Enviro-Tips Your Family Can Share

Families do everything together. We celebrate holidays, go on vacations, suffer through adversity, and rejoice in each other's successes. Let's add one more thing to that list. In this new era of climate change and environmental impact, families are going Green together. Here are 10 ways you and your family can help fight Global Warming.

1) Plant a tree. At Christmas time my family used to go out and cut our own tree down. Now, we do the reverse and plant a tree in the spring. One adult tree can absorb up to 1 tonne of carbon monoxide from our Earth's atmosphere. There are just over 33 million people in Canada. If we all just planted one tree... well you can do the math.

2) Replace your incandescent light bulbs. Make it like an Easter egg hunt. Round up all of these energy-sapping fixtures and replace them with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. They last 10 times longer and use a whopping 75% less energy.

3) Drive a Hybrid family car. They are advancing rapidly in technology and style. I have my eye on the Ford Escape Hybrid or the Honda Civic Hybrid. The burning of fossil fuels, especially in automobiles, is the number one reason we have a climate crisis today.

4) Become educated shoppers. Buy produce that is grown locally because the amount of fossil fuels burned while transporting them is much less. Check the materials on the items you buy. I have only purchased golf shirts made from bamboo over the last two years because bamboo is a rapidly renewed resource. And finally, look at the packaging! Choose products with little or no plastics in their packaging.

5) Buy a family set of reusable water bottles. Plastic water bottles are made from crude oil. In fact, 1.5 million barrels of oil are used annually to produce plastic water bottles. Get yourself a stainless steal one.

6) At dinner tomorrow night bring up the topic of e-bills. Ask how many of the household bills are e-bills and switch the rest over, because going paperless saves forests (see tip #1!).

7) Does your family go for leisurely Sunday drives? Suggest biking as an alternative. Not only will our atmosphere thank you, but your heart will too. And don't forget to bring your brand new metal water bottle.

8) When using a car is the only option, follow these simple guidelines. Don't idle. Not only does leaving your vehicle running unnecessarily cost you money, it floods our atmosphere with greenhouse gases. That includes avoiding the drive-through.

9) Monitor your family's water usage. Have a contest to see who can have the shortest shower. Or better yet, have a contest to see who can find the most efficient low-flow shower head. And under no circumstances are you to do any outdoor watering when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. Send an email to your local politician suggesting the regulation of outdoor water usage.

10) As a family, calculate your Carbon Footprint. Finding this measurement is guaranteed to shock you into making a plan to help reduce your impact on the environment and setting goals to help you achieve the status of being a Carbon Neutral Family.

By Jason Ferris

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