Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Have you ever seen one of those plastic bag collection boxes at the grocery store? Listener Phil Trevvett has, and he wants to know what happens to those bags. 

Philip Trevvett: Is there any way to find out where those bags end up, and to ensure they’re being recycled?

We had Harrison Katz and Fatima Husain from our Possibly Team look into this. Welcome, Harrison and Fatima!

Harrison Katz: Hi, Megan!

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, before we talk about those plastic bag collection boxes, can you tell us why we can’t put those bags in our recycling bins at home? 

Harrison Katz: Well, single-use plastic bags usually can’t be mixed with the rest of your recyclables because the thin material can fall into the crevices of recycling machines and cause a lot of  damage.

Fatima Husain: Also, when plastic bags get tangled up with objects that CAN go through the recycling machines, those normally recyclable things have to get thrown out too. 

Harrison Katz: In some cases, plastic bags in recycling bins can even cause an entire truckload of recycling to get thrown out!

Fatima Husain: All of these difficulties make it hard to recycle plastic bags. And most people don’t- recent studies say that only 9% of single-use plastic bags are recycled.

Megan Hall: So some plastic bags are actually recyclable?

Harrison Katz: Yes. The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation has specialized locations for recycling plastic bags, although there aren’t many. You can also drop them in collection boxes at stores like CVS, Target, Whole Foods, and Lowes.

Megan Hall: And what happens after you’ve dropped off your bags?      

Harrison Katz: In some cases, companies like Trex purchase recycled plastic bags and other thin plastic films from these retailers. They combine them with sawdust to make composite lumber for home decks, playground equipment, and other things.

Fatima Husain: Other companies also could process the recycled plastic films into new plastic bags, crates, pipes, and pallets.

Megan Hall: So, how is it that they can process plastic bags, but our recycling centers can’t?

Harrison Katz: Unlike large recycling centers, which have equipment primarily aimed at cans and paper, these vendors specialize in plastic films and have the machinery to handle the single-use plastics.

Megan Hall: Got it. So this is where all those collected bags go? 

Fatima Husain: Unfortunately, the process is not very transparent. We know that some of the plastic film is repurposed, but don’t know how much of it. For example, if a plastic bag is wet or dirty, it’s likely that the whole lot will get ditched. 

Megan Hall: So, how many of those bags I try to recycle actually end up in the landfill?

Harrison Katz: It depends on your location. The Ecology Center Helpdesk conducted an investigation in California, and found that many locations that claimed to recycle plastics were just trashing them instead.

Fatima Husain: On the other end of the spectrum, an NPR station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, tracked retail plastic recycling and found that most of it did end up being recycled into composite lumber.

Megan Hall: So, what would you say to Phil about where his plastic bags go?

Fatima Husain: Since the jury is still out on how much of the plastic actually gets recycled, you might be better off giving your own plastic bags a second, third, or fourth life at home.

Harrison Katz: Or you can bring a reusable bag for your next shopping trip. Some stores might even offer a little discount! 

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Harrison and Fatima! 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

In another episode, we talked about electric cars and how they’re not only better for the environment, but also cheaper in the long run. 

But it’s not that easy to just switch everyone over to electric vehicles. What kind of systems do we need to make sure all those cars can stay charged and on the road? 

We had Harrison Katz and Fatima Husain from our Possibly team look into this question. Welcome Harrison and Fatima!

Harrison Katz: Hi, Megan!

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, what makes switching over to electric vehicles so complicated?

Harrison Katz: Well, the main culprit is charging stations. Currently the United States has about 43,000 public places to charge your electric vehicle. 

Fatima Husain: Compare that to the nearly 115,000 gas stations in this country and the problem is pretty obvious: we need more charging stations!

Harrison Katz: And they have to charge faster. Many charging stations can power an EV up overnight, but that’s not helpful if you’re in the middle of a road trip and need to charge up on the highway. 

Fatima Husain: Also, charging a car overnight is tricky for people who live in apartment buildings that don’t have outdoor outlets that are powerful enough to charge an EV.

Megan Hall: We don’t have any stations that can give you a quick charge?

Harrison Katz: There are some, but not many, unless you own a Tesla, which has its own network of charging stations.  

Megan Hall: So, how do we fix this?

Harrison Katz: Well, MIT had the same question. Researchers there recently completed a study on charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Fatima Husain: They took a look at major cities across the country and tried to figure out what changes would need to happen to support a huge increase in electric cars. 

Megan Hall: What did they find out?

