A few weeks ago, JW suggested we watch Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth. I don't think I would have watched it if anyone besides my brother had recommended it. I was rather skeptical going into it, but I have to say it was pretty convincing. I think I have become jaded with the whole global warming issue because it has become so political, and I mostly have only heard about supporters who belong to whack-o extreme environmentalist groups. I am in no way extreme -- too lazy for that. But I think Gore has a good and important message in the movie. I didn't come away from it feeling the need to completely change our lifestyle, but I do think about my choices a little more. And honestly, I am more motivated to save energy for saving the money than to save the environment. Probably not what Al Gore wanted me to get from his movie. Which means that I'm not going to buy all organic, but if organic prices got to a point where they were pretty comparable to regular prices then, yes, I would choose the organic instead. Same goes for hybrids. I would like to have a hybrid, but Nate has been looking into it because of his commute and read that you really don't start seeing savings until you've had the hybrid for about three years because of the extra cost you pay up front for it. However, that timeframe might change a little with the way gas prices are skyrocketing.
But there are a few things that we are doing. We already recycle because the recycling center is just down the street from us, making it silly to pay for the trash pick-up which doesn't even offer the recycling containers in our area. And I read somewhere that about 5% of our annual electric bill comes from appliances that are left plugged in when not in use. So I have unplugged our toaster and can opener and fans. That was actually a pain to get used to when I put my toast in and came back a few minutes later and found it hadn't started toasting because it was unplugged. We shut down our computer every night now when we would have left it on before. Nate has always said that it takes more energy to turn the computer on than to leave it idle, but I'm not sure about that when you leave it on all night. We haven't changed any light bulbs for energy-saver ones, but none of them have burnt out yet. And we are trying to sell our house to cut out miles and miles and miles of driving every day!! That would be so nice, for our carbon emissions as well as our checkbook.
6 comments:
I'm glad you didn't buy into all Al Gore says because I don't believe it. I'm a huge global warming skeptic. An even better video is one that used to be linked on Fox news. It was a British video of scientists explaining how the whole global warming thing came to be and why it can't be true. More and more scientists are proving Al Gore wrong, but it will never go away because there is soooooooooooo much money in global warming. It's ALL political!! I don't remember the name of the video and I don't know if it is still on Fox...I'll look later today.
Okay, Kellee, find the movie for me, but I think you should watch Gore's movie, too. The one thing I will say against the science he showed was that he used all of his own graphics without giving scientific sources for each one. However, with that said, I kind of do believe his science. Of course it's political on both sides. There is also a ton of money going to Washington from the oil companies as well as the auto industry that there will always be those that say it isn't an issue. Do I sound like a democrat now? =)Very interesting subject.
I'm not so sure where I come down on the issue of global warming, per se. I feel like most of the information I get is politically slanted one way or the other that I don't really trust one side or the other. I do think being conserving is a good thing--some of the things you mentioned are things we do or try to do--and with the recent drought, water conservation has been super important to us. I think its really important not to be wasteful with our resources, whatever they are. So that's my two cents worth. :)
What I came away with from the movie was an even greater desire to preserve what the Lord gave us. The Lord told Adam in the garden to tend to the garden etc... We are also required to do that. So whether there is a huge global warming crisis or not - we should treat the earth with much respect. Recycling, conserving, and beautifying are all things I think our Father in Heaven would be most grateful of.
I totally agree with you, Alli. I'm having a hard time finding that video I've seen before, Susan. It was months ago. I'll keep trying. I just don't believe a word Al Gore says, but I'm all for taking care of what we have.
Those are great comments. I think it's kind of a shame that this is a political issue (which makes it hard to find what's really true), because we all should be doing what we can to be good stewards over what we have been given.
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