50 Things You and I Can Do Today to Save Our Planet
Thanks so much to Celsias for bringing this list to my attention. (Adapted from the original list found at GlobalWarmingFacts.info)
Global warming is a dramatically urgent and serious problem. We don’t need to wait for governments to solve this problem. Each one of us can make a significant contribution by adopting a more responsible lifestyle - starting with little, everyday things. In fact, how you live and ‘consume’ will greatly shape our economies, and apply upward pressure on our leaders.
Here is a list of 50 simple things that everyone can do in order to fight against and reduce the Global Warming phenomenon: some of them are at no cost, some other require a little investment but can help you save a lot of money, in the middle-long term!
Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)
CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.- Install a programmable thermostat
Programmable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill. If you don’t have central heating - get a cheap timer plug(s) for your heating appliance(s). During hot summer days, close your curtains to keep the house cooler. In winter, dress well rather than turn the heat up! - Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has more tips for saving energy on heating and cooling. - Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. - Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases
Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances to choose the most efficient models available. - Don’t leave appliances on standby - Unplug them!
Appliances left plugged in are like a vampire on our grid. A TV set that’s switched on for 3 hours a day (the average time Europeans
spend watching TV) and in standby mode during the remaining 21 hours uses about 40% of its energy in standby mode. Switch your TV and other appliances off completely - don’t use standby modes. Also, even appliances that are switched off can draw power from the grid (called ‘phantom load‘). Unplugging your appliances completely eliminates this waste (using multiboards enables you to unplug several appliances in one hit). - Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket
You’ll save 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple action. You can save another 550 pounds per year by setting the thermostat no higher than 50°C. - Move your fridge and freezer
Placing them next to the cooker or boiler consumes much more energy than if they were standing on their own. For example, if you put them in a hot cellar room where the room temperature is 30-35ºC, energy use is almost double and causes an extra 160kg of CO2 emissions for fridges per year and 320kg for freezers. Lighten the load - keep them in a cool place. - Defrost old fridges and freezers regularly
Even better is to replace them with newer models, which all have automatic defrost cycles and are generally up to two times more energy-efficient than their predecessors. - Don’t let heat escape from your house over a long period
When airing your house, open the windows for only a few minutes. If you leave a small opening all day long, the energy needed to keep it warm inside during six cold months (10ºC or less outside temperature) would result in almost 1 ton of CO2 emissions. - Replace your old single-glazed windows with double-glazing
This requires a bit of upfront investment, but will halve the energy lost through windows and pay off in the long term. If you go for the best the market has to offer (wooden-framed double-glazed units with low-emission glass and filled with argon gas), you can even save more than 70% of the energy lost. - Get a home energy audit
Many utilities offer free home energy audits to find where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient. You can save up to 30% off your energy bill and 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Energy Star can help you find an energy specialist. - Cover your pots while cooking
Doing so can save a lot of the energy needed for preparing the dish. Even better are pressure cookers and steamers: they can save around 70%! - Use the washing machine or dishwasher only when they are full, or, not at all!
