Growing up I was always taught to:
Turn off the lights when you left a room
Don't just stand in the shower & let the water run...what are you doing in there anyway?
Use ice to get your drinking water cold...again, don't let the water run.
If you walk into a room in the middle of the day, do you really need to turn your light on?
Close the door so the heat/ac won't get out.
I was taught these things to save money. In Bend, you were charged by the gallon for water, so that was a big one to try to conserve on. And of course sticking your head in the frige 4 times in 2 minutes didn't change the outcome of what was in there...so that was hopefully a bill that could be saved on as well.
Here's the kicker. I teach, preach & practice these things as well in my adult (yikes, "adult") life too.
But I do it to save the earth.
Everything that I listed I do to decrease my footprint. We recycle everything we can (we even have recyclable dryer sheets now) so that my guilt is lessened every day that I step up & into the bohemith of a vehicle that I drive. Yes, I drive an expedition that sucks $75 in gas about every 8 days. My gut hurts every time I step on the gas. I try to coast when possible & I rarely gun it. Every time I step up into it...I just think of a little piece of iceburg melting away into the vast ocean, never to be seen as a solid mass again. Sigh.
But there is help along the way...and it is not in the form of a stretch Prius (ok, but how cool would that be for anti-mini van moms?).
There is a NEW electric car out there called Tesla. Nightline had a piece on it last night. There is SO much to talk about here, but all I can say is that my gut feels good. I just have this feeling that in the next 5 years there is going to be major change with the car industry. I don't know the structure or the truth...but someone out there (Bush) is getting paid really well to keep us dependant (Cheny) on oil.
But we can change the world. We (you & I) now have the power to be heard (internet) and let them know we know
there are options out there, there have been for a long time...but it is now our turn to take over, sieze power & save the earth.
