Atomac.net

Today is Blog Action Day, and the topic that should be on every bloggers mind is the environment. It is no longer a debate about our role in global climate change. The scientific community is officially recognizing tremendous work being done by the IPCC and Al Gore’s efforts by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize as well as seeding political will to help bring about a change. The problem is we can’t rely on just one person or organization to bring the world back from its spiraling rage. Instead of sitting here spouting how you need to take responsibility Polyvector and I decided that it would be much more beneficial to talk about how we have gone about making a difference despite how small it might be. Remember, thinking global is too big for one person, acting locally even if it is just simply in your own apartment, house, or even bedroom is a start.

Here are a few things we are currently doing around the house:

1. Using cold water to wash our clothes. It takes an extreme amount of energy to keep hot water in your water heater. One way to conserve is to use cold water whenever possible (I know there are those of you out there who wash your whites in hot) when doing loads of laundry. Most laundry detergent brands offer a cold water formula for a little extra boost.

2. Walking to the store for small shopping trips. This one is neat since it also has the health benefits. When wanting to grab a snack or drink instead of getting in the car and driving down to the Circle K, or whatever connivence store you have that carries your favorite muchable, just walk. It saves ya some gas and a little fresh air didn’t kill anyone. Being complete computer nerds this really helps us get some of that much needed sunshine. We also walk to the local Target and Wal-Mart. So we get a good 4-6 miles of walking in a day. Just to put this in perspective, we make so many little trips we only have to fill our gas tank about once a month. And we drive a Toyota Supra folks.

3. Buy organic and fair trade when possible. I know this might sound a bit hippie-ish, but if you promote farmers and products that don’t use harsh chemicals you are saving all the energy and pollutants going into our atmosphere. And believe or not, sometimes the organic stuff is cheaper.

4. Use energy efficient lighting. All our lighting in the house (ok except the bathroom and possibly Willow’s room, we’re working on it) is fitting with energy efficient florescent light bulbs. Back in Calfironia, after we switched to those bulbs we got our electric bill down to $30. Keep in mind we do leave our computers on constantly.

5. Using standby and turning off unused electronics. While yes we do keep 3 computers on at all time just for PolyVector and myself, we do keep all monitors and the computers themselves on various standby and powering down modes for when not being in use. Other electronics and peripherals that require power are powered down when we are not currently using them.

The above five things are so simple and easy to work into any schedule. One of the major things we don’t do and we are actively changing this as we speak is recycling. Living in an apartment has made recycling a very difficult thing as management rules usually include not allowing anything being on a porch or balcony. Here in Flagstaff we now have our own yard and will be placing glass, plastic and paper in bins for transporting to our local recycling facility.

If you would like to share with us what you do to make your life a little green please feel free to pass it along in the comments. We are always willing to try out suggestions in routines or even food.

I hope you enjoyed this year’s Blog Action Day post and I look forward to next year’s topic.