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10 Steps to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
10 Steps to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
By Jer
Sheahan
The average person emits 4.3 tons of carbon dioxide every year. However the typical American will emit 20 tons every year!
Public Transport Rocks - 6 Reasons To Ditch The Car
Public Transport Rocks - 6 Reasons To Ditch The Car
By Tim
Cotter
As an avid fan of public transport, I got thinking the other day about the reasons why that is so. The currently fashionable idea is that we do it for the environment. This is indeed a real plus, and stands alone as reason enough. But there are so many more reasons why forgoing the car and hopping on a train, tram or bus is the way to “go”.
Top 12 Ways You Can Reduce Global Warming
Top 12 Ways You Can Reduce Global Warming
By Dhanya
V.V
1. Change Five Lights
Replace your five most frequently used lights or the bulbs in them with
ones that have earned the Energy Star and you'll use less energy, which
means less pollution from power plants. Your household will also be
saving about 700 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
Steps to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
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The average person emits 4.3 tons of carbon dioxide every year. However
the typical American will emit 20 tons every year! This is a short list
of 10 actions that you can begin to take immediately to start reducing
your impact on the environment.
In the modern world nearly every single
thing we do contributes to Global Warming. Try to implement these steps
into your life. Remember it takes two weeks to form a habit so stick
with it at the beginning. The idea is we all take responsibility for
improving the environment and securing our future. Remember everyone
has their part to play, no matter how small it might seem.
Things to do at home to cut my carbon output:
- Fit energy saving light bulbs. The typical light bulb has not changed its design in over a hundred years. Its outdated and costs you money and wastes energy. The European union would like to phase out the use of common incandescent light bulbs for domestic use within two years as part of its strategy to combat climate change. The initiative could cut carbon emissions by about 20-25 million tons a year - and save €5 billion-€10 billion annually in domestic fuel bills. Think about it If you change just 3 light bulbs to compact fluorescent this year, you will save 136 kg of CO2
- Replace your old fridge or dryer and ensure that it has the energy efficient A rating. Old equipment does not conserve energy – that costs you money and wastes energy.
- Turn down you Central heating by one degree. A 1 degree reduction can mean a 10% reduction in your heating bill. You wont notice a one degree drop in temperature but I am sure you will notice a 10% drop in your heating bills.
- When you go to the shops make sure you have a shopping list that will cover you for the next 5-7 days. Plan ahead and you can spend more time doing what you want; plus you don’t drive to the shops every night and that makes a big contribution to reducing your carbon output.
- Buy local produce. When your steak is flown in ten thousand miles to your local supermarket its going to have one hell of a carbon footprint. Your local producer may be marginally more expensive but if you want to make a contribution then buy local. In the long run it helps you, your local farmer and the environment.
Things to do outside my home to cut my carbon output:
- Plant trees in your own garden or sponsor trees to be planted in you or your family’s name. There is a reason trees are the referred to as the earth’s lungs. Do your bit to keep the planet breathing. Planting a tree native to your region in your garden can save 2,268 kg CO2 per year.
- As often as possible take the option to walk. If you drive short distances but still insist on getting a diet coke your missing the point in more ways than one. Walk rather than drive and keep the planet and your body healthy.
- When you stay at a hotel do take advantage of their replace used towels only policy. If its not dirty then why should it be washed?
- At work turn off your PC at the end of the day. You don’t need to have it on 24/7 to do your job. Each PC consumes about 2.15 cents/hr (@ $0.01656/watt/hr). It does not sound like a lot but when your company has 5,000 pcs it doesn’t take long before this begins to impact.
- When it comes to replacing your car think of going with diesel. Its cheaper and you get a high level of performance. Compare your vehicle’s mile to the gallon consumption with an Abrahams tank. If they are in the same area should you not so something about it. Remember a kilogram of petrol, diesel, kerosene and the like in a vehicle leads to approximately 3.15 kg of CO2 emissions.
www.giftofireland.com & http://www.giftofireland.com/Siteblog Celebrating trees, the environment, and Celtic culture and history.
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Public Transport Rocks - 6 Reasons To Ditch The Car
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As an avid fan of public transport, I got thinking the other day about the reasons why that is so. The currently fashionable idea is that we do it for the environment. This is indeed a real plus, and stands alone as reason enough. But there are so many more reasons why forgoing the car and hopping on a train, tram or bus is the way to “go”.
1. It’s a better use of time: Driving time is wasted time. (Unless you are one of those tragic people who says “I love driving”). Imagine how much better informed and alive we are when we spend up to an hour reading, conversing with a pleasant stranger, or just sitting and observing the theatre of life. Instead of staring with dead eyes at the bumper of the car in front of us.
