Spreading the Word Sustainability

Being as this will be my last post (please hold back sobbing tears for a later time) I wanted to expand a little bit from our home lives and bring sustainability to a less isolationist standpoint to a modern, and effective, extroverted standpoint. Most people interact with hundreds, if not more, people a day.
The thing I think each of us can do is inform others and spread the word.

With Raising gas prices people are more susceptible to change than ever. Once someone is hit in the wallet they become borderline revolutionaries. Not quite new world order revolutionaries, but the open-minded, willing to change, revolutionary. Now with gas prices being over four dollars a gallon, some people will look for ways to cut back, and by being informed of everyday things, you can help influence them.

-If your city has bus routes, know them, and be willing to inform co-workers (because as the amazing environmentalist you are you ride the bus everywhere possible.)
-Know which item in a grocery store are green, and help save people money.
-Maybe offer to help start a car pool grouping at your work.
-(this list is not complete, and there are hundreds of things people can do on a daily bases that saves money and the environment.)

People are looking for money savers, and if you happen to have money saving tips,which happen to help our environment, share them.

Home Garden

Obviously one thing you could try to be more self sustainble is to grow your own food. Since humans consume enormous amounts of energy, we need lots of it.

This site shows that basic of how to actually plant your garden, just in case some of us (like me) didn't know. - http://www.diynetwork.com/outdoors/top-10-rules-for-growing-veggies-and-fruits/pictures/index.html

Mixtures of fruits, and vegetables are the best, especially with watermelon, an no Brussels sprouts, but your choice.

By growing your own garden, you get the choice of what happens with your family's food. Do you believe in pesticides? what kind (if any) fertilizer? And my favorite part is that strangers don't touch my food.

Just remember child laws are in effect but if they are your children, and you call it a "chore" you can make them pick for free.

Here is a list to help you grow some common veggies-
Delicious Veggies
And a link to help you grow some common fruits- FYI if you want apples you need significantly more room for your garden- Delicious Fruits

Save on Heating and Cooling

Everyone knows that one of our homes main uses of electricity is the heating/cooling. Here are a few things that can help you save money.

Expensive, but effective- Ventilate with air-to-air heat exchangers- This would need to be installed by professionals but it one of the most effective ways to save on heating/cooling. Basically it uses the air leaving your house to heat (in the winter)/cool (in the summer) the air coming into your house.

A not so pricey way- Plastic wrap- By placing plastic wrap over the windows in your house in the winter (doesn't really work during the summer, because who isn't constantly opening your windows?) it will decrease how much air your window allow out. keeping warm air in, and cold air out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-ag15mAW1U

And to help keep your house a bit cooler in the summer? Trees. By planting deciduous trees on the east and west sides of your house, their shade will help keep your house cool (in both senses of the word.) In case you need help planting- http://www.arborday.org/trees/video/howtoplant.cfm
And a list of trees that work well for shading- http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/ShadeTrees.htm?gclid=CIf2ztHRqKgCFUS8KgodvVa76Q

Leaking Pipes/Faucets

Leaking pipes and faucets are an extremely common problem, slowing dripping away our money at a persistently annoying rate. Leaky pipes/faucets are a relatively simple task that can help not only conserve water resources, but also money (everyone loves saving money.) While it may seem over presumptuous to say leaking water from household sinks is actually wasting away reserves; just imagine how many people think those few gallons don't really matter, even a few cups in hundreds of thousands of households (number just for example not a real statistic) makes a huge difference, and can be decently inexpensive.

Okay, an easy fix for leaking pipes-http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/plumbing/how-to-fix-pipes1.htm

And for leaky faucets-http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/Fix-A-Leaking-Faucet.aspx

carbon Footprints

I took two sample house-holds and decided to see how ecologically friendly each are.
     House A has four people living there, and House B has only one person (so lonely.)

     House A drives over 6000 miles in a month. Mainly because my family (father, two sisters, and my brother) all have jobs semi-far from their house. And we all love driving, bad habit, but we love it. Combining their use of electricity, with transportation, and their carbon footprint is 4232 lbs of CO2 per month.

    House B is my older brother, he too lives decently far from work and drives on average of 800 miles a month, but his recreational driving is pretty much zero; cars terrify him, it's slightly hilarious. Combine that with his electricity and 1369 lbs CO2 per month is emitted into our atmosphere.

     Good to know that sustainability is the responsibility of everyone, not just my family, because we are failing miserably. Some things that can easily lower your carbon foot printing are:
A.) Obviously, a more fuel efficient car.
B.) Turning off lights when not in use. (my sisters afraid of the dark, so this never happens in house A.
C.) Unplugging appliances not being used from the wall. An empty house doesn't care what station you were listening to.
D.) Planning your routs to cut back on travel time. If everything can be done in one trip, why go home, leave, go home, leave again, etc.

     These will not only help your carbon footprint, but your wallet as well. Just remember Wally the Wallet enjoys sustainability too.

If you wanted to calculate your own carbon foot print just find your utility bill and give this site, safeclimate.net your information. (It wont ask for your social security number so don’t worry.)

Eaarth

In Eaarth, Bill McKibben brings a less optimistic view change. He states at one point he states that while previous generations have believed global climate change was a problem for their grand-children to deal with, it is actually a problem our parents should have. 550 parts per million of carbon-dioxide was believed to be the magic number, the number that we couldn’t cross without major changes to the earth. Well, as Mckibben says, we haven’t been through global warming before, so it really isn't a surprise that the number is actually 350, and we've already surpassed it. McKibben suggests a slight change in the name of our planet renaming it Eaarth due to the subtle, but dramatic changes that have already occurred, ar4e occurring, and will occur. He states we cant go back, that we can minimize further damage, but can't take back what we've done. His new name is supposed to always remind future generations that we've changed our home.

Insulation

One of the best ways to help make your house more energy efficient is to re-insulate. It can have a slightly heavy start up cost, but the pay off is defiantly worth it. By re-insulating your home, your heater/AC unit do not have to switch on as much. (You can also turn your thermostat down a few degrees, quick, free, and will save you a little money every month.) Cellulose is the most eco-friendly insulation you can purchase, but does increase start up cost a bit. Cellulose is recycled newspaper treated to be fire resistant. Here is a website explaining the other options concerning insulation
For help preparing an attic for cellulose-
For help installing fiberglass insulation-
　http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-install-fiberglass-insulation/index.htmlhttp://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-install-blown-in-cellulose-insulation/index.htmlhttp://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11510