If you're planning on renting a movie anytime soon and haven't seen
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH...pick it up and watch it. It is an excellent piece of moral entrepreneurship that is so convincing it's scary. Below, I've also listed a number of practical things we can be doing to reduce global warming...more information can be found here:
www.climatecrisis.net. As it's stated in the film, this is a moral issue. And as God's people - who the Lord has entrusted with the responsibility to care for His creation - we ought to seriously examine our habits that are contributing to the problem.
SOME IDEAS:
(1)
Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
(2)
Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer. Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.
(3)
Use less hot water. It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year) instead of hot.
(4)
Turn off electronic devices you’re not using. Simply turning off your television, DVD player, stereo, and computer when you’re not using them will save you thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
(5)
Unplug electronics from the wall when you’re not using them. Even when turned off, things like hairdryers, cell phone chargers and televisions use energy. In fact, the energy used to keep display clocks lit and memory chips working accounts for 5 percent of total domestic energy consumption and spews 18 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year!
(6)
Be sure you’re recycling at home. You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates.
(7)
Plant a tree. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%.
(8)
Avoid heavily packaged products. You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10%.
(9)
Eat less meat. Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane, which they exhale with every breath.
(10)
Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible. Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year!
"When you pray, move your feet"(African proverb).
One goat is good. Two goats are great. And through our World Vision fundraising campaign, we've raised enough money for two goats! So, Methuselah will be joined by a little friend.
