What can I do about Global Warming?
There are so many little things that you can do to help out the world and bellow are a few of them. Try to pick one or more thing that you will commit to doing. Pick something achievable and really do it.
CHANGE A LIGHT BULB: Each compact florescent light bulb, or CFL, costs under $3 and through out the its lifetime it could save up to $50 on your energy bill each. If every household in America changed just one light bulb, it would be like taking 800,000 cars off the road.
SUB-SIZE IT: Americans believe that size matters; if given a choice we make it extra large and that’s doesn’t stop at French fries. In the last 35 years the size of our homes, cars, and televisions have increased over 200%. Smaller choices are almost always better for the planet and usually cost less, too. So, buy a normal sized home, not a mansion; buy a smart car, not a hummer; and buy an LCD TV, not a plasma screen.
TRAVEL CORRECTLY: Air travel is the number one cause of global warming that a single person could control. First, fly less; take trains, busses and even cars to get where you want if possible. If you must fly, fly direct, avoid flights fewer than 600 miles, fly during the day, and fly in newer, more fuel-efficient planes.
PULL THE PLUG: You may believe that when you turn an appliance off, it is, in fact, off. But most of your household appliances feature a clock, or a digital timer, or a remote control, or a standby mode. Therefore, when they are not on, they are still using electricity. To stop this, plug your TV, VSR, DVD player, hair straighter, hair dryer, computer, and more into a power strip and turn it off when not in use. This also applies to your chargers and computer. Don’t leave your cell phone chargers plugged in all night! Its bad for your phone and it’s a waste of energy. Unplug your chargers as soon as your phone, camera, iPod, battery, laptop, etc. is charged.
MAKE YOUR REPORTS GREEN: When writing a paper print it on both sides of the paper, decrease your margins to 1” or .5” and save your bad copies and use it as scratch paper.
CHOOSE YOUR SEARCH ENGINE WISELY: Use Blackle.com instead of Google.com. It is the same search engine as Google and the only difference is a black screen instead of a white background. This reduces energy!
DON’T GRAB KETCHUP PACKETS: Ketchup packets are made out of plastic and take a lot of energy to make. Take your ketchup out of a bottle or dispenser rather then out of packets.
CLOSE YOUR WINDOWS: If you have the AC or heat on, close your windows. It's a total waste using both in your home or in your car.
FORGET CDs: Buy your music from iTunes or another online music service. This reduces pollution from creating CDs, packaging them, and shipping them and is usually cheaper.
USE YOUR OWN MUG: When ordering a drink at Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or your local coffee store bring your own mug and ask them to put your drink in there. Over 25 Billion Styrofoam cups are thrown out a year. Also, when you take food to go, ask them to keep the napkins and silverware and use your own.
ONE MAN’S TRASH IS ANOTHER’S TREASURE: Sell your old clothes and trash online on sites like eBay, or, even better, donate it.
RECYCLE: You can recycle nearly everything! Not only your newspaper, plastics, and glass can be recycled, but so can your sneakers, computers, cell phones, ink, and more. When getting a new computer from companies like HP, Dell, Sony, and Apple they will send you, if you request, a box to put your old computer in to ship to them to be recycled. Stores like Staples, Circuit City, Best Buy, and more have many drop boxes that you can put your old cell phones and ink in to be recycled. Staples even gives you $3 coupons for your used ink cartages. Nike has a new program called Reuse-A-Shoe in which you mail them your old shoes and they will turn the soles of them into a basketball court for poor and less fortunate families to use. For more info visit www.letmeplay.com.
TURN YOUR LIGHTS OFF: When you leave a room turn off the lights!
SKIP THE WATER BOTTLE: Worldwide, 41 billion gallons of bottled water is consumed a year even though it is no safer or better-tasting than tap water. Plus, it wastes fuel for transporting it and wastes over 2.7 million tons of plastic to make the bottles each year. So, drink smart, refill a durable, transportable bottle or glass.
GROW YOUR OWN VEGIES: When you buy vegetables at the supermarket that vegetable has traveled usually around 1,500 miles to get to your stomach and doesn’t taste as good as a freshly picked, home grown fruit. So, grow some tomatoes, eggplant, pepper, cucumbers, or whatever in your backyard to save travel pollution and to get a better tasting food.
EAT YOUR VEGIES: Livestock produces 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere, that’s more then cars. Most of this comes from cow’s flatulence due to harmful pesticides put on their food by farmers. So, cut back on your meat consumption and have some veggies!
RIDE A BIKE: Not only is it good for your health, but its good for the environment. We have the key to eco-friendly transportation already even if we don’t have our license, riding your bike will get you almost all of the places a car will and it’s a much more fun and less stressful way to get there.
BYOB: Or, Bring Your Own Bag. When choosing paper or plastic, there is no better choice so solve the problem and bring your own bag. Bags like this are reusable, durable, and fashionable. If you forget to bring your bag and your at the mall just take what you bought and put it in your pocket or purse and skip a bag entirely.
PLANT A TREE: Whether it’s in Israel or in your backyard, planting a tree can remove 1,000 pounds of Carbon emissions over its lifetime.
SHARE THE DRIVING: Carpool to school, work, the mall, or wherever. It makes a more fun ride and is good for the environment.
TAKE A EARTH FRIENDLY SHOWER: In just a few decades, millions of people will experience water shortages as a result of global warming. To solve this we should take a shower using a low-flow shower head which reduces your water consumption by about 14 gallons per shower.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT CAR: When you or your parents are purchasing a car look in to alternative fuel cars such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid. They may cost a little more initially, but, you will pay less at the pump and get a tax rebate.
GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK: Wear organic clothing like organic shirts and organic cotton jeans that are stylish, soft, and better for the environment because the cotton does not require pesticides. Wear accessories made from hemp or recycled tires. Wear handmade jewelry and support local companies that don’t add pollutants to the environment. Wear vegetable-tanned leather or canvas shoes that are better for the environment. Use eco-friendly make-up and body products.
