One post leads to another, The enviroment

I got an email from a friend about the weather post which lead to environmentalism.

The American nation gets a lot of criticism for its environmental performance, and quite often rightly so. The political system is built around capital growth rather than any sort of consideration of the surroundings. (Hmmm, that applies to driving here too, but thats another post)

Having said that I do get very frustrated about the implications that the individuals are the same as corporate America, and have the same stigma attached.

I am fortunate to have a relatively new home. I didn’t build it to be energy efficient, but a combination of choices and building codes now mean it is. In addition, as I equip the home it has become more energy efficient. With the exception of a couple of dimming lights and under cabinet lights, the house has all compact florescent bulbs, rated at 1/4 the power of the incandescent equivalent.

Not only are these lights more efficient but they are also great in the garage.

I drive a pickup truck, on a daily basis, it only does 17 miles to the gallon. But, when I do need to get wood from the DIY store, pull the caravan, bring home a new appliance it causes considerably less pollution than the big, badly maintained lorry that would have to do the delivery job.

TV’s are another example. LCD seem like a luxury, but use considerably less energy than their CRT equivalents. In fact in the office I run we don’t have any CRTs because they are to power hungry and create to much heat.

All in all, my new house that was built with a little bit of thought generates utility bills of 1/3 of that of a friends house that is 15 years old and half the size.

I guess my point is, lets embarrass the big business who ignore their environmental responsibilities, and applaud the people, one at a time that do make a change. I am one, I am sure their are many millions of us round the world!