Individual choices can have an impact on global climate change. Reducing your family's heat-trapping emissions does not mean forgoing modern conveniences; it means making smart choices and using energy-efficient products, which may require an additional investment up front, but often pay you back in energy savings within a couple of years.
Actions YOU as an individual could help:
Ø Be efficient on the road: Buy a clean, hybrid-engine car or use less gas with your current car by car-pooling, utilizing public transportation, walking instead of driving. Don’t belittle these small acts, if all these are followed by every resident on the earth, they’ll be gigantic result
Ø Use less energy. When it comes time to replace appliances, look for the Energy Star label on new appliances (refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, air conditioners, and water heaters use the most energy). These items may cost a bitmore initially, but the energy savings will pay back the extra investment within a couple of years. Note that home energy accounts for 21% of America’s global warming pollution. If each household in the United States replaced its existing appliances with the most efficient models available, we would save $15 billion in energy costs and eliminate 175 million tons of heat-trapping gases.
Ø Light bulbs matter. If every household in the United States replaced one regular light bulb with an energy-saving model, we could reduce global warming pollution by more than 90 billion pounds over the life of the bulbs; the same as taking 6.3 million cars off the road. So, replace your incandescent bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescents, which now come in all shapes and sizes. You'll be doing your share to cut back on heat-trapping pollution and you'll save money on your electric bills and light bulbs.
Ø Improve your home's insulation. Adding more (or better) insulation to walls andceilings can reduce home heating/cooling bills by about 25% and avoid 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
Ø Support recycling. Producing new paper, glass, and metal products from recycled materials avoids 70% to 90% of the energy and pollution that results from products made from virgin materials. You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling half of household-generated waste.
Ø Write a letter to your senators today urging them to support a 10% energy efficiency standard and a 25% renewable electricity standard by 2025.