Climate Change - Things You Can Do

CLIMATE CHANGE The Solution Is You!

Climate change is one of our greatest environmental, social and economic threats. bservations show increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level. It is very likely that most of the warming can be attributed to the emissions of greenhouse gases by human activities. The impacts of climate change are already being observed and are projected to become more pronounced. Extreme weather events, including heat waves, droughts and floods, are expected to become more frequent and intense. In Europe the largest temperature increases are in southern Europe and the Arctic region. Precipitation decreases in southern Europe and increases in the north/north-west. This leads to impacts on natural ecosystems, human health and water resources. Economic sectors, such as forestry, agriculture, tourism and buildings will suffer mostly adverse consequences. Climate change is already affecting our lives and the places we live, and has the potential to dramatically impact the lives of future generations. To halt climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced significantly. If we don’t act now, we will leave a much larger problem to our children. The good news is that, if we all join in to stop climate change, we can reduce its impact on our lives, on our environment and on future generations.

What You Can Do Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced through simple measures like changing light bulbs and properly inflating your tires. These pages provide over 45 easy steps you can take to not only reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, but also reduce air pollution, increase the nation's energy independence and save money.

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Here are some, simple, everyday things each of us can do at home, on the road, at the ofiice, at school and at work, to help stop climate change. Pick one, some, or all. Every little effort helps and adds up to a whole lot of good. Turn your thermostat down by 1-2°C…

Keeping your thermostat at 20 degrees in winter and 25 degrees in summer not only helps with your energy bills, but it can reduce carbon dioxide emissions as well.

Install a programmable thermostat…

A programmable thermostat is one of the easiest ways to lower energy use and reduce heating bills.

Replace your light bulbs with energy saving ones…

They use just 20% of the energy of traditional bulbs and last 12 times longer. If every household changed five regular light bulbs and started using the compact fluorescents, it would be the equivalent of taking 8 million cars off the road for a year.

Turn Appliances off when you’re not using them…

Simply turning off your TV, VCR, computer, mobile phone charger and other electronic devices can save each household thousand of pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

Use your appliances efficiently…

Οnly boil the water you need in the kettle, hang washing up instead of using a tumble drier, totally fill the dishwasher and washing machine up before putting them on.

Use less hot water…

It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Reducing the amount used means big savings in not only your energy bills, but also in carbon dioxide emissions.

Check the tire pressure on Properly inflated tires mean good gas mileage. your car… Drive less …

Reduce_ Buy in bulk… Reuse everything… Recycle… Plant a tree… Forward an article to ten people ... Pass … Bring a garment bag to the dry cleaner…

Use public transport, cycle or walk. Car share where possible. Drive at a lower speed to increase fuel efficiency. Consider a more fuel efficient model when buying a new car. Avoid products with a lot of packaging. Preventing waste from being created in the first place means that there is less energy wasted and fewer resources consumed. reuse shopping bags. Take paper clips off of letters you receive and reuse them. Recycle more and buy recycled. By recycling and buying products with recycled content you also save energy, resources and landfill space! A single tree can absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Stop using leaf blowers. Just because something is printed in the newspaper doesn’t mean anyone sees it. Often, really critical articles are buried inside the paper. Pass your magazines on to a friend, hospital, library, or nursing home. So your clothes don’t have to be wrapped in all that plastic and paper. Return all those extra hangers.

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Defrost your freezer… Run your dishwasher only if it’s full… Think about where things come from, how they get made… Buy paper products that are made from post-consumer waste. Opt for reusable bags instead of plastic bags.

When ice builds up, it actually requires more energy to keep it cold. Don’t pre-rinse dishes. If every household replaced just one roll of virgin toilet paper with one roll of recycled post-consumer waste recycled toilet paper, 1.000.000 trees would still be standing. The paper industry is the third-largest contributor to global warming pollution. Plastic bags come from petroleum, and the manufacturing of just fourteen of those plastic bags uses the same amount of oil that it would take to drive a car two kilometers

Bring your own reusable cup to cafe…

Buried in a landfill, a plastic bottle can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.

use reusable coffee filters…

Get your office to employ reusable coffee filters (metal mesh or unbleached cloth) — and use them at home — instead of paper ones.

Support organic and local farmers…

The average European meal travel more than 2.000 kms from farm to fork.

Drink tap water…

Billions of water bottles end up in landfills every year, where it takes an average of 700 years before they even begin to decompose. Switching to tap water will conserve valuable resources and significantly reduce waste.

Buy phosphate-free laundry detergent…

Shop for detergents that are phosphate-free for the same cleaning power and no environmental impact.

Replace your plastic shower curtain liner…

Most shower curtain liners are made from polyvinyl chloride or PVC, a material that emits harmful gases. You might be breathing in toxins every time you take a shower. Choose a nylon shower curtain instead. Nylon is waterproof and contains no PVC.

Change the margins on your printer…

Simply changing the margins you will reduce the amount of paper you use by almost 5 percent. It might not seem like a lot, but if everyone in the world made the change, it would save 15.000.000 trees every year.

Pack a waste-free lunch…

Eliminate plastic bags, disposable containers, paper napkins and plastic utensils from your lunch.

Clean the lint screen in your dryer…

Cleaning the lint screen could reduce your energy use by up to 30 percent.

Change Your Air Filter…

Check your car’s air filter monthly.

Change the Air Conditioner Filter…

Clean or replace dirty air conditioner filters as recommended.

Take Shorter Showers…

Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs.

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Install a Low-Flow Showerhead…

Using less water in the shower means less energy to heat the water.

Buy a Hybrid Car…

The average driver could save 8.000 kilos of CO2 and much money per year driving a hybrid.

Carpool When You Can…

Carpool can result in substantial monetary savings for you. Share gas/fuel costs. Share toll costs. Share parking costs.

Don’t Idle in Your Car…

Idling wastes and gas, and pollution and global warming causing emissions. Except when in traffic, turn your engine off if you must wait for more than 30 seconds.

Weatherize Your Home…

Caulk and weather strip your doorways and windows.

Use a Push Mower…

Use your muscles instead of fossil fuels and get some exercise.

Put on a Sweater…

Instead of turning up the heat in your home, wear more clothes.

Air Dry Your Clothes… Be a Meat Reducer…

Line-dry your clothes in the spring and summer instead of using the dryer. Eliminating meat and dairy intake one day a week can make a big difference.

Flush and run sparingly…

Turn on the tap when absolutely necessary – no need for the water to run when brushing your teeth or doing the dishes, for example.

Make sure it’s really dirty before washing…

Clothing, dishes and your body should only undergo the wash and rinse cycle when necessary.

Shading…

Keep windows shaded from direct sun in summer with blinds, awnings or verandas.

Solar Hot Water…

Installing a solar system can reduce your energy bill by up to a third.

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