Climate host Nickels tries to live "green"

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels will talk a lot about the climate over the next two days.

Today and Friday, he will host 110 mayors for the national Mayors Climate Protection Summit; guests include former President Clinton, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

One conference theme, and a message Nickels has promoted, is individual actions make a difference, even to a global problem.

"Each of us in our homes and businesses can do something to make a difference," Nickels said Wednesday as he raised a "Seattle Climate Action Now" flag atop the Space Needle.

But does Nickels walk the fossil-fuel-free walk?

Based on numbers the mayor provided, his personal carbon footprint is smaller than average.

His 2006 personal footprint — how much energy he uses at home, how he commutes to work — was 8.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide, below the average Seattleite's footprint of 10.8 metric tons, according to Zerofootprint, an online calculator that measures the amount of carbon dioxide a household produces.

On the job, the mayor's travel by car and plane produced 32.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2006, based on information the city provided. Of that, 20 tons were from 10 round-trip flights he took, mostly to attend conferences.

In mid-2006, the city switched the mayor's official vehicle from a Cadillac to a Toyota sport-utility hybrid. The Mayor's Office also said the city purchased carbon offsets, which pay for other agencies to pollute less, for all plane trips city employees took in 2006.

"Obviously as mayor of the city, he has to travel," said Nickels' spokesman Marty McOmber. "You wouldn't expect the governor to stay in Olympia all the time."

Nickels and his wife, Sharon, are experimenting with ways to reduce their footprint at home.

"We're sort of just middle-of-the-road folks who want to do the right thing," the mayor said.

The family has one car, a 1998 Toyota Camry, which they have driven about 20,000 miles in the past six years. "We used to use the bus" he said. "One day we will again."

He is not a bicyclist, but if he did bike to work, he says, a security detail would have to ride alongside him in a car. The mayor's car has communication equipment so he can reach police and fire officials in an emergency.

Even as leaders make policy and institutional changes to reduce carbon emissions, personal actions have come under increased scrutiny. The personal isn't just political anymore, it's environmental.

Former Vice President Al Gore, who just won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change, was criticized by a conservative group this year for the amount of electricity his home uses. Environmental groups in England have called out Prince Charles for using his private jet too much.

At their 2,830-square-foot home in West Seattle, which was built in 1913, Nickels and his wife have worked to insulate one room a year. They spent about $200 a month in 2006 to heat the house with natural gas. The bill fell by $50 this year.

The electric bill is between $125 and $150 a month, he said earlier this year, and his family pays $12 a month in Green Up credits with Seattle City Light, which buys energy credits at a wind farm in Eastern Washington.

They have replaced some of their light bulbs with compact-fluorescent. They got rid of their gas lawn mower this year and switched to electric. They keep a margarine tub on the kitchen counter for vegetable scraps, which go into the yard-waste bin.

During a kitchen remodel, they installed Marmoleum floors (made from renewable materials), refinished some floors (reuse what you can, Nickels says), and installed new wooden cabinets (made with green technology, he said). Nickels and his wife also replaced a glass-enclosed patio with insulated walls to cut heat loss.

Other practices are harder to change, he said. They turned the water heater down, but the shower was sometimes too cold. They turned it back up.

"We're still struggling" with plastic grocery bags, he said. Nickels says he takes the bags to a preschool that reuses them. While many environmentalists would shun disposable dinnerware, he also had a stack of paper plates and napkins on the counter during a press tour.

"Do a little bit at a time," Nickels advises. "Plant a tree in the yard. If you have a chance, add insulation."

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com