I have a friend who commutes on the GO train everyday. Kudos to her on several levels, but my point is not her commute. In Union Station, the beginning and end or her daily trek, Diesel Jeans has an add that states "the solution to global warming". Diesel's solution is to dress in less (cropped jeans, skimpy tops) so you won't be affected by the rising heat. The ONLY good thing I have to say about this ad is that they aren't denying the fact that global warming is occuring. Not like some ...
First off, let me say that we all can do something about this environmental giant! Phew! An easy blog entry to read!! HOWEVER, I didn't say it wouldn't come without a cost. Let me start with a short, unscientific science lesson. Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere. This is a good thing because it keeps our planet habitable. However, by burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil, and by clearing forests, we have dramatically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and the affects can be seen all around us. Glaciers are melting at record rates, plants and animals are being forced from their habitat, and the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing. For example, the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years. The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade. At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles. If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences. Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.
The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it’s already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a natural occurrence. The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.
There is no doubt we can solve this problem. In fact, I believe we have a moral obligation to do so. We are stewards of this beautiful planet, and need to act now. Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big differences in helping reduce carbon dioxide levels and in stopping global warming.
Here is a list (not comprehensive) of steps we can all take:
Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl). CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 130 kgs of carbon dioxide a year.
Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer. Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 900 kgs of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.
Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner. Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 160 kgs of carbon dioxide a year.
Install a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill.
Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases . Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances to choose the most efficient models.
Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket. You’ll save 450 kgs of carbon dioxide a year with this simple action. You can save another 250 kgs per year by setting the thermostat no higher than 49 degrees Celsius.
Use less hot water. It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (160 kgs of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (225 kgs saved per year) instead of hot.
Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible. You can save 315 kgs of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.
Turn off electronic devices you’re not using. Simply turning off your television, DVD player, stereo, and computer when you’re not using them will save you thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
Unplug electronics from the wall when you’re not using them. Even when turned off, things like hairdryers, cell phone chargers and televisions use energy. In fact, the energy used to keep display clocks lit and memory chips working accounts for 5 percent of total domestic energy consumption and spews 18 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year!
Only run your dishwasher when there’s a full load and use the energy-saving setting. You can save 45 kgs of carbon dioxide per year.
Insulate and weatherize your home. Properly insulating your walls and ceilings can save 25% of your home heating bill and 900 kgs of carbon dioxide a year. Caulking and weather-stripping can save another 770 kgs per year.
Be sure you’re recycling at home. You can save 1080 kgs of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates. USE YOUR GREEN BIN!!!
Plant a tree. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%.
Buy locally grown and produced foods. The average meal in the United States travels 1900 kms from farm to plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.
Buy fresh foods instead of frozen. Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.
Buy organic foods as much as possible. Organic soils capture and store carbon dioxide at much higher levels than soils from conventional farms. If we grew all of our corn and soybeans organically, we’d remove 260 billion kgs of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere!
Avoid heavily packaged products. You can save 540 kgs of carbon dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10%.
Eat less meat. Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane, which they exhale with every breath.
Reduce the number of kilometres you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible
Avoiding just 16 kms of driving every week would eliminate about 225 kgs of carbon dioxide emissions a year!
Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates. Sharing a ride with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 720 kgs a year.
Keep your car tuned up. Regular maintenance helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a 450 million kgs of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.
Check your tires weekly to make sure they’re properly inflated. Proper inflation can improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Since every litre of gasoline saved keeps 9 kgs of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, every increase in fuel efficiency makes a difference!
When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle. You can save 1360 kgs of carbon dioxide every year if your new car gets only 1.3 km/litre more than your current one. You can get up to 25 km/litre with a hybrid!
All these factoids are from the website (www.climatecrisis.net) for An Inconvenient Truth (what an amazing movie!!). Watch this movie - it will change your outlook and how you consume.
But wait you ask. What about the bullfrog and global warming? In Ontario, Bullfrog Power (www.bullfrogpower.com) is the first green energy retailer (low-impact hydroelectric and wind). Right now, our electricity is a mix of coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric. When you sign up for Bullfrog Power, your electricity dollars will go to clean, renewable electricity producers who are displacing polluting and carbon dioxide-emitting electricity production on the grid. You continue to draw your power from Ontario's electricity grid in the same way that you always have, but the amount of electricity you use will now come from green energy so together, we can demand more and more green power!! The only catch? It costs more for green power (for me it was $.80 more per day) but we're talking about being good stewards! The thinking is that the more people demand green energy, the cheaper it will become (which does make sense). I am totally on board with this. I would encourage everyone to consider the switch. Switch to green energy, switch your lightbulbs to compact flourescents, SWITCH YOUR CONSUMER MENTALITY OFF!!
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