TIME Magazine -- April 9, 2007

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51 Things We Can Do to Save the Environment

Can one person slow global warming? Actually, yes. You—along with scientists, businesses and governments—can create paths to cut carbon emissions. Here is our guide to some of the planet's best ideas.

1. Turn food into fuel. Check out ethanol-based biofuels made from corn husks.

2.Get blueprints for a green house. Conserve energy, use renewable energy.

3. Change your lightbulbs. Use compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

4. Light up your city (with LEDs). Use them for lighting public places and save.

5. Pay the carbon tax. Here’s how:

6. Ditch the McMansion. Smaller houses are more energy efficient.

7. Hang up a clothesline. And, wash in warm water, instead of hot.

8. Give new life to your old fleece. Patagonia will recycle all fleece brands.

9. Build a (green) skyscraper. One example: NYC’s Bank of America tower.

10. Turn up the geothermal heat. Heat and cool building by deep underground water.

11. Take another look at vintage clothes. Every new item you own impacts the environment.

12. Capture the carbon. Trap carbon gases, store and use them.

13. Let employees work closer to home. Escape rush hour commuting.

14. Ride the bus. Public transportation saves 1.4 billion gal. of gas/yr = 1.5 million tons carbon dioxide.

15. Move to a high-rise. Density means commutes, shopping, supply chains shorten, reducing carbon footprints.

16. Pay you bills online. Eliminate your paper trail, saves trees and reduces fuel consumption.

17. Open a window. Don’t run the A.C., caulk windows, use the dishwasher when full, turn down the temperature on the water heater.

18. Ask the experts for an energy audit of your home. Find ways to shave carbon dioxide emissions each year.

19. Buy green power, at home or away. Check the fine print on your bill to see if your power company offers green energy.

20. Check the label. Energy Star labeled appliances consume 30% less energy.

21. Cozy up to your water heater. Wrap it in an insulated blanket and save about 250 lbs. of carbon dioxide emissions/yr.

22. Skip the steak. The world’s meat industry generates18% of the world’s greenhouse gases. Eating less meat means fewer cows generating methane gas.

23. Copy California. A grassroots, “Johnny Appleseed” effort by individuals leads to state and regional plans for aggressive climate plans. Nineteen U.S. states are working on this now.

24. Just say “no” to plastic bags. BYOB (cloth) to the grocery store and start reducing the amount of harmful greenhouse gases from plastic bag waste that goes into landfills.

25. Support your local farmer. Locally produced food racks up fewer “petroleum miles.” It can be less expensive and more flavorful too.

26. Plant a bamboo fence. Bamboo is fast-growing, absorbs carbon dioxide and looks good in your yard.

27. Straighten up and fly right. Fly less, look for direct routes; flying in a straight line shaves off flight time, reducing carbon dioxide.

28. Have a green wedding. Choose to lesson your carbon footprint on your big day. Use local products. Ask guests to offset their carbon emissions from driving by donation to renewable energy projects.

29. Remove the tie. Leave your tie at home in summer, dress in cooler comfortable clothes, keep the office temperature at 84 degrees F.

30. Shut off your computer. Also, TVs, lights, stereos, fans and DVRs when not in use.

31. Wear green eye shadow. Cargo Cosmetics now sells PlantLove, featuring biodegradable packaging. Plant it and it will produce flowers.

32. Kill the lights at quitting time. Same goes for office equipment and helps increase the life of machines and lowers maintenance costs.

33. Rearrange the heavens and the earth. Geoengineering is a new field that rearranges the environment on a planetary scale.

34. Rake in the fall colors. Use hand tools instead of gas-powered equipment to reduce gas and oil consumption.

35. End the paper chase. Use recycled paper - which saves trees (they soak up carbon dioxide) - and uses less energy.

36. Play the market. Invest in companies that participate in carbon-emission trading, that either reduce carbon output or pay other companies for their carbon credits.

37. Think outside the packaging. Use your consumer vigilance by reducing your use of packaging – from paper cups for coffee, napkins, disposable water bottles, groceries bags, etc.

38. Trade carbon for capital. Support global trade in carbon credits.

39. Make your garden grow. Try alternatives to commercial fertilizers that create nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas. Use homemade compost or grass clippings.

40. Get a carbon budget. Everyone should have and stick to their own personal carbon allowance.

41. Fill’er up with passengers. Carpool, use public transportation, walk, bike to work.

42. Pay for your carbon sins. Use carbon offsets from Web-based retailers and non-profits.

43. Move to London’s new green zone. Two hundred and thirty three homes are available in this zero-carbon housing development.

44. Check your tires. Keeping tires properly inflates improves gas mileage 3%; a tune-up improves mileage 4% and replacing your air filters boosts efficiency 10%.

45. Make one right turn after another. Waiting to turn left while idling in your car, burns fuel, is costly and generates greenhouse gases.

46. Plant a tree in the tropics. A tree can absorb a ton of carbon dioxide over it’s lifetime.

47. If you must burn c oal, do it right. Co-generation coal power plants capture excess heat and reuse it for domestic and industrial heating.

48. Driv e green on the scenic route. Use car rental companies that offer car sharing, biofuel cars and hybrid vehicles.

49. Set a higher standard. Cars have to meet higher energy standards; power plants need to do the same.

50. Be aggressive about passive. A passive house may costs 5 to 8 percent more, but those that use methods to recycle heat from passive sources – the sun, household appliances, to warm the air and use extra insulation – drive down heating costs dramatically.

51. Consume less, share more, live simply.

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For more details on each of the 51 ways, visit http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment/

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