Ok, I cant afford a new car or car payments but I really want to be 'green' ya know and.?
Answer:
Sure. Drive your car and do something else.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs? Better insulation in your house? Fix air leaks by caulking cracks? Take bags with you to the grocery store? There's tons of ideas available on the Web and elsewhere.
There are many many ways to help the environment. Pick the ones that work for you and don't worry about the ones that don't. If everybody did that, we'd be much better off.
First of all, stop beating yourself up over your daily contributions to global warming. To some degree, we are all prisoners of the current consumption of raw materials and are responsible for the pollution that occurs because of it.
There are small things that each of us can do.
1) slow down - fuel consumption is reduced significantly if you drive 5 miles per hour below the speed limit. All it takes is leaving a few minutes earlier and staying in the far right lane of traffic.
2) fluorescent bulbs - when a light burns out, replace it with fluorescent. These bulbs used to be many times more expensive then incandescent bulbs, but now they are almost as cheap. We reduced our electric bill by about 15% the first year we did this and have gone beyone that now that we are all-flourescent.
3) recycle, recycle, recycle
4) walk or bike when possible
Will any of this stop global warming? Not likely. But, at least we can say that we are doing what we can. And, that's at least something.
get some skates?
or you could just contribute in other ways and not use your as much..
you could use energy saving light bulbs, buy energy efficient electrical appliances when you need new ones. After the initial five years, the energy efficiency of any electrical appliance would decrease.
If you have a 21 month old child, it's far more important to get a safe and reliable car. I know they're not that pretty, but I would reccomend a minivan. They get much better mileage than SUVs, are relatively cheap, and are built to be some of the safest vehicles on the road, plus you will have lots of room for car seats, strollers, toys, etc.
A bicycle with a baby carrier
Ride a bike, consolidate your trips, etc
A few times standing in the rain or hot sun and you'll think twice about the bus.
Sadly America's public transportation is not really up to par with many of our counterparts.
I have two children, 15 months apart, a double stroller works well except when there is snow on the ground. The grocery store is about one mile away and the library about 1/2 mile away same with the post office. We have one car and my husband uses it for work. Be sure you are setting a good example for your child, that is very green.
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