There are numerous compelling reasons why you should make changes in your life to become more environmentally friendly. Among the most important reasons would be your health. Scientists have warned that the effects of global warming over the next several decades will have serious health implications on people. The dangers confronting us due to the environmental effects of global warming include increased incidents of both water and food borne diseases, substantial increases in the number of skin cancer cases, and the spread of serious diseases such as West Nile virus and Malaria.
The idea of impacting your world globally is overwhelming and implausible all at once. It is difficult to believe that small every day changes that you make could help solve a crisis facing an entire planet. And even if you did decide to make the recommended changes and take action, with millions of people across the globe continuing on their current path, how could your actions make a difference and offset theirs? Believe it or not, the answer to that question is simple. What could it hurt?
What could it hurt? You’re probably wondering, what does that mean? It means that by taking action you are contributing to saving your world, the people you love, future people you will love, and people you don’t even know. It means that every little bit helps preserve a little more of our planet’s habitable condition. Isn’t your health worth the extra effort, regardless of whether you believe you can make a difference? If you do nothing then you know the environmental conditions will continue to decline and you are contributing to the problem. But if you make the small changes suggested by experts you will have the benefit of knowing you are doing something to improve the conditions of the environment and preserve the health of ours and future generations.
Here is a list of changes you can make to help reduce global warming:
1. Change your light bulbs: Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) instead of the standard light bulbs. Experts report that if every household in the US replaced their standard incandescent bulb with the CFL bulb, 90 billion pounds of pollution contributing to global warming would be eliminated.
2. Use appliances that have the Energy Star Labels. You could reduce the amount of energy and water you currently use by almost half. This would not only help save the environment, it would help you save too.
3. Drive an energy efficient vehicle and reduce the carbon emissions you are sending into the air.
4. Use electricity that comes from renewable resources. If you aren’t sure if this is available in your area, check with your local government.
5. Recycle and buy recycled products. Reducing waste will cut the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by over 2000 pounds each year.