Tips For Thanks And a Conservation Christmas

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and now we march toward the Christmas holiday. Contemplating an appropriate post for a dramatic year, an unexpected e-mail arrived. A reader shared with us that she commends our attempt at cutting back our oil use/dependency. Lamenting her own inability to give up her “bus” as required by the needs and safety of her children, we pointed out that conservation efforts can occur on a multitude of levels, and that her methods needn’t specifically mirror our own. Anyway, in this inspirational e-exchange, our reader asked us to post a few ideas, as well as one of her own. This is no way constitutes a complete list, but this being a great idea, we’ll continue to post interesting finds. As the holidays continue to unfold, we thank all of you for your kind words, kudos and the appreciation some of you have shown for the conservation efforts of two small people in the world.

Happy Holidays to all! Good luck implementing any of the following conservation tips:

Install fluorescent light bulbs to ensure reductions in energy use.
Install adequate insulation in your home to ensure reductions in energy use.
Buy recycled products when available, i.e. recycled paper towels.
Recycle your glass, newspaper and plastics in areas where recycling is available.
Reduce use of plastic bottles - mountains of plastic bottles end up in landfills.
Investigate personal product choice – use your dollars to cast favorable VOTEs for companies practicing conservative production methods.
Designate an area of your yard for compost.
Install a rain barrel and use it for yard watering. Reductions in water use also reduce energy use in areas where hydropower is the source of electricity generation.
Repair dripping faucets or leaky toilets.
Turn off the faucet when brushing teeth and shorten showering time.
Carpool.
Use public transportation just once or twice a week to reduce use of fossil fuels, and still keep your car for really busy days.
Turn off the lights. You’ll look foxier by candelight anyway.
Don’t buy a fake Christmas tree. Think lead dust and crowded landfills.
Plug TV, VCR, DVD, Stereo system, computers, etc. into a surge protection plug. Power the whole mess off at the surge protector to stop electrical “leak” into the electronics.
Turn off your car and curb pollution while waiting at the drive-thru, school pick-up area or bank drive-up ATM.
Buy locally grown foods to combat fossil fuel use in long distance food shipments. Check out this cool mashup from www.GoGreenCharleston.org to find local food sources.
Last, simply buy less.

Still haven't had enough? Here are ten more.

As always, feel free to post your comments and include other green tips or conservation ideas we’ve not listed here. Ya’ll take care!

Jaguar vs. CARTA - Week One

Two days into using public transportation and all is well. Riding CARTA is an absolute pleasure. After years of isolation in our car, the morning rush hour now starts with a nice walk, just three minutes (timed) to the closest stop, then a leisurely read until being dropped off one minute from the office! Who knew?

On the ride home The Cosmopolitan Charlestonian was thinking, "why the hell didn't we do this sooner and invest all the money we have been dumping into a car all these years? What were we thinking?" Duhhhhh. Depreciating asset. How can something that depreciates be called an asset, anyway? This is one of those Econ 101 questions that continues to this day to stump us.

Do we miss the Jag? No. Not so much. Especially considering the following -
payment per month $350, insurance $90 per month, gasoline $125 per month, yearly taxes $23.33 per month, maintenance $30 per month. This all equates to a grand total of $618.33 per month. Were we seriously paying for this??? We will most certainly put this monthly total to a MUCH better use!

On a side note, a friend asked if we felt safe taking Charleston's public transportation system. We choose to answer this question with a question. How many people died in car accidents last year? And how many people got stabbed or shot on the bus going to work? Cursing the expansion of the Universe and consequential speeding up of time, we just don't have the spare moments to look these figures up. If anyone knows, please give a comment.