Take action on Global Warming

Lets stop the talk and do something:

We could all start by doing these things -

Email George W.Bush and ask him why he won't sign the Kyoto Protocol.
Email John Howard and ask him why he won't sign the Kyoto Protocol.

Here are 50 things you can do to be part of the solution:

IN YOUR HOME
1. Recycle everything you can: newspapers, cans, glass bottles and jars, aluminum foil, motor oil, scrap metal, etc.
2. Don't use electrical appliances for things you can easily do by hand, such as opening cans.
3. Use cold water in the washer whenever possible.
4. Re-use brown paper bags to line your trash can instead of plastic bags. Re-use bread bags and the bags you bring your produce home in.
5. Store food in re-usable containers, instead of plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
6. Save wire coat hangers and return them to the dry cleaners.
7. Take unwanted, re-usable items to a charitable organization or thrift shop.
8. Don't leave water running needlessly.
9. Turn your heat down, and wear a sweater.
10. Turn off the lights, TV, or other electrical appliances when you are out of a room.
11. Flush the toilet less often. (If you cut flushing in half, you'll save up to 16.5 gallons a day.)
12. Turn down the heat and turn off the water heater before you leave for vacation.
13. Recycle your Christmas Tree. (Read all the things you can do.)

IN YOUR YARD
14. Start a compost pile.
15. Put up birdfeeders, birdhouses, and birdbaths.
16. Pull weeds instead of using herbicides.
17. Use only organic fertilizers. (They are still the best.)
18. Compost your leaves and yard debris, or take them to a yard debris recycler. (Burning them creates air pollution, and putting them out with the trash wastes landfill space.)
19. Take extra plastic and rubber pots back to the nursery.
20. Plant short, dense shrubs close to your home's foundation to help insulate your home against cold.
21. Use mulch to conserve water in your garden.

IN YOUR CAR
22. Keep your car tuned up.
23. Carpool, if possible.
24. Use public transit whenever possible.
25. On weekends, ride your bike or walk instead.
26. Buy a more fuel-efficient model (such as a hybrid or electric) when you're ready for a new car.
27. Recycle your engine oil.
28. Keep your tires properly inflated to save gas.
29. Keep your wheels properly aligned to save your tires. (It's safer too.)
30. Don't litter our roads and highways. Save trash and dispose of it at a rest stop.


AT YOUR BUSINESS
31. Recycle office and computer paper, cardboard, etc. whenever possible.
32. Use scrap paper for informal notes to yourself and others.
33. Print or copy on both sides of the paper.
34. Use smaller paper for smaller memos.
35. Re-use manila envelopes and file folders.
36. Hide the throw-away cups, and train people to use their washable coffee mugs. Use washable mugs for meetings too.


WHEN YOU'RE SHOPPING
37. Avoid buying food or household products in plastic or styrofoam containers whenever possible. (They cannot be recycled and do not break down in the environment.)
38. Think twice about buying “disposable” products. (They really aren't disposable and are extravagant wastes of the world's resources.)
39. Buy paper products instead of plastic if you must buy “disposables.” They break down better in the environment and don't deplete the ozone layer as much.
40. Check the energy rating of major appliances you purchase. Buy only the most-energy-efficient models.
41. Ask questions. Don't buy products, such as styrofoam, that are hazardous to the environment or manufactured at the expense of important habitats such as rain forests.
42. Buy locally grown food and locally made products when possible.
43. Don't buy products made from endangered animals.

PERSONAL EFFORTS
44. Join a conservation organization. Browse the JustGive Guide or search by keyword to find an environmental organization you would like to support.
45. Volunteer your time to conservation projects.
46. Give money to conservation projects.
47. Switch to a vegetarian diet. (Raising animals for food consumes vast quantities of natural resources, including water, land, and oil; destroys habitats; and generates a tremendous amount of water and air pollution.)
48. Convert by example. Encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to save resources too.
49. Learn about conservation issues in your community or state. Write your legislators and let them know where you stand on the issues.
50. Teach children to respect nature and the environment. Take them on hikes or camping. Help them plant a tree or build a birdhouse. Teach them by example.

If we all did just a few of these things then it WOULD make a difference.

Re: Take action on Global Warming

IT may be the case at long last that our leaders have reached a global understanding that paves the way for a replacement to the Kyota protocol !! ??

Re: Take action on Global Warming

Until recently (March), my main focus has been on issues of human rights and child poverty.  The environment came in a distant third.

