Solutions to Global Warming

chadwick

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

honestly, I'm not convinced that global climate change isn't a natural occurence. Of course, I'm not one of those jackasses that uses that as an excuse to drive a giant SUV, I do my part, but mostly because I just think the amount of garbage, waste, pollution, is disgusting. we are a wasteful and pitiful race. Chadwick, totally agree with the cigarette butts as a problem. It's gross. Especially here in Winnipeg after the spring thaw. Those cigarette butts collect in the snow for 5 or 6 months, and the snow melts, and all we have are thousands of wet butts all over our city. It's gross to say the least. I was told how much energy my pc sucks out of the Earth by leaving it on overnight (I used to do this when downloading a big file), and stopped that immediately. It was pretty alarming. I also unplug everything that I can when it's not in use.

I tried switching to those new bulbs, but I guess my house is too old and something didn't jive, because they would get really hot and burn, so I had to go back to regular bulbs.

If you live in cold climes, weather strip your windows, and good. You'd be amazed how much energy is wasted by having a leaky house.

Put those child safety plastic inserts in your household electrical outlets. You'd be surprised how much wind comes through those outlets.

while visitig B.C. this lady who worked at one of the gas station up there offered me a trashbag for my car. i said, yes, and accepted the trashbag. then i wondered, why don't they do this in the u.s.?

i am sorry Winnipeg is covered in cig butts. my mind had created a almost perfect picture of canada's land. :( guess that's not exactly the case.

brianlux

chadwick wrote:

while visitig B.C. this lady who worked at one of the gas station up there offered me a trashbag for my car. i said, yes, and accepted the trashbag. then i wondered, why don't they do this in the u.s.?

i am sorry Winnipeg is covered in cig butts. my mind had created a almost perfect picture of canada's land. :( guess that's not exactly the case.

That surprised me to. The three Canadian cities I've vistited- Toronto and Vancouver and Victoria all were very clean.

It really is a bummer to see butts lying around. Same thing with people spitting gum on the sidewalk, street, parking lot, etc. Not only a bummer to step on but some birds see it and think they're getting a tasty treat and choke on it. It's just not that hard to dispose of these things properly.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

chadwick wrote:

while visitig B.C. this lady who worked at one of the gas station up there offered me a trashbag for my car. i said, yes, and accepted the trashbag. then i wondered, why don't they do this in the u.s.?

i am sorry Winnipeg is covered in cig butts. my mind had created a almost perfect picture of canada's land. :( guess that's not exactly the case.

it really is only like that for a short time in spring, because they collect all winter long. after it rains and the street sweepers come by, it's better, but it's still disgusting to see for that short time.

canada's land is beautiful. but sometimes the people inhabiting it destroy it with their ignorance.

fear4freedom

If its yellow let it mellow.....if its brown flush it down!!!!
I only flush my toilet about once a week! That saves about 30 gallons of water per week.....thats 1500 gallons per year! And that is just from one of my energy saving methods!
I only use 2 squares of toilet paper!
I also join up with neighbors on energy saving initiatives!
We have meetings in candlelight to brainstorm how our street can do more!

brianlux

fear4freedom wrote:

If its yellow let it mellow.....if its brown flush it down!!!!
I only flush my toilet about once a week! That saves about 30 gallons of water per week.....thats 1500 gallons per year! And that is just from one of my energy saving methods!
I only use 2 squares of toilet paper!
I also join up with neighbors on energy saving initiatives!
We have meetings in candlelight to brainstorm how our street can do more!

:thumbup:

Johnny Abruzzo

I do a lot of little things to help out, but unfortunately, I think we're fucked. I don't think anything is going to stop global warming at this point, especially considering all those who deny it is even happening. We will just keep seeing more and more blizzards and tornadoes & hurricanes & floods, and they will just keep denying global warming has anything to do it. All that said, I have my doubts that, even if everyone agreed on the problem, that we could even do much to stop it at this point.

Anyways... I religiously recycle, keep thermostat low in winter and somewhat high in summer (this part is harder), & replaced most of the windows in my old house. I put in all those squiggly light bulbs (hope they don't break since they are full of mercury :roll: ). I used to bike commute some days (or carpool with my wife), but with the arrival of little ones I can't work this out for the time being. Our jobs are just too demanding (as I goof off on this website...). Maybe I can get back to it in a few years.

