Friday, January 12, 2007

so you don't believe...

Ok, even if you don't believe that global warming is real there are other reasons to do the things listed on that webiste. Here are a few:

MONEY!!

By using more efficient light bulbs, turning off your appliances, lowering your heat, insulating your house, etc, you are using less energy. Therefore, you are paying a smaller electric bill.

By using more fuel efficient cars, or using alternative renewable fuels you are buying less gas...which has two benefits. One: you spend less money on gas, and two: with less demand for gas (a non-renewable resource) the prices will go down.

By recycling paper, plastic, glass and aluminum you are keeping costs down for manufacturers of products made of these materials which in turn allows them to charge a lower price for their product. It is easier to make things out of recycled materials than it is to make new materials. Also, these products are made from non renewable resources, so they aren't doing anyone any good if you throw them away. Which in turn brings up another good point; where are we going to put the trash when all the landfills are full? You don't want it in your back yard do you? We'll eventually run out of places to put the trash, so it's better to reuse what we can.

By buying recycled products you are increasing the demand for them, which means that recycling will be encouraged more. Buying products that are in less wrapping saves on the amount of trash you throw away, which keeps all that unneccessary junk out of the landfills.

If you buy locally grown fruits and veggies then you are doing two things. First you are helping your local ecconomy, and second you are saving on transporting costs of those foods. If you buy organic products you will be helping by reducing the amount of pesticides and such that are realeased into our water supply..so you're not only keeping the toxins out of your food, but your water as well.

Most of these things are easy to do. We've been recycling for years, and eating organic produce for at least 3 years. We love the farmer's market. We've insulated our water pipes and I've noticed a difference in how quickly the hot water comes out when you turn it on. We are planning to insulate the attic to keep the "bubble of warmth" that will keep our house warmer in winter and cooler in summer. We've replaced about half of our light bulbs with the compact fluorescent light bulbs that are now available. There is no difference as far as light output, but they are more energy efficient and they need to be replaced less often.

Even if you don't want to do big things you can do some simple things. Like take shorter showers, turn off the light when you leave a room, don't run the water while you are brushing your teeth, don't leave your electronics on unless you are using them.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about it. Even if you don't believe in global warming then you can still help the world be cleaner and save yourself some money in the process.

1 comment:

bobwalkup said...

well if there is no global warming then the earth must only be 6000 years old