Then a co-worker approached his manager, set up a Green Committee for our unit, and I was voluntold to be a member (four on committee).   As a member of the committee, in addition to working with the committee about work-related issues and providing information on a shared website for people to look into for more information on greening various habits at home or at work, I thought I should learn more about global warming.

Because looking at global warming involves looking at many related issues, I thought I should become better informed.  So I started to draw up a book list and website list for the shared directory at work.  Then I began to read the books and look at some websites.

The more I read, the more it home how dire the consequences would be if global warming was not stopped and then reduced. I started to think of it more personally, as affecting my children or their children's lives.  As the mother of two sons, I decided that I would do as much as I could do to make sure there was some kind of planet left for them to live on in the future.

Many green ideas cost money.  Some save money as well.  I decided to switch my electricity provider to one that provides 100% green power.  The company is called Bull Frog Power, and for now, it only services Ontario and Alberta residents. It does cost me more, but is it not worthwhile to protect my sons' quality of life in the future?  Is it not worthwhile to protect art, literature, music, soccer, civilization or anything people love about the world?  (Nature and family and friends are already a given.) 

Organic food often costs a bit more.  Although, after reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, I wanted to leave the city and go somewhere where everything would not be polluted.  Unfortunately, there is no longer such a place in the world.  The fact that we have been polluting not only the earth, but also ourselves, came in loud and clear after the book. I became a vegetarian - not because of animal rights but because an organic diet uses much less energy in the world.  I also started to buy as much organic produce or products as I could afford.  I can't buy everything organic, but I am headed in that direction.

And although I am not an animal rights activist, after reading in various books about agribusiness which seems to have taken over from smaller, family run farms, and what kinds of conditions animals are raised in, as well as the gigantic manure lagoons that are created, it certainly confirms that less meat is definitely the way to go.

In addition to taking steps myself, I have also written to every Member of Parliament and Senator and the Prime Minister and his Ministers in the Canadian government, to tell them that I was concerned about global warming and to ask them what steps they had taken in their personal lives to reduce their carbon footprint.

Even though the Conservative, federal government is doing very little about global warming, I was very encouraged to see what individuals - of whatever party - were doing on their own about global warming. Some bicycle or walk to work; some have bought hybrid cars.  Others who must travel by airplane, try to fly home less often and to also purchase carbon offsets. Sometimes you think there are not a lot of people who are working on the problem, but more and more I do not think that is the case.

I don't know where I read it, but somewhere I read that it will not take 100% involvement to do something about global warming.  If there is a committed group of about 10%, they can make or influence others to make changes that will fix the problem.  That also seems encouraging to me, as I'm sure everyone knows someone or has heard someone discount the importance of global warming or who just doesn't understand yet what impact it will have on their family in the future.

I even received a phone call from an M.P. in a province other than the one in which I live.  I was impressed.  He was even a conservative, but he did have children and was doing what he could for the environment.  We even had a half-hour discussion about environmental issues, and somehow Iraq and Afghanistan and even Darfur got thrown in at the end.

I don't think it is particularly important what someone tackles first about global warming, as long as the first steps are taken.  After one change, the others are easier to make.  Finally, it is something that is thought about often in all kinds of places.

I can't say my house and my habits are entirely green, but we're working on it. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to do these things, particularly if I am a bit panicked by reading books on the topic.  I think a little panick is a good motivator, but too much may cause someone not to think they can have any impact or influence.  Doing something provides a balance on one end for the concern at the other.

I am not sure how it is possible to be both very very alarmed by global warming and also to be optimistic. Generally I can keep both perspectives in mind.  I am amazed when I think about people like Al Gore and David Suzuki, who have been talking about the environment and the need to take care of it for so many decades, without the kind of changes they may have expected. You have to wonder how many people could get over the disappointment of having a presidency stolen from them, to dedicate his life to continue spreading the global warming message around the world.

I believe he has had an impact and in ways that he may never hear about.  The co-worker I mentioned saw An Inconvenient Truth, which then motivated him to approach our manager about a Green Committee.  Being a member of the committee and seeing the movie (his copy) has been such a motivator for me.  One of the first things the Green Committee did was to organize a showing of An Inconvenient Truth.  About 50 people attended.  All of this from one person seeing the movie.

One of the quotes that I read recently that I really think is applicable to global warming and getting changes made is from Margaret Mead.  She said:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

I hope you will join me in being a member of this kind of group.