We use a dryer because, honestly, a lot of days it's too rainy or humid or cold for clothes to dry. That freeze drying thing doesn't really work that well - sorry. When my wife & I stayed at a cousin's house in Italy it took 2 days for our clothes to dry outside (they don't have dryers there).

I'd love to unplug my TV and turn off my work computer overnight, but then I'd have to wait 15 minutes for the fucking cable box to reboot every time I turned it on, and I'd wait 20 minutes for the piece of shit computer to start up every morning when I get to work.

brianlux

Johnny Abruzzo wrote:

I do a lot of little things to help out, but unfortunately, I think we're fucked. I don't think anything is going to stop global warming at this point, especially considering all those who deny it is even happening. We will just keep seeing more and more blizzards and tornadoes & hurricanes & floods, and they will just keep denying global warming has anything to do it. All that said, I have my doubts that, even if everyone agreed on the problem, that we could even do much to stop it at this point.

Anyways... I religiously recycle, keep thermostat low in winter and somewhat high in summer (this part is harder), & replaced most of the windows in my old house. I put in all those squiggly light bulbs (hope they don't break since they are full of mercury :roll: ). I used to bike commute some days (or carpool with my wife), but with the arrival of little ones I can't work this out for the time being. Our jobs are just too demanding (as I goof off on this website...). Maybe I can get back to it in a few years.

We use a dryer because, honestly, a lot of days it's too rainy or humid or cold for clothes to dry. That freeze drying thing doesn't really work that well - sorry. When my wife & I stayed at a cousin's house in Italy it took 2 days for our clothes to dry outside (they don't have dryers there).

I'd love to unplug my TV and turn off my work computer overnight, but then I'd have to wait 15 minutes for the fucking cable box to reboot every time I turned it on, and I'd wait 20 minutes for the piece of shit computer to start up every morning when I get to work.

These are all good and helpful thing, Johnny Abruzzo, and you should be commended for doing them. As far as not stopping global warming, I think you are mostly right. Even the most hard working of those trying to prevent further damage will tell you it's too late to stop it because, frankly, it's already happening. At this point, the best efforts being made are to slow it down. If enough effort is made, the chain-link reaction, the feedback of warming and polar melting which turns sun-reflective ice into heat absorbing water, the spread of disease and movement of insects and parasites into climates that were previously to cold for them, the rise in ocean levels, the increase of drought in some areas and flooding in others, the increased impact of extreme weather events- all of this can be slowed down by reducing the CO2 content in the atmosphere. We might be fucked, but if we slow down the process through diligent effort we will live longer and better- we'll at least be less fucked!

Johnny Abruzzo

brianlux wrote:

We might be fucked, but if we slow down the process through diligent effort we will live longer and better- we'll at least be less fucked!

That's all we can hope for at this point, I think.

One thing I left out is I certainly have a weakness for horsepower, so I don't drive a hybrid or anything really all that close to that. You can't win 'em all, right? I do at least try to baby my 6-speed in traffic to maximize my gas, but I'm not sure how useful that is.

brianlux

Johnny Abruzzo wrote:

One thing I left out is I certainly have a weakness for horsepower, so I don't drive a hybrid or anything really all that close to that. You can't win 'em all, right? I do at least try to baby my 6-speed in traffic to maximize my gas, but I'm not sure how useful that is.

Believe it or not- I was the same way years ago. You might consider test driving a newer Prius sometime- I'm serious. It may not beat out your 6-speed in a race, but if you haven't driven one you'd be amazed at the acceleration for which they are capable (more than the V-8 '65 Malibu I had when I was a kid)- certainly plenty of power for all normal driving situations. One of my nephews once took me for a hair-raising ride in his hopped up Camero and at around 110 MPH the thing started to lift off the road- we were nearly literally flying (scary shit!) The second and third generation Prius is aerodynamically designed such that at around 90 MPH and up the chassis starts to get pushed down closer to the road. It's an amazing car and at reasonable speeds you can get 50 to 60 MPG's on the flats-- and the savings in gas each month make up a good chunk of the payments. I make significantly less now than I did when I was teaching yet between the gas savings, ride-sharing and shopping around for the super low interst rates that are currently available, I was able to afford one.

