Have YOU made any changes ?
Some people strongly disagree with "global warming" but I agree that our environment is in trouble, I know that just a few simple changes per person can protect future generations. So I am curious if you have made any changes.
This is what I have done:
-I have better insulated my house
result.. immediate comfort
-prior to anyone making a movie about it LowE energy effecient windows result ... cool in the summer/warm in the winter
-Recycling is manadotory in my city I have made a stronger effort to recycle and reuse more. result less junk in landfills
-I am slowly switching to the new lightbulbs they are talking about, result, I think they speak for themselves!
-I donate all my old clothes to charity.. which doesnt really have anything to do with the environment, but its still less stuff sitting in a landfill.
-When going to anywhere where my car will be parked a bank drive through, I turn the engine off.
There is still so much more I could do but I am trying!
Comments
Yes, my family has made changes to help with the impact we make on the environment.
We have:
Sold our second car and started walking or riding a bike to the places we go within a 6 mile radius of our home.
Converted any light that we use for more than 1 hour continously a day to LED.
Stopped using the dryer for washed clothing and use it only on heavy items that would mildew while hanging (jeans and towels). We only use the dryer for 1 load a week.
Started using cloth napkins and cloth handtowels instead of paper towels and paper napkins.
Close our drapes when the sun shines in to keep our home cool.
Open the windows to get a cross breeze through our home instead of turning on the air conditioning.
Limited our TV time to 1 - 2 hours a day.
Listen to Internet Radio if we are online instead of using the radio or boombox.
No using hairdryers - we let our hair dry by it''s self.
Shower in the afternoon, if it is hot, instead of the morning, or in the evening. Cools us down, especially while our hair dries.
Shop on a daily basis instead of loading up for a week or two at a time. We walk to the grocery store together (it's a mile away) and throw out less unused food.
We shop at the local farmers' market to cut down the travel distance of our food.
Wether you believe in global warming or not, it is absolutely undeniable that humans have affected the environment and can help reverse some of the effects.
The acid rain near Detroit that has harmed the Canadian forests and the acid rain that has decimated parts of the Black Forest in Germany have been ongoing to at least 2 decades. This was big news in the 80's and 90's.
Air Quality in many cities is so bad that summertime is an alert time for emergency health care providers. There are warnings on the nightly news about watching for signs of breathing distress for children and seniors.
Ground water pollution is becoming a serious concern - most of this is tied up in courts as legal lawsuits and is not well publicised. It still remains an issue that will continue to affect more of us in the next 20 years.
The ozone layer - the hole is huge and has not been getting any smaller. The US stopped the use of aerosol propellant, but other emerging nations have not. The decrease in the protective layer of ozone allows harmfull radiation to penetrate the atmosphere, resulting in an increase of cancers, skin and others, in animals as well as people.
So even if you don't think that the earth is getting warmer due to human activity - pollution is still being generated and continues to pollute you and your life.
Additionally, the change to greener living can create lifestyle changes for those who are willing to attempt the change. Benefits of green living can include:
More time with family and freinds - walking to the store, hanging clothes to dry, hand drying dishes, cooking a meal, gardening are all activites that can be done as a group.
Better health - riding a bike to close errands, shopping trips and work burns those calories instead of spending time running in an enclosed gym - brething everybody else's germs. Walking - an excercise just about anyone can do.
Saves money - Walking and bike riding - less gas expense, save money on dieting and going to a gym, buying smaller amounts and having less to throw away.
Life is all connected - making a change in one area can make changes in all the rest. It's really not that hard.
We do not have air an air conditioner, so when it's hot, we open the windows. We live on top of a hill so we normally alway have a breeze.
We are putting in some trees that will help keep the heat off the house in the summer and drop leaves in the winter to let the sun hit the house.
We completely turned off the heater by shutting off the gas line to it, so in the winter, if we get cold, we bundle and wear socks.
We try to keep everything that we don't use on a daily basis unpluged. We hang our clothes out to dry and only wash full loads. The grey wash water runs into troughs that feeds into garden and trees areas. We mulch absolutely EVERYthing so we can keep watering to a minimum.
We use energy efficient appliances and light bulbs, and replaced our windows in the house...next step is to get protective window film.
We recycle about 85% of what we use...paper is never tossed, all plastic is recycled, and we even walk the neighborhood picking up trash and recycleables. Kitchen scraps are composted or given to the animals. We try to grow edible flowers and grow as much fruit for ourselves, rather than buying it. We even raise our own meat and eggs.
