How has your day been? Used many lights you don’t need? Drive unnecessarily to the local coffee shop emitting atmosphere deteriorating gases? Bake some delicious cuisine in your energy draining oven last night? Human Beings of the world, the time has come and gone for us to make a change in our overindulgent, consumerist, and generally unhealthy life styles. We need to be making changes for our future yesterday, and while yesterday has already gone, the least you can do is start a more conscientious, eco-friendly life style today. This hour. This second.
9 Simple Steps to a Greener Life
- Unplug devices you are not using – Idle machines use 11 percent of a home’s electricity!
- Rig up a clothes line – Chances are your dryer is a whore for energy consumption, just say no and use good ol’ Mr. Sol
- Accelerate and brake smoothly when you have to drive – remember fuel is not achieving it’s full potential when you drive like an a$$hole
- Invest in a corded telephone – They consume surprisingly less energy than your cordless phone!
- Clean with vinegar – Replace your tumultuously toxic cleaning supplies and use vinegar instead
- Forget bottled water – The life cycle of a plastic water bottle is a green-thinking nightmare
- Carpool – Heading to the resort, camping, or some other fun activity? Travel together, reduce emissions!
- Ride your bike – Even better than car pooling!
- Spread the Word – Only you can make a difference, help others see the light!!
A fun jaunt through 400 years of fossil fuel use and abuse – how we got to where we are today:
Startling Statistics
- Climate is changing faster than any time in the past 10,000 years.
- There were more hurricanes in 2005 than any other year
- Eight warmest years on record all since 1998
- 16 million vehicles are added to the road each year
- US contributes 25% of emissions even though we make up a mere 5% of Earth’s population (theglobalwarmingoverview.com)
- Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average
- Coral reefs suffered the worst bleaching—or die-off in response to stress—ever recorded in 1998
- Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040
It’s time to consider our choices:
Whether we are facing true “Global Warming” caused by our human actions or the climate is simply undergoing a natural shift is a null point. Without significant changes in our current lifestyle we will not last. Natural resources are not limitless, and at the Olympic pace of consumption we have currently set these resources will be running out sooner than later. So take a moment, make a conscious effort, and start working toward a better and brighter tomorrow today.