Harrison Katz: Installing charging stations on residential city streets would make the biggest difference. This would make sure everyone has access to charging, wherever they live.

Megan Hall: But what if I’m taking a long trip, or one charge just isn’t enough to get me through the day? 

Fatima Husain: The researchers thought of that too, Megan! Their study concluded that installing high-speed charging stations along highways would take care of most of those needs. 

Megan Hall: So, those two changes would fix it?

Harrison Katz: Almost! A third and fourth step would be increasing access to electric rental cars, and adding charging stations to public places like grocery stores and malls. 

Fatima Husain: The emphasis on each of these four changes would need to vary by city, but in general, they’d be enough to support a rapid transition to electric vehicles.

Megan Hall: Okay, but how much is all of this going to cost?

Harrison Katz: The average cost to install a commercial EV charging port is around $2,500.

Fatima Husain: Multiply that by the number of ports per charging station and the number of charging stations needed, and then add in maintenance and amenities cost, and the numbers add up quickly.

Harrison Katz: But the current infrastructure bill being debated in Congress has plans to allocate billions of dollars to EV charging stations, so an electric vehicle future might be closer than you’d think!

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Harrison and Fatima! 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

 Today, we have a question from listener Anne Cohen about electric vehicles. She says—

Anne Cohen: Is it better to keep my 2015 car with a traditional combustion engine, which gets close to 40 MPG, has about 50,000 miles on it, and is in great condition, or trade it for an electric vehicle? 

Great question, Anne! We had Harrison Katz and Fatima Husain from our Possibly Team look into this. Welcome, Harrison and Fatima!

Harrison Katz: Hi, Megan!

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, we had an episode on electric cars a few years ago, but it was focused more on hybrid vehicles. How do things compare with a purely electric vehicle?

Harrison Katz: Well, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the United States Department of Energy both recently published papers on electric vehicles and how they stack up to combustion vehicles.

Megan Hall: What do the studies say?

Fatima Husain: They found that over the lifetime of a car, electric vehicles not only release fewer greenhouse gases, but they’re also cheaper in the long run!

Megan Hall: Wow! Even with their high sticker prices?

Harrison Katz: Yes! Electric cars do start with a disadvantage. In some cases, they’ll cost more than your average gas powered vehicle. But the savings in maintenance fees and fuel more than makes up for it.

Megan Hall: Really? How did they calculate that?

Harrison Katz: Well, let’s start with the cost of fueling your car. The Department of Energy’s study says the price of a gallon of gasoline usually hovers between $2.50 and $3.50. 

Fatima Husain: While the price of an equivalent amount of electricity to drive the same distance, is only $1.16.

Megan Hall: So, that’s a savings of up to about two dollars and thirty cents a gallon.

Harrison Katz: Right, which adds up to almost $1000/year for the average car and driver.

Megan Hall: But how is maintenance less expensive? I mean, my husband can repair a lot of things on our gas powered car, but I think he couldn’t really mess around with an electric one.

Harrison Katz: Well, our founder Stephen Porder just leased his first electric car, and he puts it this way…

Stephen Porder: “I think there’s something like half as many parts in this car as there are in a gas car. There’s no oil changes. There’s no muffler, there’s no exhaust.”

Fatima Husain: That study from The Department of Energy backs up what Stephen is saying. According to its calculations- maintenance for a gas powered car costs an average of 4 cents more per mile than an electric vehicle. 

Harrison Katz: And again, for the average car and driver, this adds up to another $500/year in savings.  

Megan Hall: What if you’re charging your electric vehicle in a state that gets all of its energy from burning fossil fuels? Doesn’t that lead to a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.

Harrison Katz: The good news is that even if you’re charging up using fossil-fuel based electricity, electric vehicles still emit fewer greenhouse gases.  

Fatima Husain: Stephen did some calculations and he says the emissions from driving an electric vehicle in RI are equal to getting about 160 miles per gallon in a gas car. 

Megan Hall: So, should Anne switch to an electric vehicle?

Harrison Katz: We think so. The upfront cost may be higher, but in the long run she’ll save money by skipping the gas station, the oil changes, and the muffler shops. And she’ll really reduce her greenhouse gas emissions!

Fatima Husain: Plus, Stephen says electric cars are more fun to drive. 

Harrison Katz: It seems like the future is definitely electric.

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Harrison and Fatima! 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

For the past few weeks or so, my eyes have been scratchy and I’ve had a runny nose. And I’m not alone. A lot of people are feeling the effects of spring allergies and they seem even more intense this year. That made us wonder, does climate change have anything to do with this? 

