While we're waiting...

While America sits and waits for electric cars to become less expensive, Obama is attempting to give us an alternative for the here and now. It's a bit left field considering we haven't relied on this mode of transportation in nearly a hundred years. That's right, the train! In 1929, the train was the main mode of transportation. With flying and driving not entirely reliable, the train was the only sensible way to get around. However, the car was quickly gaining popularity. There was a campaign by U.S. carmakers to buy rail lines and close them, along with a major push in Congress to build the world's largest interstate highway system. This was an effort to shift Americans away from train travel and toward cars. As a result, the U.S. became the ultimate auto nation, with more cars per capita than anywhere else in the world.
I've only ever been on a train once and I was in another country at the time. Other countries are entirely reliant upon the train to get them from A to B. Obama allocated $8 billion dollars of his stimulus package on the development of high speed rail lines across the country. His reasoning being to reduce the reliance on foreign oil and greenhouse gas emissions. The first round of federal funding will go toward upgrading existing lines. However, the majority of it will be used to jump start construction of new high speed train travel lines in 10 corridors across the country. Including areas in and around Chicago! Woot Woot! If this catches on, it could save six billion pounds of CO2 annually! This means we would have 29 million fewer car trips and 500,000 fewer plane flights each year. (Okay, I'm going to warn you all right now, I love statistics. I will be using them a lot.) I've only had my car for a little under a year, and I couldn't imagine how I would get along without it. I'm all for breaking my reliance upon it and encouraging others to do the same.

Top 10!

This week, I exercised some new and tried and true ways of being eco-friendly. It was a really fun experience, and I encourage all of you to try a few.

1. I converted all the lightbulbs in the house to CFLs.

CFLs, otherwise known as compact flourescent lighting, is the easiest thing you can do to save energy. I have no idea why I didn't do it sooner. CFLs cut down on electricity by 75% and last up to ten times longer than regular light bulbs. By replacing one 75 watt normal bulb with a 25 watt CFL, one can save up to $83 over the life of the bulb! 83 dollars! I can certainly think of better things to spend 83 dollars on than stupid electricity...

2. I went to the store and purchased some power strips.

At first, I thought this to be a bit of a hassle, but it becomes a habit after a while. Cell phone chargers, printers, and TVs are common culprits of using an LED (light-emitting diode). These sneaky little buggers still suck up electricity even when you shut them off! However, when you plug these sneaky snake, electricity suckers into power strips, you can shut off the strip when you're not using it. BAM. You know how much you just saved? 200 dollars. Seriously folks...

3. I let my grass grow.

That's right. No keeping up with the Jonses this week. Most grass fares best when it's at least 2 to 2 1/2 inches tall. The length creates more area to absorb sunlight, which creates thicker turf and deeper roots, which means you don't need to water as often. This keeps 12 million tons of yard waste out of landfills. Find something better to do with your Sunday afternoon, and save the environment! I know I did. :)

4. Do a full load of laundry.

Due to my severe problem with procrastination, this took absolutely no effort. Hold off on doing that laundry. It'll still be there tomorrow, right? I really love how being eco-friendly and putting off chores go hand in hand. By combining half loads and choosing short cycles, you save 4,500 gallons of water a year!

5. Look for the label.

The Energy Star label is your friend. The next time you are searching for a new appliance, look for the Energy Star logo. This program rates items that are energy-efficient. You can even get a tax credit for purchasing an Energy Star product. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to buy a new appliance at the moment. I just had to include it because a house that uses Energy Star appliances saves about 570 dollars a year annually!

6. Support local farmers.

I've always loved Farmer's Markets. My brother used to take me to them when I was little and I always loved picking out and eating my own fruits and veggies. I like to go to Trinity's on 7th street. It's from May to October, from 8-12 on Saturday mornings. They have a wide variety of fruits and veggies. My personal favorites have always been okra and blueberries. Did you know that the food from local grocery stores travels over 1,500 miles before it reaches your plate? I talked to the owner and he said that all of the food was grown within 50 miles of the QCA. They have all sorts of baked goods, jams, and salsas there. It's seriously a blast.

7. I recycled some of my old electronics.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, we threw out 5.5 billion pounds of electronics. The result? Millions of pounds of chemicals and heavy metals ended up in the ground. So, I decided to take a drive out to Davenport (11555 110th Ave (County Road Y-48)) to drop off the FOUR cell phones TWO speakers and a haggard, old TV to the electronics recycling center. It made me feel really good after I read this statistic: If 1 million people recycled one cathode-ray tube TV this year, we'd keep 4 million pounds of lead out of the ground.

