Environment Support

HOW TO PERSONALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE

What better way to help stop global warming than to start with your home and lifestyle? Even the simplest choices can be the most crucial.

Below is a list of ways on how you can personally limit global warming and reduce your carbon footprint:

  1. Develop a plan that will reduce daily electricity consumption around your household. Turning off lights or appliances not in use can save each household thousands of pounds of CO2 each year.
  2. If you’re about to build a home, its design should utilize as much natural lighting as possible. Consider sourcing your power from solar energy.
  3. Ask the members of your household to save energy.
  4. Replace you incandescent light bulbs with more energy efficient lighting such as compact fluorescent bulbs.
  5. When you buy an appliance, choose a highly efficient model. You will know if a certain appliance is highly efficient by looking for the Energy Star label, awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
  6. Bring your own cloth bag to the market when buying groceries. By not using grocery bags made from paper, you help save trees, which absorb carbon dioxide. Use recycled paper products instead of using paper from freshly cut trees. By recycling and buying products with recycled content you reduce your carbon footprint, save energy, conserve natural resources, and decrease the space needed for landfills!
  7. Plant a tree. A single tree can absorb a ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.
  8. In purchasing an automobile, select one that is fuel efficient, such as hybrid vehicles.
  9. Use cars that get good gas mileage. SUVs are more likely to contribute to global warming since they emit 43% more global-warming pollutants and 47% more air pollution than the average car.
  10. Better yet, instead of driving your own car, take public transit, join a carpool, ride a bike, walk or take any other means that reduces the amount of gasoline that you burn.
  11. Do not warm up your vehicle for a long time. Warm it up for just two minutes; longer than that would only waste fuel.
  12. Ask your local gas or electric utility to conduct an energy audit of your house so that you are conscious of your energy consumption and will know how to reduce it.
  13. When replacing windows, opt for those that are energy-saving such as double pane windows. Insulate your walls and ceilings too.
  14. Convince you church, businesses or other establishments to install bike racks.
  15. Keep updated with your newspaper’s coverage of issues pertaining to issues of global warming and write in response to stories that dismiss global warming.
  16. Encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same!

Resources for Making a Difference in Global Warming