What are you doing to save the planet?

It seems that these days we are being bombarded with all things environmental due to global warming scares and environmental disastors. Now i don't want to discuss whether global warming is a myth or not but i do want to know what people are personally doing or changing in their everyday lives to combat these issues. It just seems to me like the average person really isn't doing anything and to me it seems like going green is just something people are doing because it is trendy rather than for the purposes of saving the planet.

Personally i am and have been doing quite a bit for some time now, or at least i think so. Ill give you a rundown of things that i have done. Note first that i rent a 2 storey, 3 bed, one bathroom townhouse with a full basement. I have made upgrades even though i dont own for the purposes of reducing useage and utility costs. Upgrades include:

- Insulating exposed hot water pipes in basement
- insulating underneath trim around all windows and doors that connect to outside.
-Insulating around outside wall and in the footings in the basement at the walls facing outside
-installing low flow shower head and faucets
- Every bulb in dwelling is 7 watt flourescant

Keep in mind that i pay only the electric bill nd my hot water is gas, heat is forced air gas.

Things i am doing to reduce consumption are:

- all appliances are energy star certified and under 3 years old
- heat in winter months is set at 21 deg celcius
- clothes washed in cold water
- all things turned off when not in use
- power bars on all electronics so they can be switched off when not in use
- i recycle everything humanly possible
- i make trips every three months or so to the toxic waste dump to dispose of certain things ( batteries, oils, chemicals, )

Now my hydro bills average at about 420 KWh monthly usage and cost me around 65 dollars a month. I have a fridge, stove, washer, dryer and freezer. I dont pay water or gas but i do what i can to conserve anyways.
My neighbors in the same block pay around 100 dollars a month on average. They also crank the heat in the winter months to around 25 deg celcius. I DO NOT use air conditioner in the summer months but instead use about 3 or 4 fans strategicly located around my home with the windows facing the sun closed during the day as well as the curtains on the sunny side and i rotate this as necessary. At night when it is cool i open all the windows and place the fans near them. I do not water my lawn and it still grows quite nicely. I wash my car by hand and not at an energy sucking nightmare that is a carwash. And i do not drive to anywhere that i can walk in ten minutes time.

What is your opinion? Am i doing enough? Can i do more? What are you doing. I experience no discomfort living this way and it does not take time out of my life to do any of these things. And i am by no means a rich person but gladly spent the extra few bucks to make myself more environmentally efficient.

There are a few problems with trying to go green that ives noticed. The biggest are the people who are big offenders. YOu can do all the saving you want but for every KWh you save i find there are people who will use 100 more. The two biggest offenders of this are either A. People who don't have to pay for said resource or B. People who can more than afford to pay to waste resources.

People who have utilities included in their rent are pretty bad. See i work for a telecommunications company so i do alot of work in peoples homes and usually get to see how people offend and hear their opinions. Some people who dont pay for electricity for example, will have 2-3 air conditioners running 24 hours a day during the summer. These same people will have the heat on at 30 degrees celcius in the winter months and a window or two open to balance it out, or to smoke out of. There are people who use endless amounts of water too. Perhaps if the utilities dropped their rates a tad and lowered the down payment to apply for a utility service, renters could ALL have to pay. People would then be forced to cut down on consumption as they would see first hand how much it is costing. Not fair you say? The utilities should have different rates depending on your consumption, you could be rewarded with a discount if you are a low volume user. After all the less a utility has to produce, the more they save. People who over-use and have large bills will only have themselves to blame for the high price.

People who can afford endless amounts of energy are bad too. You see them driving their suburbans and escalades around to go to the corner store which is a 2 min walk and then allow their vehicle to idle for the 5 mins they are in there. Or the people who water their lawns for 12 hours strait. Also there is the people who have 30 lights around the outside of their house that are light constantly. You all know what i am talking about, the ones with the central air usits that are on full blast during a heatwave. When you ask these people why they use so much or if the prices bother them they reply with "who cares, i can afford it". This should be frowned upon heavily and another reason why high volume users should pay more than low volume ones. How is it fair that you pay the same amount when you are saving when your neighbor is wasting like crazy.

come to think about ... im not doing a thing for the planet
well i watch Discovery channel all the time and ive seen a couple of programs talking about global warming and i believe its true ... i guess i have to enroll somehow with any environmental institution to do something here in Miami.

[edit on 16-4-2008 by nexusclub]

I know this probably doesn't sound like much but I have been bicycling every where I go in the city I live in since I moved here in 1971. Year round, rain or shine. I used to carry all the shopping home everyday, 4 miles round trip. Now my sons who also bicycle are doing that. We use backpacks and only buy what we need fresh everyday. Not much but I think every little bit helps. Thanks.

Every little bit does help and i wish more people would see it that way. You always hear alot of people say " well there is no point because not everyone cares". If everyone thought that way we would have already been dead many years ago. People do care but not on a large enough scale yet. For the last few years i have encouraged people as much as a can to just do a little bit.

oops sorry

[edit on 08/4/17 by metaldemon2000]

There is nothing we can do to save the planet. This planet owns us for now and we can only endure what it gives us. I honestly believe that this planet would destroy us before we destroy it. The earth goes through cycles and gets hot and cold, windy, stormy, dusty, fires rage from electrical storms, earthquakes, floods, blizzards etc... No matter what we do the earth will continue to cycle with or without us. Now that I got that off my chest I do believe we need to keep planting trees and other plants as we live our lifes here for future generations. If it makes you feel good to save electricity and to go green then go for it, but my life is very short compared to the earth and I focus on life and try my best to do my part by not littering and have planted trees in my yard.

