Counterpoint: April 2011

Upcoming Events

George McMullen will be conducting his Los Angeles Harbor College Studio Jazz Orchestra at this Charity Fund raising event with Live Jazz Music and Art
EXPO Building, 4321 Atlantic Ave, Long Beach, CA

Things You Can Do

Swap out incandescent lights bulbs for CFL.

You’ll save $30-40 in electric bills for the life of EACH light bulb.
Calculate how much money and energy you will save: http://www.calculatewhat.com/miscellaneous/light-bulb-savings-calculator

Set printer settings to double-sided. The average person can save 1 tree a year.

Stop throwing batteries in the trash. Put them in the recycling or take them to a hazardous waste center.

Unplug electronics when not in use.

Bring your own reusable shopping bags to the store.

Switch of the tap while brushing.

Lower my use of bottled water/ beverages.

Use a clothesline whenever possible.

Eat organic and local foods.

Take a Footprint quiz and read about ways you can help the planet by making minor changes in your habits: http://files.earthday.net/footprint/flash.html

April Dinner Topics

Earth Day: We had fun bantering about the environment and learning myths and facts about our impact on the planet. We were inspired to each take a pledge to change one simple thing. Our pledges included:

Swapping out incandescent lights bulbs for CFL.

Eat more organic and local foods.

Did you know?

Rechargeable batteries contain more toxic metals such as mercury, silver, cadmium, lithium. When not disposed of properly, discarded batteries can harm wildlife, pollute groundwater and soil. This includes the batteries in your electronics such as cell phone, laptop, digital camera.
Since Congress passed the Mercury-Containing Battery Management Act in 1996, most disposable alkaline batteries contain little or no mercury. (We still recommend proper disposal by taking it to a recycling center or hazardous waste center.)

500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year, worldwide. About 1 million every minute.
The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion
Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistaken them for food.
A single plastic bag can take 25 to 1,000 years to degrade depending on circumstances, but remain toxic even after they break down.

The average person uses about 2.5 trees per year in printer paper.
Printing double-sided can save about 1 tree per year per person.
World consumption of paper has grown 400% in the last 40 years.http://ecology.com/features/paperchase
Average per capita paper use in the USA is 700% of the average use worldwide.
3 cubic yards of landfill space can be saved by one ton of recycled paper.
Learn more about paper:

A Desktop PC consumes 5 times more energy than a Laptop.
Screen savers are not energy savers. Using a screen saver may in fact use more energy than not using one, and the power-down feature may not work if you have a screen saver activated.
You save as much as $90 a year in power costs compared to a PC left on with a screen saver running
Most electricity is generated from oil or gas powered generators which create a colossal amount of C02.
Saving electricity means reducing CO2 emissions. Swapping out 1 incandescent light bulb that is used for 4 hours a day for a Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) bulb will save 100kg in C02 emissions each year which is the equivalent of

Increased CO2 emissions increase greenhouse gases which trap heat in our atmosphere. It also means plants use less water which reduces the cooling effect plants have. (On a hot day, a tree can release tens of gallons of water into the air, acting as a natural air conditioner for its surroundings.)
Learn some serious science about CO2 emissions: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100503161435.htm

4/25/11