What You Can Do
Conserve gas
Fossil fuel emissions are an enormous contributor to air pollution. Over 66 million tons of these emissions are produced annually by U.S. citizens driving their personal vehicles. If Americans drove one day less every week, we could save almost 4.2 billion gallons of gas from being burned each year and dramatically reduce these emissions.
To conserve gas:
- Try alternative forms of transportation. Organize a carpool to work. Take public transportation if available. For short trips, try walking as a heart-healthy alternative.
- Consolidate your trips. Make a weekly or biweekly grocery stop. If you don’t have trash pick-up, take it to the collection site weekly or biweekly (separating your recyclables will reduce garbage). Schedule family activities so they coincide with each other.
Conserve energy at home
Up to 40% of the energy consumed by Americans goes to heating and cooling homes and heating water. From 30% to 50% of this energy can be lost due to inefficiently maintained systems.
To curb energy loss and cut energy costs for your home:
- Tune and clean you furnace and/or air conditioner. A small investment in a professional maintenance service provider once a year may eventually save you hundreds of dollars in heating and cooling costs.
- Insulate and drain you water heater. Being careful to avoid exposed wires, wrap your water heater in blankets or insulation batting to retain heat. Also, use the spigot located at the bottom of the device to drain off about 2 quarts of water every other month. This removes harmful sediment build up and increases the life span and efficiency of the appliance.
- Fill your fridge. Filling in the empty spaces in your refrigerator and freezer reduces the area the appliance must cool. Rinse used 20 oz. or 2 liter plastic bottles and fill them ¾ full of water for this purpose.
Conserve water
Every day, millions of gallons of water go down the drain, sometimes as much as 5 gallons per minute in a single sink. This translates not only to hundreds of dollars in water and sewage costs per household, per year, but also to hundreds of thousands of gallons of fresh water lost to evaporation and contamination. Because the amount of H2O on the planet Earth never changes, the water we use will be used by our great-grandchildren and their great-grandchildren and so on. Saving water now not only insures a clean and plentiful supply for future generations, but can also produce appreciable savings in utility costs.
To conserve water:
- Install aerators in your sinks and faucets. The pressure will remain even due to the mixing of air with the flow, but the water used can be cut by as much as 50%. These pieces of hardware are generally inexpensive and available at most home improvement stores.
- Turn it off. When brushing your teeth, shaving, washing dishes or your car, up to 5 gallons of water per minute may be wasted as your faucet or hose runs idle. Simply turning off the water when not in use can add up to tremendous savings.
- Use toilet tank displacement. It takes from 5 to 10 gallons of water to flush an average toilet. Low-flow toilet devices often compound this problem by requiring extra flushes to get the job done. A simple and less noticeable way to shave off a few gallons is to displace the water in your tank. Accomplish this by filling some old plastic containers with water and placing them in the tank to ‘trick’ your toilet into using less water to fill and flush.
Much of the water we use never sees its full potential. It is often used once and swirls down the drain still capable of serving many uses. This ‘gray’ water could assist in conservation.
To reuse “gray’ water:
- Plug the drain when you take a shower. Collect the water and use in the garden or on houseplants. Most soaps that are safe on your skin are safe for plants.
- Save water from the final rinse cycle of your washing machine and use it to wash your car or floors.
- Place rain barrels or watering cans at the corners of your house to collect runoff. Use it for a multitude of tasks that don’t require drinking quality water.
Reduce waste
Of the tens of millions of tons of garbage Americans throw away each year, almost a third of it is consumer waste. Single serving containers, individual wrappers, beverage containers, grocery bags and disposable dishes and utensils rapidly fill already stressed landfills. Every individual can help reduce this problem by becoming a responsible consumer and considering the impacts of products before making purchases.
To reduce consumer waste:
- Buy in bulk. Buying products in large amounts and later separating them into smaller portions for storage not only saves on unnecessary packaging but also tends to be cheaper in the long run. Compare the price per ounce when shopping.
- Buy recycled materials. Buying products made from recycled materials helps boost the market for recyclables while reducing the market for ‘virgin’ resources.
