Every October 15th,
bloggers around the world unite to get people talking about one of the important issues facing us today. This year's issue: Climate Change.
I am pretty passionate about this, people. In less than 10 years, the North Pole will have an ice-less summer. We are seeing multiple degree changes in the temperature every year, countries having hotter than normal summers, colder than normal winters, and extreme weather events like super storms, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, and tornadoes. Whether you're Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative, few can deny that the world is changing, and human beings are the ones mostly responsible for that. We can bury our heads in the sand or shout at the rain, or we can choose to do something about the damage we've done.
A few easy tips:
-Save money and save the planet: Switch your lightbulbs! It sounds like it wouldn't make much difference, but consider this:
Most electricity in the U.S. is produced by coal-fired power plants. The problem is that for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated by a coal-fired plant, the EPA estimates that 1.43 lbs of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. By switching to energy-saving CFL light bulbs, you lessen greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. CFL bulbs use 65%-75% less electricity than regular bulbs. (
onebillionbulbs.com)
-Buy less bottled water and carry a reusable non-BPA bottle. Consider these statistics:
Americans use over 50 billion disposable plastic water bottles a year
The average American consumes 167 bottles of water a year
Only 23% of these get recycled.
In 2007 we spent $16 billion on bottled water. That's more than we spent on iPods or movie tickets.
90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself
24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles
Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting (
weather.com)
-Finally, buy recycled, upcycled, and eco-friendly products. Not only do they look cool, but they promote more recycling; it's supply and demand, people!
Some of my favorite eco-friendly shops:
GaiamSeventh GenerationViva TerraJohn and Kira's Chocolates