Yes, I have tried to make as many changes as I can, being a kid (well, not really a kid anymore, but I still live at home until I go to college next year). I recycle everything I can, my family even recycles cardboard, which the city does not pick up. We are also switching to Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs, and I unplug my computer when I'm not using it (does that really help?). I clean up litter with my school's environmental group (of which I am a founding member) and we run a plastic and aluminum recycling program at our school. I do all of this, not as a result of global warming, but because I am concerned about the environment (although I believe in global warming).
I have made several changes. I rarely drive anywhere. I walk when I can to do errands, go places like dinner, or socializing, etc. I use reusable bags when shopping. I recycle, recycle, recycle. I have been known to sort out recycling from my mom's trash and other people's houses. I use energy efficient lightbulbs, appliances, etc. Buy local and sustainable foods. So many things that I can't list right now... But, importantly, I am finishing a master's in Sustainable Managment so that not only am I making changes in my own life, but ready to make changes in the world around me on a larger scale.
Recycling isn't mandatory for me, but we do recycle: the incentive is getting paid for it! I also walk to and from work during the hottest times of the day. I participate in a freecycle site which allows peope to recycle for free items that they no longer need. I only watch tv for like 1 1/2 hours a day. I always turn off the lights if I am not using it. I also have a book light that I use when reading at night. I only use the car for doctors appointments and visiting family members. I think that's about it.
1. I recycle, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! I freecycle, and I donate electronics to special recycling efforts, as best I can.
2. I am using more efficient energy saving light bulbs.
3. I installed ceiling fans to reduce the use of air conditioning, and I open my windows in the spring and summer. I close my shades in the summer to reduce the amount of heat inside the house, and we had our roof painted with reflective paint which also reduces the amount of cooling we need in the summer.
4. I use public transportation as much as possible, and I walk.
5. I vacuum the coils of my fridge every year to improve its performance, and I change the filters in my airconditioning.
What I need to do, put my electrical appliances on surge protectors that have a switch, so they are not drawing power when I am not home.
The climate is always changing. However when you see temperatures change faster than what has occurred in the past and when you find good correlation between rising CO2 levels and rising global temperatures over the past century, you have a pretty good idea that it is not completely natural. Edit: you are probably waiting for somebody to use the word correlation so that you can say correlation does not equal causality, which is true. The causality comes from the physics of CO2 absorbing IR radiation. Edit: ohh, somebody below me tried to post a link to a wall street journal opinion piece, however failed to post the link properly. That is the problem with deniers, they think opinion pieces actually have some validity.
six years ago I decided to cut costs in my budget, and I now do most every service job needed by myself. I save on gas in the process. I don't order pizza anymore to save on the driver's gas and my tip. I don't buy what I don't need, therefore saving the gas for the USPS guy. When I do shop I make one trip and do everything I need in that one trip per month. On a c-span program aired the other day they said that if you do all the 10 cost-cutting items with regard to the automobile that you would save $300 per year so I figure they owe me $300. I drive about 1,000 miles a year. I save on insurance costs since my car is 20 years old. If I buy fewer packaged foods and then recycle what I do buy, I figure I've saved. Everything I own is re-used. I've had a shirt and slacks that I wear everywhere and have been wearing for the past 8 years (no holes yet). My $10 shoes last 5 years. I don't waste money on make-up. I hand wash clothes in my sink and line dry them saving soap and electricity. There's more, but enough for now.
As a more serious answer, I applaud your efforts! Seriously, if everybody just made a few changes the snowball effect of it would be astounding!
I try to do my part. I've used CFL's for years, just as much for the $$ savings in energy savings as for the energy savings equaling less pollution to create the energy. I recently switched to biking to work, 35 miles round trip, instead of driving. I do it nearly as much for the health benefits and savings in gas money as for the avoiding the poisons shovelled out by my tailpipe. I use cloth napkins at home, but just as much because they seem classy and cool as the preventing of more landfill waste.
I do other things, but I think the important thing to me is that it's been so much easier for me with each change I've made when I have been able to put a positive spin on the situation for me which has made it seem less like I was "suffering" to help the environment and more like we both win! It makes it seem much more like a selfish thing than a selfLESS one, but we do all win that way!
1.I have changed out all the light bulbs in my house to the energy saving ones.
2.I recycle water bottles.
3.Turn out lights when I'm leaving a room.
4.Use the environmentally friendly air sprays.
5.Don't watch T.V.
6.Only buy organic foods.
7.Use ceiling fans instead of A/C.
8.Spend limited time on electronics everyday.
9.Re-use the backs of typed on paper for the printer.