Earth Day is Coming!

Earth Day is arriving soon. April 22nd to be precise. I know thanks to my new Google Calendar, which is totally awesome. But that’s unrelated…

Earth Day is a good time for us to think about what we’re doing for the environment. Clearly, the environment is one of the most necessary and neglected aspects of our modern world. The main problem is simply that people don’t believe their actions can have a meaningful impact. The truth is, however, that if everyone does a little to conserve, the world can see huge environmental gains. Gains beyond that which can be acheived by government policy changes.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the way the US government is handling environmental policy. Take the Kyoto Protocol for instance (massively simplified):

Uncle Sam: Nations of the world, we must bond together and stop global warming!
Everyone Else: That sounds noble! We will commit to help you even if it means we will have to spend money to reduce our emissions.
Uncle Sam: Fantastic, let’s all sign this fancy form and commit ourselves.
Everyone else signs form. Uncle Sam goes to the bathroom before signing, doesn’t come out, feigning explosive diarrhea. To this day, Uncle Sam has yet to leave the bathroom.

Although the US government definitely needs to take some serious environmental action, we can all take action too. It’s little things like turning off the lights when you’re not using them that really add up and make big differences if everyone contributes. Not only will these things help save the environment, they will help save you money! So why not, it’s just a little extra effort!

Here are a list of things you can do to save the environment, and some money!

• Turn off the lights when you’re not using them! No one receives any benefits if lights are on if nobody can see them, so turn them off when you leave the room! This also goes for the TV, the radio, and all electronics for that matter! If they’re not in use, turn them off!
• Buy energy-efficient, long-life bulbs. These might cost you more in the short run, but they’ll save you a decent amount of money in the long run. Furthermore, you don’t have to replace them as often, and you’re conserving!
• When driving, don’t accelerate rapidly or brake quickly. Drive nice and steady, and you’ll actually notice a huge increase in your fuel economy. I’ve actually checked this out on my 1990 Toyota Camry before. When driving the approximately the same commute for two tanks of gas, I tried once driving aggressively and once driving gradually. The aggressive driving yielded me 40 miles fewer for 7/8 of my tank of gas than the passive driving.
• Take shorter showers! (showers account for over 50% of water heating costs… and water heating is REALLY expensive)
• If you live close enough to school or work, ride your bike! I ride my bike to class every day. I save $105 per semester on parking, and furthermore, I probably save about $100 on gas that I would use driving to and from campus.
• Take public transportation or carpool. Over the summers, I take a bus to work and ride the metro into DC. I save money on parking, gas, and stressful rush-hour commuting (well, on the days that Metro isn’t stressful, but that’s a different story).
• Get faucet leaks fixed. Dripping faucets add up to a lot of wasted water, and will cost both you and the environment in the long run!
• Buy an efficient car if possible.
• Keep tires on your car inflated to their proper levels.
• Heat your residence a little bit less in the winter and cool it a little less in the summer. A few degrees won’t hurt, and it will save you and the planet a ton in the long run. My parents do this to a crazy degree… I wouldn’t recommend being as extreme as my mom. She keeps the house at a 20+ degree differential between winter and summer.
• Recycle. Won’t save you money, but why not? Don’t be lazy.
• Insulate your water heater.
• Buy double paned windows.

Note: some of these facts obtained from http://www.stopglobalwarming.org. Check out this website, it’s really cool!