Everyday Tips for Combating Climate Change

Welcome, GoGreenMug Green News readers! This week, we'd like to discuss some easy-to-implement ideas for ways you can combat climate change.

Climate change affects habitats, wildlife, and people around the world. While some changes occur as a result of natural weather patterns, others can be directly linked to human activities. There is no question that the development of technology has advanced our capabilities exponentially over the past 150 years; unfortunately, some of that technology has had negative impacts on the environment, too. So now that we're aware of some of these impacts, it's our responsibility to our planet and future generations to take action. Many companies are devoting resources to designing cleaner and more efficient technologies to replace older equipment. But as individuals, there are many things we can change that will have a cumulative effect, as well. Some of these actions include:

1. Using compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) around the house - at least on commonly-used light fixtures, if not on all of them. The first few generations of CFLs weren't excellent; they took a while to warm up, and sometimes weren't that bright. But the technology has gotten a lot better, and there are many high quality options to choose from now.


2. Reducing the temperature setting on the water heater to "Warm" or 120 F. Especially during the summer months, your water will naturally be a little warmer, and things take less time to dry in the warmer weather (e.g., dishes, laundry).


3. Adjusting thermostat settings - during the summer months, increase the temperature a little, and if you have a programmable thermostat, remember to set it to turn off during the hours no one is at home. During the cooler months, decrease the temperature setting, and turn it off when no one is at home or when everyone is asleep.


4. Checking the showerheads - replace any showheads that use more than 2.5 gallons/minute with low-flow models.


5. Completely turning off appliances not in use. This means not only flipping the power switch on items such as tv's and audio equipment, since these usually have standby mode that continues to draw power. Turning off standby mode requires unplugging the device. As this is a little inconvenient, an easier way to implement this strategy is to connect multiple devices to an outlet strip; this way, you just have to flip the switch on the strip, and you're done. And if you use a surge protector rather than just an outlet strip, you'll have the added protection against voltage surges when the equipment is powered.


6. Checking that your vehicle's tires are properly inflated.


7. Using a resuable mug each time you get a drink, rather than using a single-use disposable cup. GoGreenMug.com is offering all mugs and gift certificates for only $14.99 this month.

We hope you will be able to make some of these minor changes to your lifestyles, in order to reduce your impact on the environment. All of these suggestions will also save you a good deal of money, as well. Have a great week, and if you have any other suggestions you'd like to share with the group, please submit a comment!

~Your friends at GoGreenMug