[edit on 4/17/2008 by Solarskye]

Thats a pretty harsh way of looking at it if you ask me. While i do agree about the whole nature wiping us out thing i am proposing that we re-balance the environment so it will allow us to prosper for many more years. I do have fears that perhaps my children will either die or not get to enjoy things as we do now as a result of what i am doing today or have done in the past. Basically if push came to shove i would be happy to think i wasnt part of the problem. According to This quiz i use 40% less resources than the national average. If we ALL just did what i am doing, which isnt by far all that overboard, and is easy and cheap, we could reduce our pollution and consumption by around 40%. And that with just a little bit of effort. If the corporations got on board, even better. Throwing some trash in a recycle bin and turning some lights off on a regular basis isnt all that hard.

reply to post by metaldemon2000


Well what you are doing is great and keep up the good work. I will try to do more too. I'm just tired of all the environmental wacko's out there that go way to far and actually stop our progress. Our environment is better off then when it was in our industrial smoke stack days that's for sure. And we're improving with technology and people like you that help keep it green. I don't like the fear associated with global warming and other environmental issues. Alot of people are making money off our fears and it's not right. We still have third world countries with smoke stacks on every corner that pollute our air. I like the fact that we are experimenting with electric cars and hydro cars and hopefully someday our technology will do away with fossil fuels and start using safe environmentally ways to travel etc.

My daughter had this exact question as a homework assignment in 1st grade. I don't mean to belittle the conversation, because it is extremely valid, but I feel that a child's perspective is equally important.

Her words: "I will help clean up dog poo "

reply to post by TLomon


Dog poo is good for the earth is it not? That's funny right there I don't care what ppeople say. Have her plant some beautiful flowers and care for them.

I don't waste water. I constantly remind myself not to waste, food, electricity, even simple things like turn off the lights when not in the room, I only use the washing machine when I have a full load. Turn of T.V by power switch at night and Plug out all equipment when not in use.

I even remind other's too. Some people just don't have respect for their envirnonment or themselves.

I don't use motor transport. Always use Public transport when need ti get around.
I take walks to more local places, instead of Buses, when there is no need to for short journeys.
I take all bottles glasses (inc. my flatmates waste) to the bottle bank, for recycling.
We also recycle our waste, such as cardboard and plastics too.

When I need hot water, i don't heat it with emersion, or element. I use the gas that heats the house. It's more eneergy efficient.

I constantly spread awareness of respecting the environment. Without it we are nothing, we should respect Nature its responsible for our very existence. Our children should be allowed to live in a clean, safe, respected world. Set these examples that will help future generations to come. They don't want to be swimming in the river's we pollute today!

P.S if someone dumps litter on the street beside me... I go mad
They won't be long picking it up either. You don't dump litter on your mother's kitchen floor then you don't dump it on the streets. Its called respect.



[edit on 17-4-2008 by mind is the universe]

We drive a 2001 Corolla and a 2007 Civic Hybrid... Both cars have carbon offsets for milage
We use the 'Green" energy option for our city owned utility

We are fortunate to have bought a home really close to work and bike when possible (Not as often as we like) and the commute is less than 3 miles each way

Our appliances are new and on the low end of energy usage
We use a front loading washer and wash cold only

etc etc etc

We're doing our part to help crash the US dollar and collapse the world economies. By crashing all the world economies and their cheating worthless funny money, we can bring the industrial machine and era that rapes and pillages and pollutes the planet to a grinding halt. And, if all goes well (as expected ~ humans are so predictable, aren't they, ha), we'll also see a quick and significant reduction in the human population upon Earth too. This I think will help save the planet, or at least that's our plan.

I recycle all I can. Mainly to reduce landfill

I rarely if ever have any central heating on. I find wearing a fleece is cheaper

I don't myself drive and usually use train and bus for any long distance transport (though I do occasionally accept a lift out to the hills for a days walking)

I never fly.

I argue strongly about the effects of contrails on ATS (much to the annoyance of those who think they are chemtrails and thus not detrimental to the climate and weather)

I also argue vehemently about the effects of deforestation, and strongly oppose the use of 'biofuels'

I use as little electricity as possible.

I strongly oppose windfarms in upland areas of the UK which result in the proliferation of new roads and power lines being built across ancient upland peat bogs - when a simple reduction in electricity wastage would have a much better result

I push the virtues of thorium nuclear power - much cleaner and safer than uranium

I do most of this irrespective of any GW concerns - indeed, I'm sceptical about most GW predictions.

reply to post by FredT


That's what I mean about technology is going to save the earth's environment thanks to us humans learning from our mistakes and inventing better ways.

Still we only need food, water and shelter to live, but we all insist on the rest of the junk. Hopefully my children and others will keep striving to clean up our act and find solutions.

I dont believe in global warming either. It is just another scare tactic like 2012 and y2k to make money off of people and to continue with corporate gluttony.

However while we probably aret warming the planet, we are destroying its beauty and rapidly harvesting its resources and it think this is something we should all remember when we are speaking of planetary issues and not confuse it with GW.

[edit on 08/4/17 by metaldemon2000]

Working in adult education and trying to spread emotionally uplifting propaganda on a daily basis.

I garden fruits and veggies to suppliment my food consumption thus negating some of the industrial damage.

I drive a hybrid mongoose bicycle which drastically cuts my emissions.

I will not be voting Republican

I am building a grass-roots web community for food charity with my bro.

I have an interest in saving the planet and try to encourage that in others

reply to post by metaldemon2000



Well its happening.. whether you believe it or not.