http://hOWQsTK.spaces.live.com/

My biggest considerations:

Choose to not support the oil industry, including the plastics industry. Realize how much energy is wasted in the production and disposal of throw-away items. Food Packaging etc.! As well landfills become sources of methane, a potent greenhouse gas instead of the carbon sinks the green space could be! http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Remember recycling is not the answer; Reduce Reduce Reuse! Recycling uses a great deal of energy as well, and plastics recycling creates a noxious cocktail of greenhouse and other gasses.

Go local and downsize! We’d do well to take some lessons from Cuba in overcoming the crisis of peak oil. http://www.powerofcommunity.org/

Thank you for taking up this issue. We are ALL in this together and the solutions will come from people joining forces and working together.Putting pressure on governments and local authorities is important and EDUCATION is another key factor; especially in schools and companies.

1. Sit together with friends, family or colleagues and have a brainstorming sessions of what each of you know about the issue and can and WILL do to Save energy and Reduce waste. Use ideas from this blog.

2. Check for ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS in your area/country and join them or serve their sites for ideas of what to do.(no need to re-invent the wheel)
http://www.cleanuptheworld.org have some very good downloads with information and things each of us can do IMMEDIATELY.

3. Re-cycle, buy products that can be re-cycled or are re-cycled. Campaign for re-cycling

4. Reduce the use of plastic bottles and bags and packaging by
Taking your own shopping bag, order water in bulk and buying ‘green’ products.

5.Create awareness by discussing the issue and maybe organize or participate in clean ups in your area.(with the help of environmental org.) People are most inspired by working together!

6.Speak to the principles of you LOCAL SCHOOLS to ensure that re-cycling and Environmental awareness is being taken serious and taught at schools. You may suggest the schools ask people from environmental organizations to run some workshops which can also be fun for the kids.

7. TAKE the First Step TODAY. Change one thing, one habit that makes your daily routine more environmental friendly.

Christiane Pohl
http://www.christianepohl.com

Thank you for starting out the year with a bang. We really need to bring our attention and direct our actions to global warming.

Here are a few of my ideas:

1.) Add natural power, heating, and cooling to your home – with solar (photovoltaics, solar hot water, passive solar heating and cooling), geothermal, wind power, etc.

Also, we should be pushing our local governments to require passive solar and other site-specific energy efficient design in all new construction. (I currently live in the sunny Colorado desert and am amazed to see how few new homes employ passive solar or natural lighting – simple design features that would add little or no cost to a new home.)

2.) Grow your own food and buy local produce whenever possible. Growing your own food is easier than you think and you can quit burning fossil fuels to mow your lawn – look up “permaculture” for some great ideas. Fuel expended for food transportation and production in industrial agriculture is astonishing.

3.) Give up the commute. How far, really, do you have to live from where you work? Could you bring your work home (if it’s not already), move closer to work or telecommute more? If not, can you take public transportation, carpool, or take more environmental forms of transportation (commuter cars, bicycles, motorcycles, walking, skateboarding, etc.)

4.) Turn it off or unplug it (as David suggested) – lots of electronics suck energy. How many times do you leave the TV or stereo on while you’re elsewhere. (I know people who have the TV on almost continuously – even if they aren’t watching it.)

5.) Do you really need it? In the US we engage in recreational shopping – most items you buy have some sort of carbon emissions from production and transportation. Buy quality instead of quantity whenever reasonable.

And one more thing…

6.) Speak up – share what you are learning and doing with others (without being judgmental). Many of us still have that “inner teenager” who’s just yearning to fit in. When we learn all our neighbors are pitching in and slashing carbon emissions, it will be hard to sit back and do nothing.