Doing the Easy Stuff First

To return planet Earth’s atmosphere to its composition prior to 1850, though desirable, is probably unlikely, so long as human beings have oil and coal to burn and no tax is applied to discourage this practice. However, that target should at least be the goal if humans are to avoid extinction. Right now humans are just beginning to talk about all the other species now facing that future, completely overlooking that fact that the life form at the top of the food chain is the one most at risk.

Well, how do you even begin clean up the atmosphere? Start by doing the easy stuff first.

Your Mother Nature should not have to tell you to change all the incandescent light bulbs in your house to the compact fluorescent variety. You should have already heard enough about the reasons for doing so and made the switch. But if not, here’s why. To save money. And, to spare your planet’s atmosphere the pollution caused by burning coal and oil to generate more electricity than you would otherwise need. You see, a 13 or 14 watt CF light bulb will provide the equivalent light output of a 60 watt incandescent, thereby reducing energy consumption in this case by 77%! You would think that everyone on this planet would be lining up to make the switch. That’s not the case. Billions of people haven’t even heard about them yet. It’s time they did

Your Mother Nature should not have to tell you to “share the ride” if you commute to work. If you watch traffic stalled on freeways during the morning and evening rush hours, you will see almost all of the vehicles have only one person in them. This should be a no brainer. If everyone were required to have four people in each vehicle, that would reduce traffic by as much as 75% and, what do you know . . . vehicles would actually move during those times! Think of the savings in gasoline and the reduction in CO2 emissions.

Mother Nature should not have to remind you to use the power of the sun. But, as you have become more “modern” it seems you have forgotten such practical uses of the sun as drying clothes on a clothesline. Remember, the sun is the source of all energy and the drying of laundry is simply a direct use of it. I, your Mother Nature, should not need to remind you that every time one drys a load of laundry on a clothesline, they are saving the energy it takes to run a gas or electric clothes dryer. There is an instant money savings and a reduction in CO2 emissions too.

These are just a few things that can be done to help reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cost little or no money. Quite the contrary, they all save you money in the long run. But that is a minor point. They actually work to save you.