2009-12-02 California's best climate-smart small businesses;". www.arb.ca.gov.
  12. "40 Years of Award-Winning Environmental Programs".
  13. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2010-03-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. https://www.bc3sfbay.org/blog/post/754%5B%5D
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