leogodin.net

Right off the bat I need to admit that I am a man made global warming skeptic. However, belief in man made global warming is not a prerequisite to wanting to save our environment. I have driven to work in the Phoenix area on days where you can actually see the smog in the early morning. I have been to cities in the United States where air quality is terrible. I have a friend who grew up in a Super Fund site. In short, I see the need to protect our environment. Not only do we need to protect our environment but we also need to fix some of the damage we have caused.

Once one realizes that we need to protect our environment, how does one start? There is surprisingly very little good scientific research on the impact of one activity over another. for instance, should we switch to bio fuel? I remember hearing about bio fuel about ten years ago. My initial reaction was that it is a very bad idea to turn food into fuel in a world where many are starving and cannot afford food. We are not even sure if using some bio fuels has a net gain for the environment. Some bio fuels show a net loss for the environment Should we use a hybrid car? Well, that would probably help but the net gains to the environment are not that much compared to using a small four cylinder car. Maybe we ought to use buy re-usable grocery bags that we see in grocery stores. Well, I would love to see an environmental impact study on those re-usable bags. I would bet that over 80% of them are used once or twice and never used again. I would be very surprised if these bags are not a net loss for our environment. In the end it appears that environmentalists want to save the environment but often give us unproven methods that sometimes do more harm than good.

So this leaves us with my initial question? Where do we start? Well, we have many proven options to do our part. Here are some in no particular order.

1) Use less stuff. - If we do not buy it, it does not have to be made. It also does not have to be shipped. We should all look in our garage or basement and look at everything that we bought, used once, and put away for good. Now that we’ve done that we can think of it before buying anything. Will we really use that new shiny toy? If not, don’t buy it. Reducing the consumption of goods will save natural resources, energy, and pollution.

2) Eat less meat. - This one is difficult for me. I love meat but I can eat less meat and still be happy. this article claims that:

the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization issued a report stating that the livestock business generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation combined.

3) Do not drink single serving bottled water. Here in the US, we have some of the best drinking water in the world. However, we generally take that water, bottle it in single serving bottles, then drink it from the single serving bottle. Here is some information about bottled water.

4) Stop thinking about miles per gallon but instead consider miles per gallon per person. We automatically assume that a person driving an SUV is an inconsiderate jerk who is polluting the environment. However, if that person is carrying five people and getting 17 miles per gallon they are more environmentally friendly than I am in my 25 mpg car. As a matter of fact, the person who is riding the bus may look at someone with a Prius and consider them wasteful.