Top 50 Things to help Stop Global Warming

Global warming is a dramatically urgent and serious problem.

We don't need to wait for governments to solve this problem: each one of us can bring an important help adopting a more responsible lifestyle: starting from little, everyday things. It's the only reasonable way to save our planet,we must act on CO2 now before it is too late.

Here is a list of 50 simple things that everyone can do in order to fight against and reduce the Global Warming phenomenon: some of them are at no cost, some other require a little investment but can help you save a lot of money, in the middle-long term!

Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)
CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 140 kg of carbon dioxide a year.

Use light dimmers
modern magnetic and electronic dimmers save energy by reducing power to the lamp. Dimming also extends lamp life. For example, 25% dimming extends incandescent lamp life by four times.

Install a programmable thermostat
Programmable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you £50 a year on your energy bill.

Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment. The www.est.org.uk and lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk websites has more tips for saving energy on heating and cooling.

Clean or replace filters on your air conditioner
Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 158 kg of carbon dioxide a year.

Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases
Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances to choose the most efficient models available. More ideas on how to save money on household bills HERE

Do not leave appliances on standby
Use the "on/off" function on the machine itself. A TV set that's switched on for 3 hours a day (the average time Europeans spend watching TV) and in standby mode during the remaining 21 hours uses about 40% of its energy in standby mode.

Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket
You’ll save 450kg of carbon dioxide a year with this simple action. You can save another 250 kg per year by setting the thermostat no higher than 50°C.

Move your fridge and freezer
Placing them next to the cooker or boiler consumes much more energy than if they were standing on their own. For example, if you put them in a hot cellar room where the room temperature is 30-35ºC, energy use is almost double and causes an extra 160kg of CO2 emissions for fridges per year and 320kg for freezers.

Defrost old fridges and freezers regularly
Even better is to replace them with newer models, which all have automatic defrost cycles and are generally up to two times more energy-efficient than their predecessors.

Don't let heat escape from your house over a long period
When airing your house, open the windows for only a few minutes. If you leave a small opening all day long, the energy needed to keep it warm inside during six cold months (10ºC or less outside temperature) would result in almost 1 ton of CO2 emissions.

Replace your old single-glazed windows with double-glazing
This requires a bit of upfront investment, but will halve the energy lost through windows and pay off in the long term. If you go for the best the market has to offer (wooden-framed double-glazed units with low-emission glass and filled with argon gas), you can even save more than 70% of the energy lost.

Get a home energy audit
Many utilities offer free home energy audits to find where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient. You can save up to 30% off your energy bill and 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Energy Star can help you find an energy specialist such as uswitch.com

Cover your pots while cooking
Doing so can save a lot of the energy needed for preparing the dish. Even better are pressure cookers and steamers: they can save around 70%!

Use the washing machine or dishwasher only when they are full
If you need to use it when it is half full, then use the half-load or economy setting. There is also no need to set the temperatures high. Nowadays detergents are so efficient that they get your clothes and dishes clean at low temperatures.

Take a shower instead of a bath
A shower takes up to four times less energy than a bath. To maximize the energy saving, avoid power showers and use low-flow shower heads, which are cheap and provide the same comfort.

Use less hot water
It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow shower head (160kg of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (250 kg saved per year) instead of hot.

Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible
You can save 32kg of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.

Insulate and weatherize your home
Properly insulating your walls and ceilings can save 25% of your home heating bill and 900 kg of carbon dioxide a year. Caulking and weather-stripping can save another 750 kg per year. Energy Efficient has more information on how to better insulate your home.

Be sure you’re recycling at home
You can save 1,100kg of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates. recycle-more.co.uk can help you find recycling resources in your area.

Recycle your organic waste
Around 3% of the greenhouse gas emissions through the methane is released by decomposing bio-degradable waste. By recycling organic waste or composting it if you have a garden, you can help eliminate this problem! Just make sure that you compost it properly, so it decomposes with sufficient oxygen, otherwise your compost will cause methane emissions and smell foul.

Buy intelligently
One bottle of 1.5L requires less energy and produces less waste than three bottles of 0.5L. As well, buy recycled paper products: it takes less 70 to 90% less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide.

Choose products that come with little packaging and buy refills when you can
You will also cut down on waste production and energy use!

Reuse your shopping bag
When shopping, it saves energy and waste to use a reusable bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop. Waste not only discharges CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, it can also pollute the air, groundwater and soil.

