Jeff & I finally got around to watching the movie An Inconvenient Truth last night. Boy does it make you think. It is really amazing the destruction we our doing to our planet. Whether you like Al Gore or not, the facts are startling and frankly, scary as hell. But the good news is that we can make a difference. But the catch is, you actually have to act. You can't rely on others to take care of it for you. Here are some simple steps you can take today to help save our home, our children's home and the home of generations to come.
1. Change a Light bulb
Replace one regular light bulb with a compact florescent one will save 150 lbs of CO2 a year.
2. Drive Less
Bike, walk, car pool, use the bus whenever you can. For every mile you don't drive, you save 1 lb of CO2.
3. Recycle more
You can save 2400lbs of CO2 a year if you recycle only half your household waste. If you don't recycle, call your garbage provider and ask if they have a recycling service. If they don't, ask them why.
4. Check your tires & keep your car tuned up
Properly inflated tires improves gas mileage by 3%. 1 gallon of gas saved keeps 20 lbs of CO2 out of the air.
When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.
When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.
5. Use less hot water
It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Install a low flow shower head (saves 350 lbs per year) and wash clothes on cold or warm cycles (saves 500 lbs per year). Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket. You’ll save 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple action. You can save another 550 pounds per year by setting the thermostat no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Avoid products with a lot of packaging
You can save 1200 lbs of CO2 by cutting your garbage by 10%.
7. Adjust your thermostat
By moving your thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer you can save 2000 lbs per year.
8. Plant a tree (or many trees!)
Each tree absorbs a ton of CO2 in its lifetime.
9. Turn off electronic devices
Turn off TV, DVD, computer, and any other electronic devices when not in use can save thousands of pounds a year.
10. See this movie... and encourage everyone you know to watch it as well.
If you would like to learn more please visit http://www.climatecrisis.net/.
2 comments:
I LOVED that movie! Thanks for the list of great reminders...
I saw Al Gore on Oprah the other day and I admit he does a decent job of presenting his side of the case, but I have a problem with him selling a movie and a book about it, even though he claims the profits go to saving the earth. There was another scientist brought on later however, who pointed out several issues in his claims that don't hold water scientifically. So although I agree with some of what he said, he seems to fail to want to admit that cyclical cycles occur in our earth's environment, atomposhere and climate,etc. Given that fact, and the definite fact that man has only been on an earth for an extremely small if not microscopic portion of the earths historical timeline, it makes me wonder why we assume the earth is supposed to continue with us as a part of it for the rest of its existence - which shows the ultimate arrogance of us as a species. We may not be a part of the long term plan for earth, certainly there ares some religious books out there that state the very fact. Wow, I can't believe I said all that ^$*&#*.
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