Think about the environmental impact made by the industry that produces a product. Research the facts and shop accordingly. You can decrease your contribution to processes that are detrimental to the environment.
- Do they practice sustainable management?
- Do they contribute to deforestation or industrial water pollution?
- How much of a waste vs. product ratio is there?
Recycle
It can take 5 times the amount of raw materials to produce one ton of a refined material such as aluminum or glass. This waste of resources may be cut by 80% or more if recycled material is used. For this to happen we must separate recyclable materials from the rest of our garbage.
To recycle:
- It is often easier to start with one material at a time. Separate glass, paper and plastics from your garbage for one week to determine which material you throw away the most.
- Obtain a large but easy to handle container, such as a large box or trashcan, and begin separating the most common material regularly. Contact your local city or county government to find the drop off site nearest you.
- Increase the items you recycle. In no time, recycling can become a very good habit.
Help wildlife
One of the biggest problems facing wild animals today is loss of native habitat. Human encroachment on wild spaces means less natural food, water and shelter sources for wildlife. If you live in a rural or suburban area you can easily attract and increase the wildlife in your neighborhood.
To safely attract wildlife:
- Create a water source. Water is the primary need of all life and by providing a fresh and constant source you increase the odds of survival for local species. Birdbaths and back yard ponds are a great way to accomplish this and create an aesthetically pleasing area in your yard.
- Provide food. A second need for sustaining life is food, the more natural the better. If you have the space, try planting a small garden of ‘wild friendly’ foods such as seed corn, sunflowers, blueberries or blackberries. If possible, use plants that fruit or seed at different times of year to provide a year-round food source. If space is limited or soil conditions are undesirable, place feeders in accessible locations and offer food choices that attract several different species.
- Offer shelter. Animals need shelter for protection from weather and predators. Bushes, hedgerows and small brush piles near the edge of the yard all provide excellent cover and shelter. Hang bird and bat boxes for nesting and roosting species, too.
Human encroachment being what it is, the quest for food and shelter can sometimes lead animals into dangerous situations. If you live in an urban setting or heavily populated area, it can be more beneficial to discourage wildlife rather than entice it.
To discourage wildlife from unsafe places:
- Clean up possible food and water attractants. Turn buckets upside-down. Clean BBQ grilles.
- Properly bag and store garbage and clean up excess pet food.
- Remove brush and high weeds from the yard and keep plants and bushes trimmed well off the ground.
- Stack building materials on blocks or saw horses.
- Exclude wildlife with fences.
- Maintain underpinning and chimney grates and firmly pack holes around external plumbing.
Get involved!
Conservation doesn’t have to stop at the front door or the edge of the yard. Getting involved in community activities such as recycling drives and efforts to clean up local litter can be a great way to help the environment. Volunteering your time not only helps reduce the time and cost of action for conservation organizations, but also sets an example for others to step forward and volunteer as well.
If you can’t donate time, then donate money. Helping to fund nonprofit organizations at home or abroad can have a major impact on the environment by increasing these organizations' ability to conserve. Often donations are tax-deductible and do not have to be large. Even a dollar makes a difference if enough people get involved. Choosing an organization can be easy, too. For a comprehensive, alphabetical list of nonprofit organizations and their goals, visit
To get involved:
- Become more informed about local, national and worldwide conservation issues.
- Become a N.C. Zoo Volunteer and help educate visitors about conservation issues.
- Use your buying power as a consumer to support conservation-minded companies, such as those that use recycled materials in their products and packaging.
- Support a non-governmental organization that works to save wildlife and wild places: Conservation International (website), World Wide Fund for Nature (website) and The Nature Conservancy (website).
- Let your state and federal government officials know how you feel about a particular issue and what action should be taken.
Use this link to find out who represents you at the state and federal level: http://www.govspot.com
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N.C. Zoo is a member institution of AZA and an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr. Secretary; Michael F. Easley, Governor. A part of the North Carolina Government portal.
The Zoo is closed Christmas day and during severe weather. Call our information line at: 1-800-488-0444.