We had Harrison Katz and Fatima Husain from our Possibly team look into this question. Welcome, Harrison and Fatima!

Harrison Katz: Hi, Megan! 

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, before we talk about climate change, will you just explain how seasonal allergies work? Why do I feel this way in the spring?

Harrison Katz: To figure that out, we spoke with Dr. Julie Zweig, a physician in Atlanta, Georgia.

Julie Zweig: My specialty is ear, nose and throat, allergy, and sleep medicine.

Fatima Husain: Julie says that seasonal allergies happen when your immune system thinks pollen, or other substances in the air, are a threat. 

Julie Zweig: The body sees something… as a dangerous substance… or something that will cause harm to the body, and attacks it. 

Harrison Katz: The itchy eyes, coughing, and sneezing you feel? That’s actually your immune system reacting to the foreign substance and trying to get rid of it, just like it would with bacteria or viruses.

Fatima Husain: And allergies often flare-up in the springtime because that’s when many trees and plants release pollen.

Megan Hall: Are allergy seasons getting worse? 

Harrison Katz: Julie seems to think so. 

Julie Zweig: In my own practice, I have a lot of people coming in saying things like, wow, I have never been allergic to anything in my life. And now all of a sudden, my allergies are awful.

Megan Hall: What does this have to do with climate change? 

Harrison Katz: Climate change affects air temperatures and the intensity of our weather. And that affects how early pollen season begins, how intense it is, and how long it will last. 

Megan Hall: So, is climate change making my seasonal allergies more intense??

Fatima Husain: Dr. William Anderegg, at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah, actually conducted a study that examined whether and why pollen seasons are changing.  

William Anderegg: I suffer from fairly severe allergies myself. 

Megan Hall: What did he find out?

Fatima Husain: He says in North America— 

William Anderegg: Since the 1990s, pollen seasons have gotten longer. They’re starting about 20 days earlier, and they’ve gotten about 10 days longer. And there’s actually more pollen in the air during pollen season. 

Harrison Katz: To figure out why, William’s research team gathered data on pollen seasons from around the world, and used computer models to isolate what might be influencing them. He says the culprit was clear. 

William Anderegg: Human caused climate change is really the dominant driver of pollen season length and plays a moderate role in the pollen season severity, the amount of pollen in the air. 

Megan Hall: So, climate change is DEFINITELY affecting our allergy seasons?

Fatima Husain: Exactly. William says it’s a reminder that climate change is affecting us right now.

William Anderegg: Climate change is already impacting our health. It’s really with us in every breath we take.

Megan Hall: Are there specific things we can do to make pollen seasons more manageable?

Fatima Husain: Well, of course, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions will affect all aspects of climate change.  

Harrison Katz: But more specifically, William says we can be more thoughtful about the types of trees and flowers we grow. 

William Anderegg: We can think about urban design in which species we want to plant in order to try to minimize pollen in places where a lot of people live, things like that.

Megan Hall: Is there anything people like me can do for allergy relief right now? 

Fatima Husain: Yes. If you know you’re affected by pollen allergies, you can talk to your doctor. You can also lookup data from your local pollen station or from the National Allergy Bureau and make plans to stay indoors during high-pollen days. 

Megan Hall: Got it. Thanks, Harrison and Fatima!

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

How would you like to get all of your electricity from renewable sources? It turns out, you can, and you don’t even need to put panels on your roof to do it. 

Harrison Katz and Fatima Husain from our Possibly team are going to walk us through our options. Welcome, Harrison and Fatima!

Harrison Katz: Hi, Megan! 

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, Harrison, what do I do if I want to get renewable electricity for my home? 

Harrison Katz: To find out, we spoke with Dawn King, a Senior Lecturer in Environment and Society at Brown University.

Fatima Husain: She says, here in Rhode Island, there are actually a lot of ways to power your home with wind and solar energy, thanks to something called Renewable Energy Certificates. 

Dawn King: Those are requirements for the utilities to purchase x percentage of renewable energy. 

Harrison Katz: Because of these requirements, a portion of your electricity is already renewable.

Megan Hall: Really? I had no idea! But, what if I want ALL of my electricity to come from renewable sources? 

Fatima Husain: You can do that too. And Dawn says you have a few options, including buying your electricity from non-profits like the Green Energy Consumers Alliance. 

Megan Hall: What do they do? 

Harrison Katz: Remember those renewable energy certificates we mentioned before? 

Megan Hall: Yeah- big utilities are required to buy a certain percentage of them.

