Thinking about CO2
Carbon Dioxide is hard to conceptualize
as a pollutant. Many of us are old enough to remember the anti littering public
service announcements with the Native American with the tear on his face. Those
ads made a huge impact on the way Americas thought about throwing trash out of cars along the
nation’s highways. CO2 is piling up like trash, but not around us, but
over our heads in a thick greenhouse gas blanket that is gradually making the planet warmer and warmer.
Think of it this way (according
to Nate Lewis, California Institute of Technology), imagine you are driving in your car and for each mile that you drive…
you toss a one pound bag of CO2 trash out of your window. Everyone else on the
freeway and side streets is also tossing a one pound bag of CO2 Trash out their window for each mile that they drive. People in Hummers, large SUVs, and Pickup Trucks are throwing bags out both the drivers and passenger window for each mile driven. Imagine
how that would look and feel. That is what we are doing, only we can’t
really see it. And those imaginary one pound bags of CO2 are really floating
up, joining together and sticking together in the atmosphere. There they are
joined with bags of CO2 from power plants that burn coal, oil, gas, and all the CO2 released from burning related to deforestation
in places like Indonesia and Brazil. It gets to be quite a collection.
What can we
do? Lot of Things!
Car Pool – 2-4 people in one
small car and still only one pound bag of CO2/mile
Public Transportation – Take
the Bus!
Ride your Bike – good exercise!
Walk – good exercise!
Purchase a smaller car – buy
the smallest car necessary for your family’s needs.
Buy a hybrid car – still uses
energy.
Buy an electric car – still
uses energy.
Ride a scooter or small motorcycle
– still uses energy.
Eliminate unnecessary car trips
– Plan your car errands for maximum efficiency. See if your neighbor needs
something from the grocery…combine trips.
See if you can work from home once
or twice a week.
Keep your car tuned up, tires properly
inflated, and exhaust system in order.
Have one car free day per week or
month.
If you are a two car family, see
if you can eliminate one car. Experiment by parking one car and just drive the
smaller one for a month. If it works, sell the other car.
Join Community Supported Agriculture
– Most of our produce travels long distances and that uses fuel. Buying
local produce at local farmers markets or joining a CSA helps conserve fuel while supporting local farmers.
