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Ten Things to Help Save the Planet
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“Are you happy to suppose
that your grandchildren may
Do you know what impact YOU are personally having on our planet? Find out by calculating YOUR PERSONAL CARBON FOOTPRINT, and compare your score with others.
THE TOP TEN WAYS YOU CAN HELP SAVE THE PLANET AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Your car
The sad truth is our cars emit as much carbon dioxide as an entire house. Therefore, anything we can do to improve the fuel efficiency of cars can have an enormous impact on climate change.
Replacing a gas-guzzling car with a fuel-efficient automobile is by far the greatest endeavor we can undertake to prevent global warming.
Check out this site to see how your car stacks up in emissions, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide readings as well as cost savings in gas mileage versus a new hybrid auto. Hybrid vehicles are not as prevalent as they could be. Automakers need to change the culture of huge gas-guzzlers to one of fuel-efficient and low to no emission vehicles. Hybrid’s sticker prices range from the lows $20,000 to over $50,000 for high-end vehicles. So for the next few years, until they become more affordable and more readily available, you can drive less by taking public transit, walking, or combining multiple errands into one trip.
Also get your car tuned up. This often improves fuel efficiency by half. A new air filter can add 10 percent more miles per gallon. If 100,000 people had regular tune ups, we would save 124,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. By driving slower you save on gas, which saves you money and reduces carbon dioxide. By simply leaving your car at home two days a week (walk, bike, take public transit), you can reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds per year.
Your lawn mower
A study by the Swedish E.P.A. demonstrated that using a four-horsepower lawn mower for an hour produces the same amount of pollution equivalent to driving a car for 93 miles. Not only do gas mowers emit large amounts of CO2, they also release carcinogens such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. They produce one third of all particulate air pollution in metropolitan areas. Opt to replace your noisy beast with an electric or manual mower. Additionally, you can reduce the number of times you mow your lawn. 2. SAVE WATER
An inefficient showerhead passes up to 744 ounces (22 liters) of water per minute. A triple-A rated showerhead passes just 270 ounces (8 liters) per minute. This alone can reduce your carbon emissions by up to 12 percent and can save 300 pounds of carbon emissions per year.
Replace your five most frequently used light bulbs with ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR government label. These highly efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), last for years, use a quarter of the energy of regular bulbs and actually produce more light. Your household will not only save $90 per year in energy costs, but will also save about 700 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. You may pay a little more at the cash register but you will save hundreds of dollars in energy bills in the long run because of their long life. These bulbs can be found at all major home improvement and hardware stores. The impact? If every household in the U.S. replaced their bulbs with CFLs, it would have the cumulative effect of preventing more than 13 billion pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. This is equivalent to taking more than a million cars off the road for an entire year. In addition, turning lights off when not in use is always good practice.
4. BUY ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT APPLIANCES
Heating and Cooling
One half of our household budget goes towards the heating and cooling of our homes. Newer systems are three times more efficient than older systems, however, this isn’t practical for most of us.
Tuning up your current system can reduce your annual energy costs by 10 percent. Cleaning vents, closing unused vents and changing filters can save another 10 percent. Adjusting your thermostat by 2 degrees can also make a significant difference. By using a programmable thermostat, you can save about $100 per year in energy costs and reduce nearly 1,800 pounds of carbon emissions. If you can get away with a ceiling fan instead of AC, you can reduce your cooling costs by half.
Refrigerators
Your refrigerator alone is responsible for 10-15 percent of the electricity you use each month. Newer refrigerators are as much as 50 percent more efficient than older ones. High-efficiency refrigerators can save you $100 per year in energy costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 500 pounds per year.
If you can’t afford to upgrade your fridge, you can adjust the thermostat; even one degree will make a difference. Keep you refrigerator away from heating vents, water heaters and out of the sun. Turn on the energy saver if you have one. By cleaning the condenser coil you can improve efficiency by one third.
Household Appliances
The most energy hungry appliances in your household are the hot water heater, washer, dryer, and dishwasher.
To improve the hot water heater’s efficiency, turn the thermostat down a couple of degrees, insulate the heater and its pipes, and install a timer to heat the water only when you need it. Insulating your water heater can reduce carbon emissions by 1,000 pounds per year. Keeping your water heater thermostat no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) can reduce emissions by 550 pounds per year.
Washing dishes by hand is better than using the dishwasher, otherwise try to wait until the dishwasher is full before doing a load.
Wash clothes in warm water instead of hot, they will be just as clean and you can reduce your energy costs by 50 percent and reduce carbon emissions by 500 pounds per year. By not over-drying your clothes, you will cut your energy costs by 15 percent. Visit this site to find the most energy-efficient products. 5. TAKE REUSABLE BAGS WHEN YOU GO SHOPPING
Bring reusable cloth or mesh bags with you when you go shopping. More than a billion single-use plastic bags are given out daily at stores and grocers. The production of these bags requires petroleum and often natural gas, both non-renewable resources.
