How do I get started?
A good start would be checking out one of the "carbon footprint" calculators on the internet. These calculate how many tons of carbon your activities add to the atmosphere each year. Then you have a starting point to work with.
To begin take a look at how efficient you are at the home. There are many things you can do, some very simple:
•Look for the most energy-efficient appliances, including heating & cooling systems, and hot water heaters.
•Add weather stripping under doors and make sure your walls are well insulated.
•Keep you thermostat as warm as you can tolerate in the summer and as cool as you can handle in the winter. You'll notice the $$ savings.
•Choose natural gas over oil or electric, if possible (gas burns more cleanly and hence less emissions).
•Take a showers versus a baths (less water used).
•If given the choice, find an electric supplier who supplements their energy with solar/wind/hydro.
•It goes without saying invest in renewable energy if the budget allows (consider solar panel leasing to avoid large up-front costs).
•Paint your roof a lighter color if possible to reduce solar absorption.
•Use compact fluorescent (CF) light bulbs (they last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs and are much more efficient)
•Unplug electronic devices (such as cell phone chargers) when not in use as there is a constant drain of electricity. An ideal situation for computer/TV would be to employ a power strip that can be switched off
•Use the dishwasher instead of doing "by hand" (time it takes to do uses a lot more water).
•Allow laundry to dry naturally
How About Travel Considerations?
Here are some tips when on the road, in the water, or in the air:
•Mass transportation makes sense to lower individual impacts on the environment Air planes are the worst offenders as far as greenhouse emissions go!
•Buy a hybrid car for your next vehicle (i.e., Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid). Some of these can get 60 to 70 mpg.
•Electric cars are even better for the environment (i.e., Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt). These however need to charge every 100 mi or so.
•The reason planes are bad as far as global warming impacts is that it takes extra fuel to move people at the high altitude and speeds of a jet aircraft. And people fly much further than they'd travel by train, boat, or car.
Shopping Considerations
When deciding to buy something think about what goes into producing, packaging, and transporting the item(s). Some tips:
•Eating Beef is definitely not good (grazing livestock to prep to your dinner table leads to a lot of extra emissions). Using dairy = similar reasons.
•Buy local and stay in season (reduces miles to transport your food).
•Buy from 'second hand' stores when you can.
•Compost any leftovers (most efficient way to reduce emissions of thrown away food).
•Don't use bottled water (one of the worst things you can do for the environment - from production, transportation costs, to disposal issues).
•Buy organic food when you can (eliminate un-necessary chemicals and pesticides).
•Use your own re-usable bag when grocery shopping (think about all those plastic bags to get rid of).
We "vote" with our purchases, in a way. Buying things good for the environment encourages companies to keep these items on the shelves.
Conclusions
There are many ways to reduce your impact on the earth, from specific actions you take at your home, to how you travel to work/school and vacation, to what items you buy.
You can even go a step further, acknowledging that you will still generate emissions even when trying to be efficient and purchase an "energy offset" from a company or organization that will pledge to do an activity to negate the emissions you created.
So, the number ways to 'do more' keeps getting longer (which is a good thing) and are only limited by our imaginations. I hope you try to do your best for this planet of ours. We only have one...
If you'd like to learn more on climate change, check out my site:
SurviveClimateChange
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