Fatima Husain: Right. Dawn says, when you buy your electricity through these non-profits, you’re paying them to buy up those certificates.

Harrison Katz: Which takes them off the market. 

Fatima Husain: Meaning… there’s not enough renewable energy left over for the big utilities to meet their requirements.

Harrison Katz: This forces them to create more solar and wind power on their own.

Megan Hall: So, if I buy energy through these non-profits, I’m helping them force local utilities to create more renewable energy?

Harrison Katz: Exactly. But Dawn says that’s not your only option. In Rhode Island, you can get your energy from the sun, without installing a single solar panel. 

Dawn King: It’s not on your rooftop, but you’re still pitching in with others to say that you’ll purchase that energy.

Fatima Husain: This new program is called “community solar” and in Rhode Island, it’s managed by a company called Arcadia. 

Megan Hall: How does it work? 

Harrison Katz: With community solar, a company builds and manages solar farms in sun-friendly locations. When you sign up, your money goes towards supporting the farms and buying their energy.  

Fatima Husain: And since those farms are designed to capture as much sunshine as possible, community solar is often more efficient than the electricity you might get off your roof.

Megan Hall: Do I have to own my house to sign up for community solar? 

Fatima Husain: No- that’s the great thing. It’s just like signing up for a utility bill. As long as it’s offered in your area, you can get it. 

Megan Hall: Cool, do I have any other options? 

Fatima Husain: Yes. You can also try something called green pricing. 

Harrison Katz: It’s pretty simple- you just pay your normal energy provider a little more money every month to buy electricity from renewable sources.

Megan Hall: How do I sign up for that? 

Fatima Husain: Watch your mail for green pricing opportunities from your utility company. 

Harrison Katz: And do a little searching on the internet! Try typing in your state or city name plus terms like renewable energy or green pricing. 

Megan Hall: Which one should I choose? 

Fatima Husain: There are differences between the options, but all of them support renewables more than doing nothing. And the bottom line is any one of them is a step towards creating fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Harrison and Fatima!

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio. 

The post How do I get renewable energy for my home? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Today, we have a question from listener David Kellogg. He’s a big fan of solar power, but he wants to know, is it better to put solar panels on your roof, or to put your money towards large scale solar installations?  

We had Harrison Katz and Fatima Husain from our Possibly Team look into this. Welcome, Harrison and Fatima!

Harrison Katz: Hi, Megan!

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, let’s take a step back. I know you can put solar panels on your roof, but what does it mean to support large-scale solar installation?

Harrison Katz: Well, in some areas of the country, you can put your money towards the cost of building and maintaining a field of solar panels in your community. 

Fatima Husain: In these arrangements, the people who help to pay for the solar farms get to share that energy to power their homes. 

Megan Hall: Cool — so you can get solar power even if you don’t want to put panels on your roof?

Fatima Husain: Exactly. 

Megan Hall: So, what’s the answer to David’s question? If he wants to use solar power, should he put panels on his roof, or pay to support a big solar farm?

Harrison Katz: To find the answer, we talked to Myles Lennon, an assistant professor of environment and society and anthropology at Brown University.  

Myles Lennon: If David were here, I would bombard him with a bunch of questions.

Harrison Katz: Myles says it’s hard to give advice without knowing more about David’s situation- 

Myles Lennon: his economic constraints, what policies exist in his area. What kind of potential there is for generating a large solar array? What solar developers are developing community shared solar projects…

Megan Hall: Ok, but, let’s just run some possible scenarios. What if  there IS the option of subscribing to a community solar farm.

Fatima Husain: Easy. Myles says in most cases, you should go for it!

Myles Lennon: it certainly is much much much easier becoming a community of solar subscribers than it is to put solar panels on your own roof. 

Harrison Katz: Myles says, with community solar, you’re just paying for a project that already exists and you don’t have to deal with the hassle of getting panels on your roof. 

Fatima Husain: Supporting solar this way is also cheaper. 

Megan Hall: But what if you don’t have this option near you? Or, maybe you don’t like the idea of using open space for solar farms?

Fatima Husain: In that case, consider going with panels at your house. But first, make sure your roof is up to the job. 

Myles Lennon: Do you have good regular exposure to the sun, a lack of obstructions or shade? Is your roof in good condition? 

Harrison Katz: If the answers to these questions are yes, and you own your own home, try installing solar panels.  

Megan Hall: But those solar panels can be expensive. What if I don’t have the money to buy them up front? Or I’m nervous about getting a loan?

