YOU CAN PREVENT GLOBAL WARMING (AND SAVE MONEY!): 51 EASY WAYS
Title: You Can Prevent Global Warming (and save money!): 51 Easy Ways
Authors: Jeffrey Langholz, Ph.D., and Kelly Turner
Published: 2003
Overview: This book focuses on ways we can lessen our environmental impact in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. Presented in different categories (such as transportation and home appliances) are simple projects and consumer choices that suit a wide range of budgets, ambitions, and taste. At the end of each chapter is a simple table that calculates the amount saved in terms of carbon dioxide and money.
Detail: The book focuses on two strategies for reducing our impact on the environment—through energy conservation from within our current lifestyles and by making earth-friendly consumer choices. With reassuring ease, the book takes these large principles and applies them to everyday life in simple steps. The reader immediately recognizes that minimal effort can leverage large environmental benefit. For example, upgrading traditional lightbulbs to CFLs saves time (longer lifespan), and lowers energy usage and carbon dioxide emissions (by about two thirds). Even if a reader is not concerned about the environmental impacts of his or her lifesyle, the suggestions in this book provide a large economic incentive.
Consider this: by installing four CFLs you will save $205 in energy over their lifetime and prevent 718 lbs of carbon dioxide from being emitted each year.
Aside from calculating the possible economic savings from conservation, the reader can visualize how each effort helps lower his or her carbon footprint. For example, while recycling one flimsy soda can may not seem worth the trouble, the energy savings are significant. By not recycling 2 cans, you will waste more energy than somebody living in the third world uses in an entire day.
In terms of energy conservation, the book covers four specific areas of rampant energy usage: electricity and hot water, heating and cooling, the backyard, and transportation. Seperately, the book examines changing behaviors through consumerism, recycling and expanding your impact (getting involved and green investments).
Three Points of Personal Interest:
1. While buying a hybrid automobile is the most effective way to lower your carbon emissions, flying is the worst. The amount of pollution saved by driving a hybrid for one year is nearly equivalent to the amount of pollution caused per person on a round trip flight from New York to San Francisco.
2. We can drink tap water at a price of $4.50 for every 40,000 glasses. Or we can spend the same amount on 3 bottles of spring water and vastly increase carbon dioxide emissions through the processes of bottling and shipping.
3. A quarter of automobile trips in the United States are less than a mile long.