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What Else Can I Do?
Now that you have taken the pledge, here are
some other ways that you can take action to stop climate
change.
Use Less Energy at Home:
Use only as much water as you need.
Fill cooking pots with as little as possible. Take
showers instead of baths, and take shorter showers.
Whenever possible, let rain water your garden.
Install an energy-efficient shower
head.
Only run your dishwasher and
washing machine when you have a full load. Wash your
dishes on the “air-dry” setting.
Hang dry your clothes whenever
possible.
Insulate your hot water heater, and
turn down the thermostat to 120 degrees.
Insulate your house and hot water
pipes.
Install a programmable thermostat.
Learn to make meals that require
little cooking. Slow cookers can make delicious meals!
Conduct a home energy audit, which
can identify the areas of your house where you can cut
down on power. Visit
www.energyguide.com to help you with a self-audit.
Travel Smarter
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Reduce the number of miles you
drive. Organize your errands to make the route you take
more efficient. Carpool, walk, ride the bus or a
bicycle.
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When it is time to get a new car,
buy one that gets better gas mileage. If you are able to
purchase a hybrid, make sure you ask about gas mileage,
because some hybrids are less energy-efficient than
others.
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Perform regular maintenance on your
car, and keep your tires inflated properly. Proper tire
inflation can improve gas mileage by 3%.
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Telecommute if possible. Working at
home is an option that more employers are implementing.
Even working at home one day per week could save a lot
of carbon emissions.
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Reduce air travel. Air travel puts
more carbon into the atmosphere than vehicles do. If you
fly for business, consider the option of telecommuting,
or try to reduce the number of trips you take each year.
Be a Wise Consumer: Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle
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It takes a lot of energy to
manufacture the stuff we buy. If you simply buy less, it
will save on carbon emissions – and money, too!
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Shop at second-hand stores. Buying
products that have already been manufactured saves the
energy of making brand new products.
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Choose products that last, and use
the products you buy until they are worn out or stop
working.
Buy products with less packaging,
or products that come in recycled packaging.
Recycle everything! Call your trash
pickup provider to see what they recycle, or go to
www.earth911.org to learn what and where you can
recycle in your area.
Don’t waste paper. Print less on
your computer, and print on both sides of the paper.
Buy only recycled paper.
To learn how to remove your name
from mailing lists (and save paper), go to
www.newdream.org or
www.dmaconsumers.org
Avoid using plastic bags when you
shop. Take tote bags with you, and keep them in the car
so you remember to use them. It takes a huge amount of
energy and petroleum to manufacture plastic. And
remember this fact: all of the plastic that has ever
been made on planet Earth is still here, clogging our
landfills and our oceans. It takes hundreds of years for
plastic to break down.
Also avoid paper bags. If you are
asked, “Paper or plastic?” say “Neither.”
Stop buying bottled water. Use a
refillable water bottle and use the water from your tap.
Compost all of your table scraps
and leaves. When they end up in a landfill, they
decompose and give off methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
At least if you are composting, this material will add
energy to the soil and cut down on the amount of trash
in our landfills.
Reduce your consumption of meat.
Producing and shipping the meat that ends up on your
dinner table takes a massive amount of energy. In
addition, the livestock industry gives off a lot of
methane, and the clearing of land for grazing livestock
means less trees, which we need to absorb carbon
dioxide.
Buy your fruits and vegetables from
local producers whenever possible. This saves on
shipping and packaging. If you are able to, grow your
own fruits and vegetables.
To learn about the environmental
policies of companies you buy from, go to
www.responsibleshopper.org
Other Ideas
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Plant trees! Trees increase the
shade around your home, reducing energy usage, and they
absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Shade trees
can reduce your air-conditioning bill by 10-15%. And
don’t forget to plant native trees – they are adapted to
living in your environment, and won’t need extra water
or fertilizer.
Purchase carbon offsets to
neutralize your carbon footprint. These credits help to
fund research projects on reducing carbon emissions. You
can ask your local energy provider for options, or visit
websites such as
www.NativeEnergy.com/climatecrisis.
Calculate your carbon footprint –
there are numerous on-line programs available to do
this, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s
Personal Emissions Calculator at
www.epa.gov.
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Learn all that you can about
climate change, and keep learning new ways to reduce
your carbon emissions.
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Spread the word! Convince your
family, friends, and employer – everyone you know – to
take action.
Write your Senator and Congressman.
You can make a difference by putting pressure on your
elected officials. To learn where politicians stand on
climate change issues, go to
www.lcv.org/scorecard.
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Support environmental groups. There
are many organizations that are trying to make a
difference. Your support, either through donations or
time, can help.
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For more information, see our
(link) list of websites on climate change and reducing
greenhouse gases.
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