Fatima Husain: Myles says you can try a third option — something called a power purchase agreement. 

Megan Hall: What’s that?

Harrison Katz: Here’s how Myles explains it — 

Myles Lennon: basically a third party pays for the cost of the solar panels and they technically own the solar and you benefit from the electricity being produced. It’s sort of a win win. 

Fatima Husain: In other words, the company pays for the solar power equipment and installation, you get to use the solar energy, and you pay the company for that power for about a couple of decades.   

Megan Hall: So, what’s in it for me?

Harrison Katz: Well, the electricity is usually cheaper than what you’d pay if you bought fossil-fuel based electricity from your local utility.  

Megan Hall: Ok, so it sounds like David has a lot of options!

Harrison Katz: Yes, and in this case, there really isn’t a “best” way to go about it. Any form of solar power will lower your greenhouse gas emissions in a meaningful way. So, just pick the type that works for you and sign up!

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Harrison and Fatima! 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and the Public’s Radio. 

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Today we have a question from Freya McGeoch. She wants to know about paper recycling.

Freya McGeoch: I wasted a lot of paper because I just like to draw randomly, but my parents say it’s okay if I recycle it, but I don’t know what happens when it gets recycled.

We had Harrison Katz and Fatima Husain from our Possibly Team look into this. Welcome, Harrison and Fatima!

Harrison Katz: Hi, Megan!

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, what does happen when you recycle paper?

Harrison Katz: As you probably know, once you bring your bin out to the curb, it’s hauled to a recycling plant. 

Fatima Husain: Most of these plants recycle many different kinds of materials, but there are some around the country that focus entirely on paper. 

Megan Hall: So, what happens after the paper reaches the plant?

Fatima Husain: Then it enters the second step of the recycling system: processing. 

Harrison Katz: If the paper arrives at a multi-purpose plant, that means it first gets separated from all of the other recyclables.

Karissa Jones: There’s a combination of machines that sort it out, and also people. 

Fatima Husain: That’s Karissa Jones, she works for Waste Management out in Seattle, Washington. 

Karissa Jones: In that process, we’re relying on the fact that paper is flat, other materials are three dimensional. And so we’re sorting out the paper from every other recyclable material. 

Harrison Katz: Once the paper is on its own, it’s sorted based on its grade. 

Megan Hall: What do you mean by grade?

Harrison Katz: Well, the grade basically tells you the quality of the paper, and what it was used for in the past. This determines what it can be turned into in the future. 

Fatima Husain: For example, Freya’s paper is recycled differently depending on whether she draws on copy paper or cardstock.

Harrison Katz: Once the paper has been sorted, it enters phase 3: remanufacturing. This is when the paper actually gets turned into something else, that is, IF it hasn’t been recycled too many times already.  

Fatima Husain: Karissa says some materials can be recycled basically forever, but not paper.

Karissa Jones: it can be recycled up to seven times. Maybe a piece of cardboard, gets recycled into, say, office paper. And eventually, it might end up as a paper towel or a napkin. At that point, it’s kind of at the end of its life in terms of recycling. 

Megan Hall: So, paper only has seven lives!  

Harrison Katz: Yes! And some papers have fewer lives than that! In fact, only about 75% of paper collected at recycling plants can be reused at all.

Megan Hall: Why? 

Fatima Husain: Well, the other 25% is often too contaminated with food waste and other forms of trash to be turned into something else. 

Megan Hall: Is that why I can’t recycle my pizza boxes?

Harrison Katz: Yes, and it’s also why you shouldn’t try to put used paper plates or napkins in your recycling bin either.

Megan Hall: So, it sounds like a majority of the paper we recycle does get reused, but what’s the energy cost of all of this processing? 

Fatima Husain: It’s actually pretty high. The energy used to recycle one sheet of office paper could power an LED light bulb for hours. 

Megan Hall: Woah. So, is it even worth it to recycle paper? 

Harrison Katz: Well, that’s still 31% less energy than it takes to make a new sheet of paper, plus, it means we’re cutting down fewer trees. So, yes, recycling still makes sense.

Megan Hall: So, what’s the take-away for Freya? 

Fatima Husain: Well, using about a third less energy is great, but using no energy is even better.

Harrison Katz: To save energy, Freya might want to use scrap paper for doodling, and save the new paper for her best artwork. And for doodling, use both sides of the paper for sure.  

Megan Hall: I’ll let her know! Thanks, Harrison and Fatima! And thanks to Angela Zhang and Olivia George for their help with this episode. 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. 

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and the Public’s Radio. 

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