Households can significantly reduce their carbon footprint through actions that require no new laws and no loss of wellbeing, according to a new study.

Some 7.4 percent of current emissions from American households can be reduced or completely done away with if people made their homes energy efficient, the study by Michigan State University found.  Easy improvements include:  using a clothes line instead of a dryer and upgrading home heating systems.

Researchers identified 33 specific energy-saving actions ranging from weather-stripping of homes and using slow-flow shower heads to reducing laundry temperatures and driving at highway speeds of less than 90 kilometres per hour.

The actions would appreciably reduce energy consumption and either cost little or offer attractive returns on investment without requiring changes in lifestyle.

But the study says comprehensive marketing efforts that combine mass media promotions, community-based information campaigns and informal social pressures with financial incentives would be required to induce enough American households to make the necessary changes.

The study sites the Obama administration’s ‘cash-for-clunkers’ program as an example of a promotional campaign that can change behaviour through marketing, financial incentives and consumer convenience. The rebate program resulted in the purchase of nearly 700,000 more fuel efficient cars and trucks.

“Our estimates … provide a reasonable initial guide to what can be achieved by active promotion,” write the research team.

Direct energy use by US households, including non-business travel, is a leading source of greenhouse gases and accounted for 626 million tonnes of carbon in 2005. That equals 38 percent of US carbon emissions and 8 percent of global emissions - more than the total emissions of any single country except China.

Click here for more on the study.