by Shelly Bokman

After the heat of the summer and more floods and storms around the world, global warming is in fact becoming a real issue for more and more people. If you’ve changed your light bulbs and are still feeling overwhelmed by it all, just stay focused on the simple things you can do to have a positive impact. Take a baby step today to help save our planet for our children and grandchildren, because every little bit really does help.

Unplug a refrigerator or freezer
With summer over, this is one of the easiest, quickest ways to reduce your global warming impact. (Plug it in again for holidays or special parties if you need to.) This can reduce the typical family's carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 10 percent!

Get a home energy audit
Take advantage of the free home energy audits offered by many utilities. SMUD offers an online energy analysis (also available in Spanish). Simple measures, such as installing a programmable thermostat to replace your old dial unit, or sealing and insulating heating and cooling ducts, can each reduce a typical family's carbon dioxide emissions by about 5 percent.

Talk to the people in charge
Our elected officials and business leaders need to hear from us. But we also need to communicate with leaders at our schools, churches, sports venues and the retail places we frequent. Does your school have recycling containers? What about your church? Does your family have the option to recycle at sports practice, or at the dance studio? What about at the gym or at your office? Are heat and cooling systems set at a reasonable level? Are they printing only the number of paper materials that they need? If not, encourage each to do so. Offer to help set up the program if necessary.

Bag it
Say good-bye to the “paper or plastic” question for good by going reusable. Even places like Longs now sell canvas bags. Some places, like Whole Foods, offer you a five cent incentive for saving plastic and sparing trees, which you can pocket or donate to their charity fund. IKEA now charges a nickel for each plastic bag you use instead of reusable ones, with proceeds going toward reforestation.
I must admit this habit takes a little getting used to. But I’ve found that if I put my canvas bags back in the car immediately after I empty them, they are ready and waiting the next time I need them.

Total CO2 reduction: 30-50%!