Pollution is a by-product of manufacturing and the energy needed to manufacture and ship disposable bags eats up more resources and contributes to global warming emissions. According to Californians Against Waste, a nonprofit environmental grassroots organization, it takes 20 to 1,000 years for a plastic bag to break down in the environment.
Not only do they litter urban areas, the bags are carried by wind and ocean currents to remote areas of our planet, choking wildlife that confuses them for food. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales, and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags, which they mistake for food.
For example turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and once swallowed, the bag blocks their intestines leading to an agonizing death. In some countries such as Taiwan, Bangladesh, and South Africa, plastic bags have created such havoc they are now prohibited.
Less than 1 percent of Americans currently bring reusable bags to the grocery store. Only 1 to 3% of plastic bags end up getting recycled. However, recycling does not solve the problems of using non-renewable resources and toxic chemicals. Choosing to reuse is a far better option.
6. GREEN ENERGY
Over 90 percent of our electricity is generated by burning coal, which creates greenhouse pollution and contributes to climate change. Many utilities give consumers the option to buy “green power”.
Green power is electricity generated from renewable sources such as solar panels, geothermal and wind power. Nuclear power and natural gas are not necessarily “green” options due to radioactive waste disposal, and natural gas releases as much CO2 into the atmosphere as coal and oil.
Over 40 different products carry the ENERGY STAR government label for energy efficiency including lighting, home electronics, heating and cooling equipment and appliances. These products can save 30 percent on your annual energy bills (about $450 per year). Visit the Energy Star Web Site for information on high efficiency appliances and other products.
Packaging
Buy products without unnecessary packaging.
Organic
Billions of pounds of pesticides are sprayed on farm crops every year. These pesticides not only kill the pests but also all the carbon fixing microorganisms in the soil. Without these microorganisms, the carbon is released into the atmosphere as CO2, and the soil, which is no longer fertile, requires chemical fertilizers.
Other options for food are to eat locally grown food (less CO2 from trucks required to ship it), eat the foods that are in season (less transportation costs), and plant your own vegetable garden.
Buy recycled
It takes less energy to manufacture a recycled product than a brand new one. It can also be much cheaper and saves you money. 8. PLANTS
Although plants will return all the CO2 they have absorbed back into the atmosphere once they are dead, they do provide a short-term solution to reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. Use plants that are hardier, need less water, group together plants that need a lot of water and use mulch to keep in the moisture. Avoid watering your lawn in the heat of the sun and water your lawn sparingly. Mow your lawn only when it needs it and always keep your blades sharp.
Environmentally aware consumers are producing less waste by practicing the “three Rs:” Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This includes buying products that are less toxic or contain less packaging, using reusable containers and other reusable items, maintaining and repairing products, participating in recycling programs, and buying products made from recycled materials.
Reduce
One easy way to conserve energy is to simply buy less and use less. This is the single best way individuals can reduce global warming. To accomplish this, buy in bulk. Bulk items use less packaging which translates to less energy use. Purchase quality products that last longer. Reducing your garbage by 25 percent reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 pounds per year.
Reuse
Re-use old wrapping paper, gift bags, expired calendars, pages from magazines, or newspaper to wrap gifts.
Recycle
Each ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 280 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water. Americans use more than 67 million tons of paper per year, or about 580 pounds per person.
Every day American businesses generate enough paper to circle the earth 20 times. Every Sunday, Americans waste 90 percent of recyclable newspapers, which wastes 500,000 trees.
Every year more than 900 million tress are cut down to provide raw materials for American paper and pulp mills. One tree can filter up to 60 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year. Paper makes up about 40 percent of our trash.
The production of paper, glass, and metals from recycled materials saves 70 to 90 percent of the energy and pollution needed to produce these materials from scratch. By recycling these materials you can reduce your home’s carbon dioxide emissions by 850 pounds per year. Recycling a pile of paper only 4 feet high can save a tree. Recycling, buying recycled products is equally as effective.
Recycling conserves valuable natural resources, saves energy, saves clean air and water, saves landfill space, and can save money and create jobs.
10. YOUR VOTE
Major changes can take place politically by voting for candidates that show a real commitment to the environment. Therefore learn who your local and national representatives are and where they stand on environmental issues.
Write or call your elected officials to tell them about environmental concerns you feel strongly about. Politicians are voted in to represent your interests.
To see which congressional candidates the Sierra Club endorses in your state click here.
"Sacrifice today is for the greater good of generations
of tomorrow." |
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