If you need to use it when it is half full, then use the half-load or economy setting. There is also no need to set the temperatures high. Nowadays detergents are so efficient that they get your clothes and dishes clean at low temperatures. Ideally, don’t use dishwashers or dryers at all! Dishwashers use an excessive amount of water and energy, and rob the family of one of the rare moments in modern life when they can work and talk together. - Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible
Instead of using a dryer, that shortens the life of your clothing, line dry your clothes - or if weather and/or circumstances don’t allow, use a clotheshorse to dry indoors.You can save 700 pounds of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year. - Take a shower instead of a bath
A shower takes up to four times less energy than a bath. To maximise the energy saving, avoid power showers and use low-flow showerheads, which are cheap and provide the same comfort. And, to save even more water and energy, have a Navy Shower! - Use less hot water
It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year) instead of hot. When washing hands, for the time it often takes the hot water to reach the tap you’ve probably already finished washing - so why not just use the cold tap? - Insulate and weatherize your home
Properly insulating your walls and ceilings can save 25% of your home heating bill and 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Caulking and weather-stripping can save another 1,700 pounds per year. Energy Efficient has more information on how to better insulate your home. - Be sure you’re recycling at home
You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates. Earth 911 can help you find recycling resources in your area. - Recycle your organic waste
Around 3% of the greenhouse gas emissions from methane is released by decomposing bio-degradable waste. By recycling organic waste or composting it if you have a garden, you can help eliminate this problem! Just make sure that you compost it properly, so it decomposes with sufficient oxygen, otherwise your compost will cause methane emissions and smell foul. - Buy intelligently
One bottle of 1.5l requires less energy and produces less waste than three bottles of 0.5l. As well, buy recycled paper products: it takes 70 to 90% less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide. - Choose products that come with little packaging and buy refills when you can
You will also cut down on waste production and energy use! 
Reuse your shopping bag
When shopping, it saves energy and waste to use a reusable bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop. Waste not only discharges CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, it can also pollute the air, groundwater and soil. Encourage your local shops/supermarkets to collectively ‘price fix’ plastic shopping bags to discourage their use.- Reduce waste
Most products we buy cause greenhouse gas emissions in one or another way, e.g. during production and distribution. By taking your lunch in a reusable lunch box instead of a disposable one, you save the energy needed to produce new lunch boxes. - Plant a tree
A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%. The Arbor Day Foundation has information on planting and provides trees you can plant with membership. - Switch to green power
In many areas, you can switch to energy generated by clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar. The Green Power Network is a good place to start to figure out what’s available in your area. 
Buy locally grown and produced foods
The average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.- Buy fresh foods instead of frozen
Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce. - Seek out and support local farmers markets
They reduce the amount of energy required to grow and transport the food to you by one fifth. If you live in the U.S., you can find a farmer’s market in your area at the USDA website. - Buy organic foods as much as possible
Organic soils capture and store carbon dioxide at much higher levels than soils from conventional farms. If we grew all of our corn and soybeans organically, we’d remove 580 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere! 
Grow your own!
Growing your own food is immensely satisfying, reduces household expenses, and brings healthy, fresh food to the table. The energy savings are immense.- Eat less meat and dairy products, or none at all
Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together - plus bring a whole host of other resource, chemical, pollution, disease and cruelty issues. - Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible
Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year! Look for transit options in your area. - Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates
Sharing a ride with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year. eRideShare.com runs a free national service connecting commuters and travelers. - Don’t leave an empty roof rack on your car
This can increase fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 10% due to wind resistance and the extra weight - removing it is a better idea. - Keep your car tuned up
Regular maintenance helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere. - Drive carefully and do not waste fuel
You can reduce CO2 emissions by readjusting your driving style. Choose proper gears, do not abuse the gas pedal, and turn your engine off when your vehicle is stationary for more than ten seconds. By adjusting your driving style you can save money on both fuel and car mantainance. - Check your tires weekly to make sure they’re properly inflated
Proper inflation can improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Since every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, every increase in fuel efficiency makes a difference! - When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle
You can save 3,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year if your new car gets only 3 miles per gallon more than your current one. You can get up to 60 miles per gallon with a hybrid! You can find information on fuel efficiency on FuelEconomy and on GreenCars websites. - Try car sharing
Need a car but don’t want to buy one? Community car sharing organizations provide access to a car and your membership fee covers gas, maintenance and insurance. Many companies – such as Flexcar - offer low emission or hybrid cars too! Also, see ZipCar. 
Try telecommuting from home
Telecommuting can help you drastically reduce the number of miles you drive every week. For more information, check out the Telework Coalition.- Fly less
Air travel produces large amounts of emissions so reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year can reduce your emissions significantly. You can also offset your air travel by investing in renewable energy projects. A web-cam and headset are far cheaper than an air-ticket! - Encourage your school or business to reduce emissions
You can extend your positive influence on global warming well beyond your home by actively encouraging others to take action. - Encourage the switch to renewable energy
Successfully combating global warming requires a national transition to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. These technologies are ready to be deployed more widely but there are regulatory barriers impeding them. Take action to break down those barriers with Vote Solar. 
