Keeping the Green Going
As work-related stress piles on, I find myself having less and less time and energy to dedicate to peaceful ponderings. Nevertheless, here I go on another spiel about how we can all reduce our negative impact on our surroundings.
In a blog entry several weeks ago I mentioned NBC’s Ideal Bite, a site and email list that provides you with information about living a GREENER life. Today’s spoke to me because of its’ simplicity and the ease of implementation into all of our lives:
- Consider using cold water instead of hot to wash your hands, since the cold, hard truth is that cold’s usually just as effective.
Ideal Bite goes on to reveal the benefits of doing so:
- Saving energy. Every 10-degree drop in H2O temperature saves you 3%-5% on water heating costs.
- Saving water. Most faucets spit out 2 gal per min while you’re waiting for the water to warm up.
- Clean hands. With hand washing, the friction and the soap are what really get your hands clean. As far as water temp goes, you’d have to rinse your paws in boiling water to actually kill germs.
Not too shabby, eh? And guess what? “If 10,000 Biters use cold water instead of waiting for hot, in a year we’ll save enough water to fill 21,600 bathroom sinks to the brim.” WOW! The next time you wash with the cold instead of the hot, pat yourself on the back for contributing to a healthier, GREENER world.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not idealistic enough to believe that simply using less hot water is going to save the world by any means. No, in fact, the major differences are going to have to come from legislation. Yesterday The New York Times printed a story regarding Climate Change and what the United Nations has to say about the problem. Andrew C. Revkin reported, “A new United Nations report warns that progress toward prosperity in the world’s poorest regions will be reversed unless rich countries promptly begin curbing emissions linked to global warming while also helping poorer ones leapfrog to energy sources that pollute less than coal and oil.” A mighty difficult process to begin, especially considering the current administration and their butt-buddy relationship with all of the Big Wig Oil Conglomerates. It’s difficult to believe that with all the money pouring into the hands of the few from rising oil prices that electric cars will be put back on the market any time soon. Unfortunately, any plan that does not equal massive profits for The Man, or The Men beneath him, is not going to be heard in this economically-driven world. But a girl can dream, can’t she?
The UN report, as Revkin reads it, “offers a more detailed view of how poverty, particularly in areas near the Equator, creates zones of extreme vulnerability to water shortages, droughts, flooding rains and severe storms — all of which are projected to be more frequent or intense if concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to build.” This does not bode well for Third World Countries considering how little America gives or even pays attention to such problems outside of our own borders. Heck, we have homeless and poverty-stricken people within our borders who are not being helped by their government. All I can say is this situation is probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
Even more frustrating is the fact that while America is one of the countries with the highest output of greenhouse gases, the effects it has on the globe are not being felt here to the extent they are affecting the Third World. “”People are being left to sink or swim with their own resources,” [Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Emeritus in Cape Town] wrote, saying one result is a world of “adaptation apartheid.”" I suppose it’s a rather juvenile comeback, but that’s not fair! America (and the rest of the First World) has a responsibility that it needs to make good upon. Why not take some of those billions allocated into the defense budget and put it towards a much nobler cause?
This is a contentious topic and one that should be taken seriously, especially as the political debates move forward. The Republicans are known for not taking these issues seriously, as we can already tell from Bush’s two terms in the White House. It may very well come down to the Democrats to take real action and get results within our nation. All it takes is a law being passed to lessen emissions, as well as a commitment to get citizens into earth-friendlier vehicles in the near future. Cough Couch electric car Cough. Let’s face it, Americans are not going to stop driving less, so the need to find an alternative fuel source is growing daily.
Right now Brazil is fighting coastal erosion; permafrost in Siberia is thawing like never before, unearthing mammoth bones; cyclones are devestating Bangladesh like never before; and all of these occurrences have one large factor in common:
THEY WERE ALL CAUSED BY GLOBAL WARMING!
The longer this problem goes unattended, the worse the Earth will become – eventually leading to catastrophic conditions. Make your votes count in this coming year. Vote to reverse climate change.
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