Reducing Your Carbon Footprint - Global Warming Essay

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

     What is global warming? Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases causing the thin layer of atmosphere to become more opaque trapping infrared radiation which increases the earth’s temperature. Since global warming impacts all of us; we should all do our part to decrease greenhouse gases. Lowering your carbon footprint is one way to decrease greenhouse gases. Recycling, becoming energy efficient in your home, planting trees, and living a healthy lifestyle are several ways each of us can lower our carbon footprint.

     Recycling not only saves energy, but it also reduces what ends up in landfills. Cell phones, computers, batteries, calculators and other electronic equipment can all be recycled. Electronic waste or e-waste contain toxic material such as lead, cadmium, and mercury that can contaminate soil and water if sent to a landfill. Everyday household products such as paper, cardboard, aluminum, plastic, and glass can be recycled. Another way to recycle paper is to use it to start a fire in the fireplace or woodstove. Also, shredded paper can be used as mulch around plants, litter for the cat or rabbit, and placed in a compost bin. Buying products that contain post-consumer waste is another form of recycling.      

     Besides recycling, one of the biggest impacts you can make in your home is to replace all incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent light bulbs. A 60 watt light bulb burning 4 hours per day generates 93 pounds of CO2 annually, while the compact florescent bulb generates 28 pounds. For low light areas use LED bulbs, which use little energy and last a long time. "If everyone changed one bulb to an LED light, we could close the biggest nuclear power plant in the country," says Emanuel Rose, an LED expert at electronics company C. Crane in Fortuna, California (Behar). Natural light is best for your eyes, so open the window coverings and leave the lights off. Just turning off the lights and electronics would save one ton of CO2 annually. The next time you’re in the market for a computer consider buying a laptop instead of a desktop. A desktop computer running 8 hours a day uses 618 pounds of CO2 annually, while the average laptop generates 77 pounds. Many electronics that are still usable can be donated and you can use their fair market value as a tax deduction. When purchasing appliances look for the Energy Star rating symbol. The Energy Star symbol means that the product has met strict energy efficiency requirements from the US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.

     When most people talk about ways to fight global warming, they usually mean reducing the use of fossil fuels or the elimination of the slash and burn agricultural practices in the tropics. But another way to offset the carbon dioxide build up that is contributing to global warming is by planting trees. Trees draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and lock it away in organic matter. If every American household planted 1 tree, it would reduce CO2 by a billion pounds a year. A billion pounds of CO2 is the equivalent of 100,000 cars. There are other benefits for household’s that plant multiple trees, besides reducing CO2. "Plant just three trees around your home and the shade could cut your AC bills by 50 percent," says Deborah Gangloff, executive director of American Forests, an organization that coordinates tree-planting efforts (Behar).

     Healthy living is another way to reduce your carbon footprint. Being ill has a high carbon footprint; hospitals use up a vast amount of resources (Cossham).  One of the best things to lower your CO2 emissions is to become a vegan or vegetarian and eat locally grown food. If you have a diet that is heavy on milk, cheese and meat, then you have a much higher "hidden" carbon footprint--the emissions that are a byproduct of the production of those foods (Cossham). One of the biggest contributors to global warming is the emissions from gasoline engines. Instead of driving your car, ride your bike, walk, or take public transportation. Not only will you be living a healthier life style by biking or walking, you will avoid creating one of the biggest contributors to global warming – the emissions from gasoline engines.

     We do not have to wait on the government to address global warming, every one of us can do our part to reduce our carbon footprint. Tony Blair once said, “If we take all these actions and if it turns out not to be true, we have reduced pollution and have better ways to live, the downside is very small. The other way around, and we don’t act, and it turns out to be true, then we have betrayed future generations and we don’t have the right to do that.” Everyone has a responsibility to ensure future generations can enjoy life on earth.
                           

  

Works Cited

Behar, Michael. "Keep your cool." Women's Health Apr. 2007: 114. General OneFile. Web. 3 Mar.       2014.

Cossham, John. "How To. . . Reduce Your Carbon Footprint." Ecologist 39.1 (2009): 54-55. General

Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 4 Mar. 2014.

Eastler, Sara Lynn. "Cultivating a 'green' thumb in your indexing business." Key Words Apr.-June 2007:  50+. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.