My drive to work, though, is not your average drive to work. I get to drive over the river, through a wildlife preserve while the sun is rising in front of me. The sky is pink and orange and the sun rays are just peeking through the clouds. I see dolphin swimming in the river and alligators floating in the waterways along the road. I've always loved nature but this is over the top.
I've been making more efforts in the past couple of years to be more environmentally friendly. I am a huge believer in global warming and am really afraid of what we're doing to our planet. I really love that "going green" is becoming more popular and that magazines and newspapers and the Internet have really made it easy to find ways you can curb your energy consumption.
My girlfriend recently wrote an article in our work newspaper about our cafeteria's efforts to reduce waste by doing away with Styrofoam cups. She also pointed out an article on Oprah.com that has lots of different things you can do (easily) in your own home. I'm just going to list them briefly here but I'll provide a link to the article below if you'd like to look at it more in depth.
- Unplug your appliances when not in use. About 75% of the energy consumed by home appliances occurs while they're turned off but still plugged in.
- Program your thermostat. Every degree you lower your thermostat in the winter and raise it in the summer will reduce your heating and cooling bills by 1% or more.
- Caulk it up. Closing off drafts and boosting insulation can cut your heating and cooling bills by 20%.
- Replacing single-pane windows with energy-efficient double panes can reduce heating and cooling bills by one third. (This one is pretty pricey but could be worth the investment)
- Low flow shower head. Forget the Seinfeld episode for a second and think about this: a low-flow shower head can reduce carbon dioxide emissions 376 pounds and reduce your electric bill $20 to $40 annually.
- Change your light bulbs! This one is so easy. Replace your regular old bulbs with energy efficient compact florescent bulbs. If every US household replaced just one bulb with an energy efficient bulb, we could save $600 million in utility bills and enough energy to light 3 million homes each year!
- Energy efficient appliances. Another expensive one but if one of your current appliances break, consider an energy efficient replacement.
I'm sure there are a ton more things that you can do other than what I've listed here. We should all be recycling but you could also think about trading in the gas guzzler for a more fuel efficient vehicle or you could plant a tree. There are lots of ways to help the planet and I think we really should all take some time to actually do it. Sure, global warming is a big bitch and it will be really hard to un-do the damage that has already been done but if each of us takes baby steps to improve our habits it could make a big difference.
I hope to stay at my job for many years to come. I certainly don't want to have my breath taking drive to work ruined by global warming. And I would hate to think that I had the opportunity now to save the earth for my children and grandchildren and I let the opportunity pass. Showing them amazing things like dolphins and alligators and sunrises would be so much fun. So, I am passing on this request to all of you. Look around your house and look at your budget and see what things you can do to reduce your energy consumption. Let's not ruin what we have had the honor to experience. Let's save it for our future generations.
Oprah article link: http://www.oprah.com/presents/oathome/200709/gogreen/gogreen_b.jhtml
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