Be sure to celebrate Earth Hour tomorrow, Saturday, March 28, from 8:30-9:30 pm whatever your local time is. It's a symbolic and concrete action: turn out all unnecessary lights and electricity for an hour as part of a commitment to reduce global warming. Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, when 2.2 million workplaces and homes turned off their lights for an hour. In 2008, 50 million people turned off their lights worldwide. This year, the goal is 1 billion people turning off their switches to send a message to world leaders at the global climate change conference in Copenhagen. Organizers have already exceeded their goal of 1,000 cities and towns participating. Of course, all the other actions you can take to reduce global warming are even more important, but this is a time when the whole world gets to act together (at staggered times) and send a message. (BTW, they've checked it out with power companies, and the event will have no ill effect on the power grid.) Watch this video with some inspiring footage of lights going off around the world. Then sign up at the official Earth Hour website. Happy Spring Break for those of you celebrating it this week or next! Remember to offset your carbon if you're traveling. Follow the links at the very bottom of this page to do that. Stay cool!
Bonney
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GO TO BOTTOM OF PAGE FOR 10 THINGS WE CAN DO TO KEEP GLOBAL WARMING IN CHECK
Facts and actions to reduce our carbon footprint
GO TO BOTTOM OF PAGE FOR 10 THINGS WE CAN DO TO KEEP GLOBAL WARMING IN CHECK
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- Bonney Hughes
- Santa Fe, NM, United States
- Ordinary mom looking for ways to keep the planet from overheating. M.S. in environmental toxicology. Worked for NM Environment Dept. for 10 years.
10 Things We Can Do to Reduce Global Warming
- 1) Buy energy-efficient appliances. Look for the Energy Star label. Refrigerators consume most electricity of any home applicance. Today's refrigerators consume less than one-fourth the energy of 30 years ago. If your fridge is more than 10 years old, you could save a lot of money and reduce global warming by buying a new one. Some utility companies will buy your old, working fridge.
- 2) Set your thermostat 2 degrees lower in winter and two degrees higher in summer to save about 2,000 pounds of CO2 per year.
- 3) Wrap insulation around your water heater to save 1,000 pounds of CO2 a year. Or install a tankless water heater, which instantly heats water when needed, can save 50% on utilities, and can get you a $300 federal tax credit.
- 4) Get your car's engine tuned up and keep tires inflated -- both help fuel efficiency. We just pumped up our tires and gained 2-3 miles per gallon. A new air filter could get you 10 percent more miles per gallon.
- 5) Contact elected officials and ask them to pass laws requiring higher gas mileage and cleaner emissions from cars, cleaner power plants, energy efficient buildings and more.
- 6) Sign up for an alternative power program if one is offered in your area. In New Mexico, PNM's Sky Blue can provide up to 90% of your household electricity from wind power for a small monthly fee.
- 7) Drive less. Take the bus or ride a bike. Combine errands to take fewer trips.
- 8) If you buy a car, pick the least-polluting, most fuel-efficient vehicle you can. A car that gets 20 miles per gallon will emit about 50 tons of CO2 over its lifetime. A car that gets 40 mpg will emit half that much and save you roughly $3,000 in fuel costs.
- 9) Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. A CF bulb will lower your energy bills by $15 a year and more than $60 over its life and will keep half a ton of CO2 out of the air. Compact fluorescents last 10 times as long as incandescents, too.
- 10) Offset CO2 emissions generated when you fly with programs like TerraPass or others below.
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