STOP GLOBAL WARMING

BY REDUCING GREENHOUSE GASES AND DOWNSIZING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT.

1. Grow your own food. Planting things like berry bushes, garden vegetables and herbs will help you eat locally so you won't have to worry about food miles.
2. Eat locally. Fruit and vegetables in supermarkets and most markets is shipped or flown from far-off countries, even if it can easily be grown locally. This requires the burning of fossil fuels for transport, so buying locally grown produce can save a lot of oil.
3. Redecorate with eco-products. If you need to repaint your house, use latex paint rather than oil-based. Latex paint releases significantly fewer harmful fumes while drying and smells a lot better - it's healthier for you, too.
4. Buy energy-efficient appliances with the "Energy Star" label. These will require less energy to do their job, meaning lower bills and less fossil fuels being burned.
   • If you can't do this, use your existing appliances efficiently; make sure the dishwasher and washing machine are full before running them to save energy and money.
   • Hang-dry your laundry rather than putting it in the dryer and put them outside on a clothesline on dry days. Hang-drying will also make your clothes last much longer.
   • Use a portable rolling type airconditioner like www.toyotomiusa.com to reduce energy useage.
5. Sign up for renewable energy. Some companies in the UK, such as Good Energy Limited and Ecotricity, are 100% renewable electricity companies. A lot of normal energy companies also offer "green tariffs" - if they donʼt offer clean electricity, ask them why not.
6. Reduce your heating.
   • Weather-proof your home. Caulk and weather-strip your doorways and windows. Add insulation, especially to the roof, it drastically cuts heating and cooling expenses. Change your windows for double glazing. Add outside shades to use in summer. Not only will all this save energy, it will save you money too!
   • Check your thermostat. Chances are you don't need the heating on at all in the summer, and in the winter you can turn it down a little and wear extra layers.
7. Reduce your electricity use.
   • Unplug your cell phone charger, TV and other electronics from the wall when you are not using them, because they use energy when plugged in and on standby. The process can be made easier if you have everything plugged into a surge protector with its own switch.
   • Turn off lights and other energy-sucking devices when they arenʼt being used.
   • Replace older light bulbs with energy-saving fluorescent bulbs. Fluorescent light bulbs are a little more expensive, but much more efficient - they use about a seventh of the power and last about 12 times longer.
     • Replace fluorescent light bulbs with Ultra Compact LEDs (UCLEDs). These use less energy and last longer than fluorescent light bulbs. Additionally UCLEDs do not contain any dangerous mercury. Even though LED light bulbs are currently more expensive, remember that your money is spent for a good cause: it will pay for the development of cheaper and more effective generation of LEDs.
   • If you're leaving your computer for a while, put it on stand-by. You'll be able to restart it quickly, and it'll take less energy than shutting it down and then restarting it.
8. Try alternative energy devices. Windmill kits are inexpensive and a great source of electricity in windy areas. Solar energy, especially solar collectors for water heaters, is possible for most homes. Some companies will buy back excess electricity.
9. Buy durable goods. As much as possible buy items that will last instead of buying the same item several times in a decade. It will save on transport and manufacturing emissions.
10. Install a hot water heat recycling unit to significantly reduce either electricity or the fuel burned for domestic water heating. Water heat goes to waste as it leaves dishwashers, clothes washers or the shower. This heat energy can be recovered to lower the energy needed and save on water heating costs.
11. Reduce the usage of refrigerants and air-conditioners.
12. Pack your refrigerator more tightly to reduce cooled air.
13. Use a reel (cylinder) lawnmower. This needs no power supply, and is also much quieter for you and your neighbors.
    • If you can't do all of your tasks by hand, there are rechargeable electric mowers.
14. Reduce your fully vented septic tank greenhouse gases by using a septic vent pipe filter.   It takes up to one year for one tree to fix the CO2 in the equivalent of 3 litres of gas.  A septic vent pipe filter can do it in a single for up to five years.