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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Earth Day PSA

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend! I have a PSA (public service announcement) to share with you...



Do you celebrate Earth Day? What’s your celebration like? A great way to “celebrate” the earth is to reduce our carbon footprint. Bill Gates says we can reduce our carbon footprint by reducing the number of people who live on the planet!

In this video, you'll hear him dance his way through it by touting vaccines and "reproductive services" (aka: abortions). What???



Instead of committing global genocide, how 'bout we all work together to take care of our planet??

Here’s the plan...

  • Use cleaner transport
    • Walk, bike, or take public transit (or carpool) whenever possible.
    • Avoid allowing your car to idle. If you'll be waiting for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine (except in traffic).
    • Don't take the drive-through (fast food junkies)....park the car and walk inside instead. Or, better yet...cook at home, and skip the fast food!
    • Have your vehicle serviced regularly to keep the emission control systems operating at peak efficiency. Check your car's air filter monthly, and keep the tires adequately inflated to maximize gas mileage.
    • Driving over the speed limit and excessive acceleration wastes gas (reducing mileage by up to 33%), money, and results in an unnecessarily higher carbon footprint. Slow down!!
    • Combine errands to make fewer trips. Remove excess weight from your car. Use cruise control.
  • Avoid short airplane trips-take a bus or train instead.
  • Eat more local, organic, in-season foods.
    • Plant a garden....it doesn't get more local than that!
    • Shop at your local farmer's market or natural foods store. Look for local, in-season foods that haven't traveled long distances to reach you.
    • Choose foods with less packaging, to reduce waste.
    • Eat lower on the food chain...going meatless for just one meal a week can make a difference. Globally, it has been estimated that 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions are associated with meat consumption.
  • Reduce, reuse, recycle!
    • Recycle all your paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic. Don't forget electronics!
    • Buy less! Replace items only when you really need to...like after they break, or stop working!!
    • Compost food waste for the garden. Garbage that is not contaminated with degradable (biological) waste can be more easily recycled and sorted, and doesn't produce methane gases (a significant greenhouse gas contributor) when stored in a landfill.
    • Buy recycled products, particularly those labeled "post-consumer waste."
  • Adopt water-saving habits
    • Take shorter, less frequent showers...this not only saves water, but it also saves the energy necessary to heat it.
    • Don't use the garbage disposal...compost instead.
    • Run the dishwasher and the laundry machines only when full. And, if you can, dry your clothing outside on a clothes line (this saves electricity)!
    • Wash cars rarely, or better yet, take them to a carwash. Commercial carwashes use less water per wash than home washers, and they are also required to drain used water into the sewage system, rather than storm drains, which protects aquatic life.
    • Avoid hosing down or power-washing your deck, walkways, or driveway.
    • Regularly look for, and fix, leaks.
  • Choose sustainable building materials, furnishings, and cleaning products.
    • Explore green design features for your building, like passive solar heating, a rainwater catchment or grey water recycling system, and recycled materials.
    • Choose efficient appliances, including low flow shower heads, faucets, toilets; also furnaces, air conditioning units, dishwashers, and refrigerators. ENERGY STAR labeled products are recognized as having superior energy efficiency.
    • Choose furnishings that are second-hand, recycled, or sustainably produced.
    • Plant drought tolerant plants in your garden and yard.
    • Use biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning products.
  • Add solar panels to the roof of your home. This costs a little more than the above options, but many providers offer financing options which minimize upfront costs. Two examples are SolarCity and SunRun. If you live in a state with a Net Metering law, you could eliminate your electricity bill, or even earn money, by selling electricity back to the grid.

Every day can be Earth Day; if everyone on the face of this wonderful planet of ours would consciously make these points a part of their everyday life, our CO2 emissions would be drastically reduced...without reducing the size of the world's population!

Have a great day, everyone...and God bless you!! oxoxox