Earth Day provides a great opportunity to take stock of how we can each make an individual contribution to conserving energy and reducing our environmental impact - not simply on that day but throughout the year.

As part of the Earth Day activities last month, the Concord Energy and Environment Committee launched the city into the Concord Carbon Challenge. Making a difference in the face of global environmental challenges and climate change often seems overwhelming, but simple changes in our everyday lives can make a significant difference - both in saving money through increased energy efficiency and in reducing our carbon dioxide emissions. The Carbon Challenge will help focus our efforts on making these changes.

How can we make a difference?

Changing how we use energy in our homes is an easy place to start. Roughly half of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from households through energy consumption for motor vehicles, home heating and electricity.

Simple lifestyle changes such as replacing the five most used lights with CFL bulbs can save $70 per year and reduce CO2 emissions by 600 pounds.

Putting all electronic devices on a power strip will save $60 per year and 500 pounds of CO2 emissions.

In fact, some of the most effective actions to reduce our carbon footprint are those we all can take with a just a small bit a planning and foresight.

The average New Hampshire household produces 41,000 pounds of CO2 per year. By taking the Concord Carbon Challenge, residents could reduce their carbon footprint by up to 10,000 pounds annually, or 25 percent!

Individual actions are magnified by community action. The Concord Energy and Environment Committee challenges you to become involved in the New Hampshire Carbon Challenge, a web-based initiative of the University of New Hampshire committed to providing residents and businesses with the tools and support necessary to enable households to make real and measurable changes in energy consumption and reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

To take the Concord Carbon Challenge, collect your household energy data and log on to nhcarbonchallenge.org.

Click on "Take the Challenge," and the carbon estimator will appear.

Enter your information and select those actions you'd like to take to improve energy use. You will be e-mailed a customized report. It only takes about 20 minutes to take the Carbon Challenge - and the average household will save $800 in energy costs and 16 percent of energy use annually, a terrific return on time invested.

The unique feature of the Concord Carbon challenge is the competition by city ward. Concord residents who take the Carbon Challenge will be directed to select their voting ward, and all 10 wards will have an opportunity to compete for the best participation rate by percentage of population over the next six months. When the Concord Carbon Challenge wraps up in October, prizes will be awarded to the top performing wards. We will also be measuring ourselves against other New Hampshire communities, and we want a strong showing for the capitol city!

The members of the Concord Energy and Environment Committee hope Concord residents catch the spirit of friendly competition that will lead to strong participation in the Concord Carbon Challenge. By responding to this call, we'll all contribute to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and save hundreds of dollars in the process.

(City Councilor Rob Werner chairs the Concord Energy and Environment Committee.)