Global Warming- spin off

So i know we are all so sad about what is going on in terms of global warming- but I never see a post about what WE can do about it. It's like we are expecting the government to tell us to do something- or are waiting for them to act... which wont' happen b/c we all know it isn't in big-business' interest to do so.

So why don't we all just do something? One thing on this list would help if everyone did it- so here's a few things we can do- and I think we should all come back and post what we've done- like the weight loss thread- but this is an energy loss thread!

switch to energy-efficient lighting - Replace the familiar incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. For each CFL bulb replacement, you'll lower your energy bill and keep nearly 700 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air over the bulb's lifetime. CFL bulbs last much longer and use only a quarter of the energy consumed by conventional bulbs.

buy energy-efficient appliances - When shopping for a new appliance - especially a major appliance such as a refrigerator, dishwasher, or air-conditioner - select the one with the highest energy efficiency rating. By opting for a refrigerator with the Energy Star label -- indicating it uses at least 15 percent less energy than the federal requirement -- you can reduce carbon dioxide pollution by nearly a ton in total

TIPS FOR FUEL-EFFICIENT DRIVING:
Avoid aggressive driving. "Jack-rabbit" starts and hard braking can increase fuel consumption by as much as 40%. Tests show that "jackrabbit" starts and hard braking reduces travel time by only four percent, while toxic emissions were more than five times higher. The proper way is to accelerate slowly and smoothly, then get into high gear as quickly as possible. In city driving, nearly 50% of the energy needed to power your car goes to acceleration.
Drive steadily at posted speed limits.
Increasing your highway cruising speed from 55mph (90km/h) to 75mph (120km/h) can raise fuel consumption as much as 20%. You can improve your gas mileage 10 - 15% by driving at 55mph rather than 65mph (104km/h).
Note how quickly efficiency drops after 60 mph.

eat vegetarian meals - Vegetarian food requires much less energy to produce. Enjoying vegetarian meals once or twice a week results in significant CO2 savings.

paint your home a light color if you live in a warm climate, or a dark color in a cold climate. This can contribute saving up to 5000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

Of course- recycle.

Re: Global Warming- spin off

I am going to start of by saying- this weekend I am going to replace all of my lamps in my house w/ those energy-saving, forever-lasting lightbulbs.

Re: Global Warming- spin off

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We use the energy saving light bulbs, are vegetarians, and I take the train everyday to work (even though I hate it ).

Other ways to conserve - save your plastic bags and/or recycle. Ask for paper bags at the supermarket, or even better, bring your own cloth bags (that's what we do, when we remember)

RECYCLE your glass/plastic/newspaper!

Reuse plastic tupperware - when we get soup from our favorite chinese take-out, I save the container and use it to store my daughter's lunch for daycare

That's all I can think of for now...

Re: Global Warming- spin off

DH and I are already doing our part.

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Re: Global Warming- spin off

DH and I try to do our part, but we are always looking for new ideas
we use the high efficency bulbs
we refuse to drive an SUV
we recycle
we conserve the electricity and heat we use in our home to what we feel is necessary ( lights off in rooms we arent in, heat and a/c at very reasonable temps)
even though we live in LI, we live near a village and walk there alot vs. driving to where we need to go

Re: Global Warming- spin off

totally true dina....i have been doing little things to do my part. I am still mad at my DH for buying a giant SUV...so I try to do my best everywhere else!

Re: Global Warming- spin off

Thanks for posting!

You can buy green power. Check if it's available in your area.
green power availability

In Brooklyn, we were able to change from fossil fuels to 35% wind and 65% hydroelectric.

We did this easily on the web by clicking some buttons! We are paying just 1c more per kwh.

Re: Global Warming- spin off

Great post! It's good to be reminded about the things that WE can do!

Re: Global Warming- spin off

you can:

carpool
drive less/use public transportation


drive hybrid cars


use energy efficient appliances


eat less BEEF (the highest emitters of
methane - a greenhouse gas - are COWS)


turn off lights, computers, tv, etc. when you are not in the room


try using some alternative energy sources (i.e. solar power/wind power). The government needs to in step on this one though. There is not enough money going into this kind of research. Instead we are digging up alaska for more oil

Re: Global Warming- spin off

Message edited 2/2/2007 12:17:45 PM.

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We have changed almost all of our bulbs (can you use them outside too?) and changed to green fuel too!

I think the way NYers drive is atrocious - I try to be as steady as possible and it's awful to see people tearing off to see them slam on their brakes a little bit later! I do it more for my pocketbook than anything!!

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i have been doing my part already. this is easier to do out of the US, which is where i am (australia).

we (DH and I) recycle all of our paper (including store reciepts) glass and plastic. i work at a school and we have a recycling container just for our extra paper. also our photocopier has a recycling tray so if only one sided paper has been used the other side can be used to print on. we make sure we use both sides of the paper.

we have our shopping bags for the supermarket, which we have been doing since we lived in germany. they sell the reuseable bags in the supermarket here. in germany they charge you 15 cents if you want a plastic bag, which is what they should do in the US, IMO.

we use our car once or twice a week and walk to shops and take the train during the week. the public transport is enough here.

we do not have airconditioning or heating b/c of our climate. for the warm weather we put a fan in our bedroom window which works for us at nite and brings in the cool air. to get airconditioning in our building we would have to install it and then leave it here when we move. in-window air conditioners arent common here. we also have grating outside our window that deflects the sun from heat (cant quite explain it) b/c our building recieves the hot westerly sun. b/c of this, we won't need heating in the winter as our building is a very warm building. it is summer now and we moved in the end of winter so we dont have a total idea about how cold it will get.

b/c of the position of our flat we do not use light during the day. we dont have any flourescent bulbs.

i dont eat red meat and i do not eat much of any other types of meat, so we cook a few vegetarian meals during the week.

for water consumption, we do conserve that. b/c we are such a dry continent with desert in the centre there is always a drought. in fact when you go outside of the city on a road trip there isnt running water at the rest stops including toilets. i dont know if that is b/c pipes havent been built or to save water, but it conserves water. outside of the cities they save more water, i can recall staying at DHs aunt's house and we shouldnt always flush the toilet and when we showered to save the water that came out of the faucet first that we dont use to wash, so that she could use that for watering her plants. here in sydney we arent as strict as that, but we dont use running water to clean dishes, but put a stopper in the sink. water isnt cheap here!

anyway this was really long, but DH and I do all we can do for the environment. but we also get a lot of the help b/c of the country we live in. IMO the US needs to do more. They are so behind the rest of the world and quite wasteful as well.

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DH and I were just discussing this. We're not starting from scratch, but as our lightbulbs run out, we are now going to replace with flourescent. They last longer and use less energy. It's small, but it's a start.