Blog Action Day - Environment
Oct 15th, 2007 by Vinny
Today is blog action day. The topic is the Environment!
Everyone loves to talk about the environment, but very few people do anything about it. There are millions of ways to help out the world we live in, recycle, use less energy, etc.
A couple things that I have done are to replace all the light-bulbs in my house with the small fluorescents. Now there is a great debate on what to do once these bulbs die, because they contain a high amount of mercury in them. According to the EPA, you need to dispose of them properly and treat them as hazardous waste.
Another small thing is that I drive an efficient vehicle, the Volkswagon Jetta TDI. I have talked about it before so won’t bug you anymore. There are plenty of hybrid options out there as an alternative to the large crazy SUV’s and trucks that people drive all the time. The hybrids do have their downfalls, some say they are more expensive and harmful in the long run.
When I purchased new appliances, I bought ones that had a great energy star rating and low power consumption. This also comes into effect if you are replacing your furnace or air conditioner, new technologies have made remarkable improvements in their efficiencies.
Make sure your home has good insulation. This includes around outlets, windows, and in the attic. Insulation will pay for itself in the long run. New windows can sometimes pay themselves off, but you need to have leaky windows to start with.
Turn off those pesky electronics when you don’t need them. They now sell power strips that will turn off everything when your tv turns off. This is a great way to save some electricity. Also have power strips easily accessible in your computer and living rooms where you can flick off power to things that don’t need it during the day. Monitors, speakers, etc will eat power and they don’t need to be on.
A programmable thermostat will save a great deal of money. Keep it cold/hot during the day and the middle of the night when you are gone or asleep. Wear a sweater during the winter months and turn it down a couple degrees.
Make less trips around town. This is an easy one to do, just bundle all your errands to one trip and you can save time and gas.
Recycle! There are local recycling centers all over the U.S. Save your old magazines and papers, don’t just throw them away. They don’t always get properly recycled.
The easiest one to do, but I can’t seem to do it, is to stop buying so much stuff! We don’t all need it, and it wastes resources, money, and creates trash. I’m sure there are hundres of items you can think about that are not needed in your life.
If you live in an area where there is alot of sunlight, look into a solar panel or two for some extra power. The newer more efficient panels will pay for themselves in no time. If you get enough, you can even backfeed power into the grid! If you have room for a wind turbine, well then build one. They are not that expensive to build, its the space that matters.
Hopefully one of these ideas can help save the environment!