Want to Shrink Your Carbon Footprint? Think Food.

In moving for a year to New York City from Ann Arbor, Mich., a small Midwestern college town, the biggest change for me has not been the shift from a house to a high-rise and a living space that is only one-third as big.

The difference was apparent the first day. As in previous moves, settling in included many trips to the hardware store for this and that. But this time it was not a simple matter of getting directions and driving there. It was confronting a subway system with 26 different lines. And, after reaching Home Depot and making my purchases, I had to figure out how to get them home. (I learned that most stores in Manhattan offer delivery services for a fee.)

Even the most mundane details of daily life, including meal planning, have changed. In Michigan I had the luxury of "last-minute cuisine," routinely making a dinner plan at 6 p.m., heading for the grocery store that is a three-minute drive from my house, grabbing a few things and returning home, all inside of 20 minutes. Here the grocery store is a 15-minute walk from our apartment building. The return trip is longer because I am lugging my purchases in a wire shopping cart. With each grocery outing taking at least 40 minutes, I plan ahead and shop for groceries only once or twice a week.

Traveling by subway has not proven to be a timesaver, but the time is allocated differently. On a 60-minute car trip you can while away the time by listening to the radio or music. On a subway you can read. The rush hour is still stressful, but the defensive maneuvers are different. Sandwiched into a subway car, you have to be watchful of backpack-wearing riders who never seem to realize how often their backpacks whack other passengers.

As I adjusted, I thought there was at least one upside. My new lifestyle would be more benign for the planet. Surely, by not driving and by living in a much smaller space, I had significantly reduced my ecological footprint, a measurement of how much of the earth's resources each of the world's 6.6 billion people are using.

I turned to the Global Footprint Network's "Personal Footprint" calculator (http://www.footprintnetwork.org) to check. To remind Web site visitors in a not-so-subtle way that most people in developed nations lead a profligate lifestyle, the calculator expresses the amount of resources an individual uses in numbers of planets. For example, if everyone assumed the lifestyle of a typical American, we would need 5.2 earths.

My own results were discouraging. Excising a car and embracing apartment living reduced my footprint by only six-tenths of a planet, compared with my life in Ann Arbor. And, at 5.1 planets, that was only marginally more benign than the score of the average American. When I also excised air travel, my New York footprint went down by an entire planet to 4.1.

Dismayed, I consulted Justin Kitzes of the Global Footprint Network, who helped design the calculator and recently updated it. There was no mistake. "Big changes in your own life may only make a small dent in your footprint," he said. "What you eat and buy has almost as big an effect on your footprint as mobility and shelter."

Elaborating on Kitzes's disconcerting message, Greg Searle of BioRegional North America, a nonprofit that encourages commercially viable low-impact development, said that to reach true sustainability, or what he calls "one planet living," we need to change the way we conceptualize communities and extend our purview beyond shelter, transportation and the workplace to include food, the other essential for human survival.

The average American consumes nearly as many resources meeting food needs as he does for shelter; compared with transportation, food needs consume two-thirds as much, Searle said. The food-related resources include not only the fuel used to transport food across the country, but also the "hidden" energy consumed in the manufacture of fertilizers used to grow the crops and the fuel used to power farm machinery.

A big chunk of this "food-related energy" can be reduced when food is locally grown with non-fossil-fuel based, organic fertilizers, Searle said. This could become a common practice if food needs were factored into the planning of new communities and productive farmland was set aside instead of being converted into areas for buildings, streets and parks. This approach would also require that the professionals who create new communities -- land planners, architects, home builders, land developers and civil engineers -- bring additional expertise to the table, such as farmers and agricultural engineers.

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To Personalize Your Garden, Think Beyond Plants

When homeowners cut their landscaping budget, they typically get rid of things such as garden pools, fountains, walls, seating, sculpture, containers and lighting. But these elements, which can be grouped together as "site amenities," contribute to the impact of a garden.

These additions can cost thousands of dollars, or they can cost nothing. Whether you are scavenging for the right sculptural element, such as a rock, log, shell or driftwood, or commissioning a $200,000 work of art, the investment can be worth it. Once you get used to site amenities, you'll always want them for the comfort and interest they provide. Even pink flamingo lawn ornaments can look good if placement is considered in advance, perhaps under a banana tree or by a pool.

· Garden pools. Position garden pools in sunny areas so plants will thrive and the water won't collect a lot of leaves and debris. Bring the pool into balance by creating a complete, living, breathing ecosystem. Install flowering aquatic plants. They will shade the algae and subdue its growth. Snails will clean the pool and a pump will recirculate and aerate the water. Add tadpoles and fish that can be trained to eat out of your hand. You can get complete information on installing and maintaining a water feature from companies that specialize in fountains and ponds. Local companies are listed under these headings in the Yellow Pages.

· Fountains. The appeal of water is so strong that almost every garden has an area that can benefit from a fountain. In addition to beauty, fountains add sound. Self-contained, freestanding units are available in fiberglass, metal, ceramic, stone, bamboo, glass and concrete. Styles vary from plain to ornate; rustic to formal; bubble to spray in a wide range of prices. Most homeowners can install a self-contained fountain. The constant flow of water in fountains is not conducive to growing aquatic plants.

· Walls. Walls add stability to a site. Retaining walls can provide level areas for seating, water retention and plants. Stone walls can serve as sculptural elements, too. Building a low rock retaining wall can be a simple garden project for cool weather. Natural fieldstone walls can add appeal to a property, especially one located on a slope.

· Seating. A comfortable place to sit provides function, aesthetics and somewhere to relax in your garden. Lash a hammock between two trees for the classic picture of summer laziness or attach it to a self-standing frame so you can move it around from patio to pool to perennial garden. Anything can serve as a seat -- rocks, walls, tree stumps. You can sit on simple folding chairs or ornate stone benches. A well-placed, well-designed bench can sometimes be the most appealing amenity in a garden. Place a bench in a separate area off the path and you have a destination. Use cast stone, wood or iron, whatever is consistent with your design. Put it in a location that will provide maximum enjoyment and incentive to stay in the garden. Comfortable sitting heights for most adults are 17 to 22 inches with a seat depth of 12 to 20 inches.

· Sculpture. Objects that add ornamental interest are excellent accents to your garden. Sculptural elements can make a plain space special. Use one to grace an entry. Integrate a favorite found piece or statue into the garden or in some way use ornamentation that reflects its surroundings. Back up sculpture with shrubbery. Relate it to a grove of trees. Set it in a bed of ground cover. Work it into the landscape design. One way to use the size of statuary or ornamental objects to psychologically influence garden proportions is by placing a large sculptural element directly across from a smaller piece. This makes sculptures appear farther apart than they actually are. A small statue placed on a low level makes its surroundings look larger. A small object elevated appears farther away. Large statuary near the observer diminishes the importance of the other surroundings.

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