Global Warming - What Are You Doing?

Those of you living in Canada who sponsor children through World Vision likely get a publication called Child View. Take a look at the Spring 2007 issue. (or download it free here.)There is a great article on how we can help others in developing countries by changing some of our ways at home. I‘ll share a few of those ways below.

Shortly after reading that article I finally watched Al Gore’s, An Inconvenient Truth. If you haven’t seen it, please go out and rent it and watch it this week. The statistics are staggering. We may be headed for serious Revelation type events if we don’t change our current course of action.


Then while in an airport yesterday I noticed the cover of Time Magazine, “The Global Warming Survival Guide” is the headline. They have a list of 51 things you can do to make a difference. I’ll share a few of the ones I think are most effective.

Then this morning I went to my usual CBC.ca to see what’s going on in the news in the homeland and noticed a link to a whole section on going green. Once there the headline story was about a small town in Manitoba called Leaf Rapids. This town is the first one in Canada to ban plastic bags. It sounds like San Francisco (the city I am writing in right now) is next in line to make that same change.

As you can see there seems to finally be a pretty serious shift here, at least in the media, to the fact that climate change is real. So now it’s our turn to do our part. Hopefully all of you are already doing things to help out but here are more ideas to keep, or get, you on track.

From World Vision Canada’s Child View magazine:

Make The Connection
- A warmer world is going to affect the people in the hottest places more than anywhere else. And that’s exactly where the world’s poorest people live. By becoming more green we have the potential to offer a better life to those people.
Buy Less, Buy Locally
- Buy less and you have less waste. Easy concept. Buy items of high quality that will last longer. Look for items with minimal packaging. The transport of goods that are shipped to us is a major contributor of greenhouse gases. Support your neighbours and reduce nasty truck emissions. Note: An idea I read in the Toronto Sun was that grocery stores be mandated to put signs on their produce that indicate how far it traveled to get there.

From Time Magazine’s April 9th issue: There were 51 "things you can do", I’ve chosen 9. I picked the ones with the highest impact and that were easiest for people like you and I to accomplish today.

Open A Window
- Open a window instead of running the AC. Adjust the thermostat a few degrees higher in the summer and lower in the winter.
Skip The Steak
- The meat industry generates more greenhouse gas emissions than transportation!!!! Eat your vegetables!
Just Say No to Plastic Bags
- A high impact easy solution
Support Your Local Farmer
- I already mentioned this one under World Vision but it’s worth mentioning again. Hit the local Farmer’s Market, help keep your neighbours and your community in business.
Remove The Tie
- Japan cut an estimated 79,000 tons of CO2 during the summer of 2005 by keeping its office temperatures at 82.4F throughout the summer. Loosen those collars and relax boys!
Shut Off Your Computer
- If you’re reading this then I know your computer is on. Save yourself some money and shut’er down when you’re not using it. That means off not sleep. While you’re at it make sure all of your other electronics and lights are in the off position too.
Rake In The Fall Colours
- Put that blower away and give your health a boost too. Use a rake, use a shovel, use your muscles, everybody wins!
Change Your Lightbulbs
- Fluorescent and LED lights use as much as 25% of the energy as standard lights. Save yourself some money and reduce your carbon footprint at the same time.

And last, this one is a bit of a dream but I think it’s a cool idea.

Get a Carbon Budget
- Here’s the idea. We all have a certain allowance of carbon emissions. Whether we choose to live above that allowance or below it is up to us. Live below and gain credits, live above and pay for more credits. So let’s say you bike or walk to work and gain some carbon credits. You can then sell those credits to Mr. Hummer driver since, if he wants to drive his Hummer, which is way above the allowance, he needs more credits. This way we keep a balance of carbon emissions and let the market work out the details. I’m sure there are a million things wrong with this theory but it sounds like a cool idea to me.

Glenn