2. It’s cheaper: For a mere $6 I can travel all day wherever I want, whenever I want. I can just step on and step off, knowing that once I have bought my ticket that is all I will spend all day. Try running a car (and fixing it, parking it…) for that little.
3. It’s faster: With few exceptions, trains, trams and buses sail past stationary queues of traffic. Depending on your mass transit of choice, the presence of priority lanes and absence of traffic lights or congestion means that you pretty much skip rush hour and accident-related disruptions. Not to mention the time spent trawling around for a carpark.
4. It’s closer to the community: This one is very much a matter of personal taste. Some people love to shut out the world, and the people in it, and retreat to their glass and metal box. I am the opposite. To quote Robert De Niro in Once Upon a Time in America, I like the stink of the streets. I think it is good for your awareness and connection to the community to travel in the melting pot every day.
5. It’s more peaceful: Commuting in a car is just so soul-destroying. The relentless drudgery of grinding up and down a freeway every day, knowing your life is wasting away, is matched in tragedy only by the pressure on your skull created by the aggressive, rude and irritating behaviour of our fellow driver. Nobody is immune to this. Bring up the subject of driver behaviour with anybody, then quickly whip a blood pressure monitor around their arm and watch them blow the gauge. By comparison, there is a welcome predictability in public transport. Just sit back and let someone else worry about getting you there. Wake me when we get to my stop.
6. It’s the right thing to do: One should not underestimate the wellbeing benefits of simply knowing that you are doing your bit. Listen closely to somebody try to justify why they are too lazy, busy, important or precious to take the train. There is seldom a sense of pride, a celebration of community spirit. More likely, just a stubborn assertion of their right to convenience and to do as they please. By contrast, making a choice which is aligned with our values and serves the public good fills us with good, clean energy.
Tim Cotter is a psychologist specializing in developing environmentally responsible behaviors. His consultancy, called Awake, provides workshops, online assessment, consulting and advice for groups and organisations wishing to support people to operate more sustainably.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Cotter
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Top 12 Ways You Can Reduce Global Warming
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1. Change Five Lights
Replace your five most frequently used lights or the bulbs in them with
ones that have earned the Energy Star and you'll use less energy, which
means less pollution from power plants. Your household will also be
saving about 700 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
2. Heat and Cool Smartly
About half the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. Changing air filters annually, having your system checked annually and useing a programmable thermostat are all easy things you can do. Just by using a programmable thermostat, you can save about 1,800 pounds of carbon dioxide a year and about $100 a year in energy costs.
3. Put the Freeze on Inefficient Appliances
Get rid of old, energy inefficient appliances and replace with newer energy-efficient models. If you replace your current washing machine with a low-energy, low-water-use machine you will be able to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 440 pounds per year. For even more savings wash your laundry in warm or cold water, instead of hot. That will bring in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of about 500 pounds per year.
4.Reduce and Recycle
Reducing your garbage by 25 percent will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 pounds per year. Recycle aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic, cardboard and newspapers can reduce your home's carbon dioxide emissions by 850 pounds per year.
5.Don't Give Energy Away
If you caulk and weather-strip around doors and windows to plug up leaks you can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,700 pounds per year.
6.Take the Green Way
Leave your car at home two days a week (walk, bike, take public transit or telecommute) and you can reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds per year.
7.Buy Products That Have Earned the Energy Star
Over 40 different kind of products now carry the Energy Star - the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency - including lighting, home electronics, heating and cooling equipment and appliances. With Energy Star products you can save 30 percent on your energy bills (about $450 a year).
8.Slow the Flow
When purchasing a new vehicle, consider finding a car that gets more miles to the gallon than your current vehicle, and match the vehicle to your needs. The potential carbon dioxide reduction for a car that gets 32 miles per gallon is 5,600 pounds per year.
9. Make the Right Move
If you spend hours on the road every day to get to work you could save some significant time and money by moving closer to work and reducing your commute. The carbon dioxide emissions you save are icing on the cake.
10.Be a Turnoff
Turn off your TV, video player, stereo and computer when you aren't using them. Turn off your lights when you don't need them and you start saving within a minute or two. Prevent "phantom" energy losses by plugging these devices into a power strip and turning the power strip off when the devices are not in use.
11.Trim Your Load
When you do drive, keep your car tuned up and its tires properly inflated to save on fuel costs as well as reducing carbon dioxide emissions. A tune-up could boost your miles per gallon anywhere from four to 40 percent; a new air filter could get you 10 percent more miles per gallon. Take your roof rack off your car when you aren't using it for more savings.
12.Keep Your Water Heater Cozy
For a water heater more than five years old, wrapping it in an insulating jacket will result in a 1,000 pounds per year reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Keep your water heater thermostat no higher than 120 degrees F and you can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 550 pounds per year.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dhanya_V.V
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