Category: blogging

What? Blogs are taking action? That’s ridiculous.

Really. It’s ridiculous to expect that people writing blogs will “change the world” by writing about a topic. The only hope is that it puts that topic in the minds of people who are reading those blogs and maybe somebody, somewhere decides to change something. So it’s ridiculous, but still an appealing idea.

So I thought it was a good excuse to write a quick note about some of the things we’re doing at our home to try and help the environment as part of Blog Action Day.

First, we are slowly changing over to compact fluorescent bulbs throughout the house. The latest room was the main bath where we got some fancy ones to replace the decorative globe bulbs that had been in there. We also have several dedicated fluorescent fixtures, such as in the garage, the shop and our laundry/utility room.

Second, we have been getting more diligent about recycling. Especially the aluminum cans that we generate. By bringing them to a redemption center, we can get a little cash that is going to add to the college savings for the kids. Not a lot, but more than nothing.

And third, we have been slowly decreasing our overall energy use by using the air conditioner less and turning things off that we aren’t using. My wife is great about turning things off. Usually just when I’m planning on using them…

So we aren’t doing much yet. If we could afford it, I’d love to get some solar PV panels on the roof to generate part of the electricity we use, or maybe even one of those small wind turbines. Of course, with the money we are saving (did I mention that all of this stuff saves us money? Nice side benefit, huh?) we could set some aside to invest in that type of technology. Maybe in a few years…