Protect and conserve forest worldwide
Forests play a critial role in global warming: they store carbon. When forests are burned or cut down, their stored carbon is release into the atmosphere - deforestation now accounts for about 20% of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Conservation International has more information on forests and global warming.- Consider the impact of your investments
If you invest your money, you should consider the impact that your investments and savings will have on global warming. Check out SocialInvest and Ceres to learn more about how to ensure your money is being invested in companies, products and projects that address issues related to climate change. - Make your city cool
Cities and states around the world have taken action to stop global warming by passing innovative transportation and energy saving legislation. In the U.S., 194 cities nationwide representing over 40 million people have made this pledge as part of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Find out how to make your city a cool city. - Ask for & Expect Action from your Local Political Representative
Ask your representative what he/she is doing to make energy reductions in your district. Get involved in local council meetings. - Share this list!
Send this page via e-mail to your buddies, and if you’re a blogger, blog it: the more people you will manage to enlighten, the greater YOUR help to save the planet will be (but please take action in the first person too)! - Register with Celsias, and get involved!
Browse the projects listed on Celsias, learn what others are doing about climate change in their area - and be inspired!
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Comments
This list is well and good, but the largest problem outside the United States’ industrial consumption and waste is that of China and India.
If they can’t get a handle on it, what everyone else does is not relevant.
Mostly burning coal for energy. That is the bulk of CO2 AND pollution.
A bag here, a steak there, will not effect much.
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs WILL effect a LOT because they contain Mercury and no one disposes of them in a proper way (if there is a proper way) and there are few elements as deadly to living organisms as mercury.
I’m such a downer.
You are a downer aren’t you Brad? You’re also wrong.
China and India are very concerned about AGW - China, one of the world’s top producers, is going to stop making incandescents. And their per capita emissions are not touching USA yet. Not touching much of the developed world yet either. And India’s per capita emissions way behind China even. The reason for bringing per capita emissions into this is that each person must take responsibility for his/her own share of the damage to the biosphere.
CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, but this is less than the amount of mercury pumped into the atmosphere by coal fired power stations generating electricity for incandescents to throw away as heat. Also, you might like to look into high power LEDs as an alternative.
I think that a slight shift of emphasis is required. AGW is a serious problem facing our civilizations and, because of ‘downers’, intransigent governments and greed we are not dealing with it. We have to commit to doing as much as possible from the list above whenever possible. If we carry on emitting as we are now, we’re committing many many poor people to famine, disease and death. If we do what we can now and all the time, we could help to alleviate much suffering. Most of the things on the list are easy - it’s not a difficult decision.
Shira, Great list. I’ve committed to picking one item (to start) from your list and making a positive shift. Keep being you. Eric
Brad: I’m not sure shrugging off all responsibilty is the answer…
Eric: Always a pleasure to have you drop by!
Hi Shira, It took me a while to get back to this, but I finally took inspiration from your list and ACTED - switching my electricity bill from mailed to electronic. Yah, I know, it’s an infinitesimally small action related to the actual problem . I’ll keep edging things forward. Thanks for the nudge! 
Eric
Great list! Here’s another thing I recently found that people can do to help the environment:
It’s a fun trivia game you play, and for each answer you guess right, they plant trees! Great game, great cause…
Great practical tips on how to be a more environmentally responsible citizen.
Great Site an keep up the good work.
Don’t forget the best way to reduce energy usage is to know how much you are using. By monitoring your energy (whether at home or at work) you can really see how small changes liked changing light bulbs, turning off lights when not used, adding auto switches and unplugging unused equipment can save.
Very cool! Thanks for posting…