8. I used reusable bags at the grocery store.

As a cashier, I've never been a big fan of the reusable bags. It takes alot of thinking to make sure you load these bags correctly. The idea is to try to get the most groceries in each one as possible in order to cut down on use of plastic bags. There's nothing worse than someone who buys 200 dollars worth of groceries and then hands you four reusable bags to fit it all in. It's always been a bit of a headache for me personally. However, I bought the bags and volunteered to bag them myself. The cashier smiled gratefully, and I realized these bags weren't so bad. I can vouch for how many Wal*Mart bags I go through in a 4 hour shift. I averaged out at around 200 bags per night. If you translate this to a storewide scale, Wal*Mart uses 2700 bags in four hours! I gladly welcome your reusable bags to my line, just make sure you follow the rules listed here:

-Let the cashier know at the beginning that you have reusable bags.

-Make sure you have more than enough for your order.

- Always buy bags with hooks on the back.

9. I bought a reusable cup.

I know it's simple but it definetely helps. I drink alot of starbucks and I shutter to think how many plastic cups would end up in a landfill if I didn't recycle. Well, instead of working so hard to recycle, why not just buy your own cup. It's as simple as handing it to your barista and having him fill it for you.

10. Clean or replace your air conditioning filter.

I was so surprised by how much dirt my air conditioning filter had accumulated! You can save money by replacing it regularly. It keeps your AC from working so hard and cuts down on greenhouse emissions. If you have a lot of allergies, as I do, it helps a lot with that also.

Anyone who knows me would say that I'm nothing short of a money monger. It seems to me that saving money and saving the environment just go together. These are just a few tips to remain eco-friendly. Go do them! It's fun!

"Renewable energy...it just sounds more efficient."
-Dai Hinds
He, namely my brother, is right of course. Renewable energy is energy that can be replenished in a short amount of time. The two most important forms of renewable energy are:

Biomass (e.g wood, crops, and manure)
This is perhaps the most disgusting, but most significant, form of renewable energy. One of the biggest contributors to global warming is something we rely on the most. This, of course, is cars. Biomass can be converted to useable forms of energy. The most important forms are ethanol and biodiesel. These are what hybrid cars run off of. Sadly, biodiesel only supplies about 4% of the energy used in the United States. Scientists are trying to find a way to incorporate it into fuel more in order to cut back on burning fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. It may not be the the perfect solution, but it helps.
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is the energy provided from the heat of the earth. This could help prevent the use of electricity. Could you imagine living without electricity? I had a power outage last summer during a storm for two days that affected me deeply. I recount those two days as if I survived a torture camp. We can recover the heat as steam or hot water and use it to heat buildings or generate electricity. America is actually in the lead on using geothermal energy. I'm sure we will only take on more of a competitive edge based on Obama's first 100 days in office. It is the best way to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

If ever you wanna learn more about anything to do with the environment, this is the place that helped me most.

Green to being green: What is Global Warming? Why should we care?

So, everyone's talking about global warming. It's one of those terms that sounds really simple but there's actually a lot of science behind it. Here's the ker-duh definition for global warming:

Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere.

Yeah...thanks Google.

When hearing global warming, the words fossil fuel aren't too far behind.

So, what's a fossil fuel anyway?

Fossil fuels are the world's main source of electricity. Fossil fuels come in three major forms: coal, oil, and natural gas. Because fossil fuels are a limited resource and can't be replenished once they are extracted and burned, they are not considered renewable. We use fossil fuels predominately for electricity, and of course, gas for our cars.

Burning these fossil fuels, although neccessary, is incredibly harmful. Carbon dioxide warms the surface of the earth naturally, which is good, otherwise we couldn't live here. However, by burning fossil fuels, we create more carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere and increase the temperature drastically.

So, why should we care?
Wierd Weather Patterns
Hot, dry weather led to a record-setting wildland fire season with nearly 100,000 fires reported and almost 10 million acres burned, 125 percent above the decade's average.
Health
The heat waves cause nearly 225 deaths a year. Bad air also contributes to heightened allergies and asthma.
Glaciers
The Polar Ice caps are melting at a rapid 9% a year. So by 2070, we will have no glaciers. All of this melting the polar ice caps are doing causes a lot of flooding everywhere else in the world. It's also endangers wild life in arctic regions.

Want to learn more?
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