Fighting Climate Change In Your Home
Fighting climate change from a personal perspective can be a tricky topic for most. Many climate change activists will give you a list of things you can do to help fight climate change, like use public transport instead of your car or stop eating meat. But this can be difficult and in some cases unachievable for a large amount of the general population. Below we talk about some viable ways to fight climate change which are actually feasible for long term use by the average person.
Electricity
This is the big one. Fossil fuels used in the generation of electricity is the biggest contributors to climate change we have. Most people would be inclined to think that their small change is inconsequential when compared to the grand scheme of industry, and they would be right. Until industry changes its path, turning off an extra light is likely to do nothing, unless we are all doing it. There is another option though, and that is solar.
When a conversation about solar comes up, a lot of people will believe that solar is just too expensive to be viable, and that was the case until recently. Solar panels pricing has been falling every year while only increasing in quality and longevity. As it stands, in a sunny area with an average house's electricity consumption, the average solar array is set to pay for itself in saved electricity in as little as five years, in places with considerably less access to sun, this can climb to up to 15 years.
This seems like a long time to pay itself back, but when you consider that the majority of solar panels are still at 75% efficiency after 25 years of use, the initial investment makes a lot more practical sense. Solar is an investment that will not only help save the planet but will save you money as well.
Private Vehicle
Electric vehicles are a great idea and fantastic for the environment in the correct circumstances. These circumstances can be somewhat situation dependent, but there are two major flaws when it comes to aiding the environment by buying an electric vehicle.
- Electricity source - Running a car on only electricity is a fantastic way to help battle climate change, that is, if the electricity is coming from a clean and renewable source. As it stands, more than 80% of the world's electricity production still stems from fossil fuels. Moving the problem from your car's exhaust to a fossil fuel power station does very little to help the battle against climate change
- Cost - There is no getting around it, the cost of entry for a good electric vehicle is high and you’ll want to win big at an onlinebingoaustralia.co to afford one. If you intend to keep the vehicle for long, a ten-year expected battery life is just not good enough considering the price. Hopefully we will soon have batteries that have better life span, but we just aren't there yet.
So, what can you do? It seems like a losing battle every way you look at it. There are a few things you can do to help reduce your vehicle's climate impact, apart from the typical “drive less” statement.
- Don't change what you drive, change how you drive. Driving in a more considerate manner with a bit less of a foot on the throttle will make a positive difference to your car's fuel consumption. Less fuel used is money you save, and fewer pollutants being pumped into the air. Depending on how you drive now, the average driver could see a fuel consumption save of 20% by just driving in a more relaxed manner.
- Maintenance is key. A healthy engine will use less fuel and burn less oil than an unmaintained engine. Preventative maintenance will not only help your fuel consumption but will likely save you money in the long run.
