“What can you do to help save our Planet Earth?”

By Linn Smith

November 26, 2018—–In the last several years it has been progressing….the evidence of climate change….floods, fires and extreme weather. For me, some days were difficult to breath during the summer due to smoke from the fires in the Pacific coast area.

Take Responsibility for Climate Change

Now is the time! It’s time to take personal responsibility for cutting your carbon footprint, even though politicians may be looking the other way in the name of profit from fossil fuels or under the pretense that miners, and other workers in the fossil fuel industry, need those jobs instead of being retrained in other fields.

Its time! You as an individual must reduce your carbon footprint to minimize the catastrophe our planet is headed for. Scientific fact states there is a correlation between fossil fuels, the greenhouse effect and extreme weather. Though most believe this, many are not willing to reduce their carbon footprint.

What is a carbon footprint? A Carbon footprint is “the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels by a particular person or group.”

Only You Can Prevent Climate Change

Everyone’s heard the slogan, “Only you can prevent forest fires!” I grew up with Smokey the Bear drilling the dangers of fire into my head! So let’s bend the slogan a little. Only you can prevent climate change! Do you need a bear telling you this??

The unfortunate thing is, even if we start today, the earth will not see the results of your effort anytime soon, but future generations may experience a slowing effect. Then why bother you ask? It’s the right thing to do! It’s a code of ethics we as humans on this earth need to adopt, even though most won’t live to see the results. It’s the greatest gift we can give our children and grandchildren!

Cutting Your Carbon Footprint

So here are a few ideas to cut your carbon footprint:

Cars have surpassed energy production in emitting CO2 into our atmosphere, as energy production has been rapidly moving towards solar, wind and other renewables. I drive an older Prius Hybrid which I intend to drive until it’s done. I can attest to the reliability of these cars, plus the fuel efficiency. I get around 50 mpg depending on how I drive it. Here is a website for finding the most fuel efficient cars on the market: https://www.consumerreports.org/fuel-economy-efficiency/the-most-fuel-efficient-cars-best-mpg/

Turn the lights off when not in use. Turn down your hot water heater. Choose solar if it’s an option. A friend has a motion solar light for outdoor use and it burns just as bright as any other light. You can find these at http://www.walmart.com You can find strings of solar Christmas lights at https://www.survivalrenewableenergy.com/20-best-solar-christmas-lights/
I have strings of solar lights outside to light my way from car to house and own a solar flashlight that works very well.

Invest in a clothesline. A friend is a full time RVer and has adapted a small clothesline for the back of his RV as seen in the photo. Be creative and resourceful!

Buy used! Almost 30% of greenhouse gas emissions result from extracting resources, manufacturing, packaging, transporting and final disposal of consumer products. By purchasing used products and reselling them or giving them to a charity, you greatly reduce your carbon footprint.

Use a Carbon Offset

According to nativeenergy.com when someone buys a carbon offset the money goes to pay for a reduction in greenhouse gases that is part of your carbon footprint. It helps fund an existing clean energy project to offset your daily emissions of CO2.

Or here’s another thought from a friend. They travel a lot. They have down sized from a 5th wheel to a truck camper. They decided the pots, pans and all kitchen utensils in their camper should weigh no more than 30 lbs. They weighed each item before putting it in the camper to make sure the total weight of all was less than 30lbs.

Think about your own carbon producing habits and how to reduce or offset them. Be resourceful. It’s personal at this point. Each person needs to ask themselves, “What can I do to help save our Planet Earth?”