Reduce waste
Most products we buy cause greenhouse gas emissions in one or another way, e.g. during production and distribution. By taking your lunch in a reusable lunch box instead of a disposable one, you save the energy needed to produce new lunch boxes.

Plant a tree
A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%. For information on planting a tree for life visit treesforlife.org.uk

Switch to green power
In many areas, you can switch to energy generated by clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar.

Buy locally grown and produced foods
The average meal in the UK travels between 900 - 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.

Buy fresh foods instead of frozen
Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

Seek out and support local farmers markets
They reduce the amount of energy required to grow and transport the food to you by one fifth. You can find a farmer’s market in your area at the www.farmersmarkets.net

Buy organic foods as much as possible
Organic soils capture and store carbon dioxide at much higher levels than soils from conventional farms. If we grew all of our corn and soybeans organically, we’d remove 580 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere!

Eat less meat
Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane, which they exhale with every breath.

Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible
Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year! Look for transit options in your area.

Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates
Sharing a journey with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year. liftshare.org runs a national service connecting commuters and travelers.......

Don't leave an empty roof rack on your car
This can increase fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 10% due to wind resistance and the extra weight - removing it is a better idea.

Turning off air conditioning when not in use
This causes unnecessary drag on the engine and increases CO2 emissions. Most people think that air conditioning should only be used in hot conditions, but it is very beneficial in the cooler months, by using the system for only a few minutes when the glass is steamed up can clear the condensation very quickly thus you can set of on your journey much quicker without leaving the vehicle idling for long periods.

Remove access mud and dirt from vehicle wheel arches
This can save up to 5% on fuel costs and reduce CO2 emissions.

Keep your car tuned up
Regular maintenance helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.

Drive carefully and do not waste fuel
You can reduce CO2 emissions by readjusting your driving style. Choose proper gears, do not abuse the throttle pedal, use the engine brake instead of the pedal brake when possible and turn off your engine when your vehicle is motionless for more than one minute. By readjusting your driving style you can save money on both fuel and car maintenance.

Check your tyres weekly to make sure they’re properly inflated
Proper inflation can improve fuel mileage by more than 3%. Since every gallon of petrol saved keeps 10kg of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, every increase in fuel efficiency makes a difference!

When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle
You can save 1,360kg of carbon dioxide every year if your new car gets only 3 miles per gallon more than your current one. You can get up to 60 miles per gallon with a hybrid! You can find information on fuel efficiency on Fuel Economy and on GreenCars websites.

Switch from petrol to Lpg
LPG is suitable for virtually every petrol combustion engine. It provides excellent performance, whilst producing substantially fewer environmentally unfriendly emissions, find out more here....

Try car sharing
Need a car but don’t want to buy one? Community car sharing organizations provide access to a car and your membership fee covers gas, maintenance and insurance. Many companies – such as Flexcar - offer low emission or hybrid cars too! Also, see liftshare.org.

Try working from home
working from home can help you drastically reduce the number of miles you drive every week.

Fly less
Air travel produces large amounts of emissions so reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year can reduce your emissions significantly. You can also offset your air travel by investing in renewable energy projects. more.....

Encourage your school or business to reduce emissions
You can extend your positive influence on global warming well beyond your home by actively encouraging other to take action.

Join the virtual march
The Stop Global Warming Virtual March is a non-political effort to bring people concerned about global warming together in one place. Add your voice to the hundreds of thousands of other people urging action on this issue.

Encourage the switch to renewable energy
Successfully combating global warming requires a national transition to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. These technologies are ready to be deployed more widely but there are regulatory barriers impeding them. Take action to break down those barriers with Vote Solar.

Protect and conserve forest worldwide
Forests play a critical role in global warming: they store carbon. When forests are burned or cut down, their stored carbon is release into the atmosphere - deforestation now accounts for about 20% of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Conservation International has more information on forests and global warming.

Consider the impact of your investments
If you invest your money, you should consider the impact that your investments and savings will have on global warming. learn more about how to ensure your money is being invested in companies, products and projects that address issues related to climate change.

Make sure your voice is heard!
People must have a stronger commitment from their government in order to stop global warming and implement solutions and such a commitment won’t come without a dramatic increase in citizen lobbying for new laws with teeth. Get the facts about politicians. Make sure your voice is heard by voting!

Adapted for the UK from globalwarming-facts

Dyson Stowaway