A recent survey in Canada found that most Canadians are alert and aware of global warming and say they acknowledge the severity of it, yet they decline to make personal financial sacrifices (such as higher gas prices, toll on local bridges and highways, excess tax or higher hydro fees) in order to help the case. OK, so be it - dishing out cash from one’s own pocket is no easy feat. So let’s look at the little things we can do to help - the very little things. Here’s what you can do to help :

1. Avoid using plastic bags when possible. When I buy 1 or two items at a grocery store, or when I buy a big bottle of laundry detergent etc., I ask them to not put it in a bag when it can be helped. If I can carry it without a bag, I will do so. Also, I re-use my plastic bags to take out small garbage (such as from the bathroom or bedroom). Don’t bother using them as poo-pickup bags for your dog though - a lot of them will already have holes in them and may lead to a not very sanitary scenario at the dog park.
2. Cell Phone Chargers apparanlty use energy while not in use. Yes, I know it’s not that much energy, but while the adapter is plugged in, it still is converting your 110V input to a 3.5V output - you can tell the energy drain by the heat generated by the cellphone/ipod charger’s adapter after it’s bee plugged in, regardless of whether the equpment is on the other end or not. I haven’t been aware of this until today - my Blackberry charger is always in the wall, but I will take it out right now. Besides - I always charge my blackberry by connecting it to my laptop with the USB - I could almost put the charger away!
3. Switch your lightbulbs to low-energy fluorescent lightbulbs. They may seem to cost more, but they last much longer that it’s cheaper to use them at the end anyhow.
4. Plan your day so you don’t drive too much. I always do this, so that I don’t drive more than I need to. I plan a journey that allows me to hit all the spots in the city while avoiding rush hour traffic jams. This not only saves your own gas, and reduces mileage on your car, but it also reduces emissions a lot.
5. Don’t idle in parking lots, or when you’ve pulled over to the side of the street to pick someone up or whatever.
6. Reduce paper use. I write my grocery list on my blackberry. I’m not kidding. Also I rely more and more on online invoicing and billing. Not only for my cell phone bills etc., but also when I bill my clients, I often bill by online invoicing if they’re OK with it. Of course, a lot of them still prefer paper invoices and there’s not a lot I can do about that.
7. Try to turn the tap water off when you can. I know some people leave it on while they brush their teeth (and I’m guilty of it once in a while). But look at Australia right now - one of their reservoirs dried out so much that they can now see traces of the old town that used to exist there decades ago before it was emptied to make the reservoir over it. I bet they wish they hadn’t used up the reservoir water so quickly now!

Now. Some environmentalist/hippies simply go overboard, and they seem to completely lose the sense of praticality in their lives as they simply fall into a complete lack of balance in their lives.

1. No, I will not make my own ice-cream or cheese at home all the time because I don’t want to waste the packaging. Give me a fucking break, I cannot waste my own time for those things especially when I have a business to run. If you’re a David Cunningham-type of hippie loser with no proper job because you “refuse to be part of the machine” and you have 12 hours a day to burn (and another 2 hours to burn weed), maybe. But I’m not making anything at home.
2. Re-using garbage bags? Disgusting. I saw this couple on the CBC news channel, and they empty the garbage, bring back the garbage bags, wash it out, and then they tie it up to an electric fan to dry it. That’s gone overboard, and is completely disgusting, and a total waste of my time.
3. No, I will not get rid of my car. It’s part of my life and my convenience to own a car to have mobility across the city. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s the 21st century. And no, I cannot nor wish to bankrupt oil companies, you short-sighted hippies. I have stocks in them and they drive the global economy. Unless you want to start paying $12 for a loaf of bread instead of $2, let the oil industry survive.
4. I want to keep getting my newspapers in paper. It gives me the freedom to take it to a coffee shop, a restaurant to read it at. Yes, I go to restaurants alone because I’m too busy to ever cook at home (unless it’s a snack) and I’m not some insecure loser who thinks it’s weird to sit at a restaurant alone. Besides, it’s made of recycled paper. Give me a break.
5. No, I will not decline ownership of things, I’m not a communist - I just want to care a little bit about the environment. I really don’t see how it makes me evil to own stocks, real estate (not that I do yet, but if I were rich enough I would) and what not.
6. Not flush the toilet unless it’s #2? No way, that’s gross. I flush each time, and that won’t change. Ever.
7. No, I will not give up take-out food in order to avoid the plastic/styrofoam packaging. It’s part of my convenience and a time-saving (which is ultimately money-making) scheme.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 9th, 2007 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Hot Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.