Johnny Abruzzo

Glad you like it. I guess the electric engine has good low end torque. I will have my G37 for a long time I think. My dad said his Prius is hopeless in the snow. Mine, with winter tires, is actually decent even with RWD. Oh well, off topic.

brianlux

I'm not a big fan of big box stores- no surprise there- but there is one store that is at least thinking into the future regarding solar: Ikea. I visited our area's Ikea recently because my local retailer didn't have the size of shelf I was looking for and was impressed by the fact that their giant roof is covered with solar panels. Check this out:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/2 ... 21376.html

"Big-box stores may contribute to the evils of urban sprawl, but -- with all that rooftop real estate -- they also also offer a prime location for urban-centered solar panel arrays to soak up the rays and offset those super-sized utility bills. Wal-Mart has snagged the spotlight for such renewable energy systems rooftop in recent years, but global furnishings mega-retailer Ikea has so far out-paced Wally World big time in gearing up with solar."

ONCE DEVIDED

Want less
use less
buy local produce from markets instead of massive centralised chains.
dont use aircon when you dont actually need it.
walk, or catch public transport.
think

i dont know if global warming is true or not
but i love this fucken planet. and i hate how we just treat it like shit

Commy

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

for there to be a true solution EVERYONE has to first admit that there is a problem.

once that happens, then the solutions will come easy because everyone will be on the same page.

until that happens, all we can do is offer small solutions like we are doing here.

it is going to take the people to act, because the businesses and government will just continue with the status quo until the people force them to act.

actually this is bullshit.




for there to a be a true solution there must be some profit in it. rules of capitalism you see.

brianlux

ONCE DEVIDED wrote:

Want less
use less
buy local produce from markets instead of massive centralised chains.
dont use aircon when you dont actually need it.
walk, or catch public transport.
think

i dont know if global warming is true or not
but i love this fucken planet. and i hate how we just treat it like shit

Succinct, to the point, spot on. :thumbup:

catefrances

this family has me intrigued:

http://thezerowastehome.com/

they even make their own toothpaste.

Jeanwah

ONCE DEVIDED wrote:

Want less
use less
buy local produce from markets instead of massive centralised chains.
dont use aircon when you dont actually need it.
walk, or catch public transport.
think

i dont know if global warming is true or not
but i love this fucken planet. and i hate how we just treat it like shit

Exactly. :thumbup:

I especially like the *think* part.

Cheeks

Cloth diapers!
People thought I was crazy at first, but we used cloth diapers on our daughter.
I read a stat somewhere that one child could fill an entire cathedral with diapers by the time they are potty trained. Also saves you some cash!
A lot of energy goes into making disposable diapers and then they sit in a landfill for 500 years.

cincybearcat

Cheeks wrote:

Cloth diapers!
People thought I was crazy at first, but we used cloth diapers on our daughter.
I read a stat somewhere that one child could fill an entire cathedral with diapers by the time they are potty trained. Also saves you some cash!
A lot of energy goes into making disposable diapers and then they sit in a landfill for 500 years.

I've seen research that shows cloth diapers end up hurting the environment about the same as disposable...due to the energy and water used to wash. I'll look for it.

cincybearcat

Cheeks wrote:

Cloth diapers!
People thought I was crazy at first, but we used cloth diapers on our daughter.
I read a stat somewhere that one child could fill an entire cathedral with diapers by the time they are potty trained. Also saves you some cash!
A lot of energy goes into making disposable diapers and then they sit in a landfill for 500 years.

This isn't the original I read, but here is a decent one to review...

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story? ... x8CIqXOxo8

Johnny Abruzzo

If you have one of those Keurig coffee machines, you can buy one of these instead of throwing out a cup every time you make coffee:

http://www.amazon.com/ekobrew-Refillable-Keurig-Brewers-1-Count/dp/B0051SU0OW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327433102&sr=8-2

It'll save you money and you'll get to drink better coffee, so 3 advantages there.