Global Warming Tips for Back to School

Global Warming Tips for Back to School

by Deb Powers

By this week, most college students are sitting around trying to figure out the best ways to personalize that dorm room. Shopping for your first real "place" can be a lot of fun - but shopping responsibly to furnish your new dorm room can be better than fun. You'll end up with a room that not only looks great and reflects you, but one that also reflects your commitment to a greener planet.

Not sure how to shop green for your new dorm? Here are ten tips for furnishing your dorm room that will help you fight global warming and be kinder to the planet.

1.  Shop the thrift stores for major items. Your dorm room will come furnished with the major furniture - bed, desk, closet, dresser - but if you want a comfy chair or a sofa, you'll have to provide your own. Best bet - check the local secondhand stores for your major items. That way, you'll be re-using an item instead of buying one that uses up more resources.
2. Shop Craigslist! Even better than thrift store shopping - scour your local Craigslist listings for FREE items at the end/beginning of the month. That's when folks are clearing out of their rented digs and having to get rid of furnishing they don't want to cart along. Anything that you pick up from Craigslist is something you save from the landfill, since most of those things will be put out at the curb for the trash the day after moving day.
3. Reconsider the dorm room fridge. A dorm room refrigerator is a nice convenience to have, but how much use will you really get from it? If it's going to sit empty except for a six pack 90% of the time, reconsider other ways to keep your drinks cold and save the energy to run your fridge.
4. Invest in a power strip to stop "vampire appliances". Appliances like phone chargers, televisions, can openers and the like draw energy even when they're not turned on. You could promise yourself that you'll unplug them after using them - or you could invest in a power strip with an easy on-off switch so that you can leave your stuff plugged in - but stop the electricity flow.
5. Buy a bike! Reduce your individuall carbon footprint - and get healthier - by bringing your bike to school with you. Don't own a bike? Buy one secondhand off Craigslist. Chances are that you can get to most anywhere you need to go by bicycle because campuses are designed to have everything you need close by.
6. Buy a party cup - and other dishes. Avoid the trap of using disposable cups and dishes which only add to the garbage stream. Instead, buy a distinctive cup to take with you to parties - and ask your friends to do the same. (HT to Carbonfund.org) Do the same with your morning coffee - buy a travel cup.
7. Buy energy efficient light bulbs for your lamps. Yeah, those swirly ones - compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) use far less electricity to run than the usual incandescent bulbs. And keep your eye out for new, more affordable LED lights that use even less energy.
8. Go natural for carpets and floor coverings. First, consider whether you actually need carpets. Carpets are more likely to trap germs and dust, and contribute to allergies. If you really want something to keep your tootsies warm on those cold mornings, look for woven dhurries and canvas floorcloths that are easier to keep clean - and aren't made with synthetic petroleum based fibers.
9. Use natural cleaning products in your room. Yeah, you know you'll have to clean sometime. Invest in natural cleaning products rather than harsh chemicals.
10. Buy a sweater or three. Instead of turning up the heat as the weather gets cold, put on a sweater, a hoodie, a warm pair of socks or a fuzzy bathrobe. It's the easy way to keep warm without increasing energy usage.

Swine Flu and Climate Change - Aiding and Abetting?

Virus (img source: Sarej@http://sxc.huThis week's big news on the international front has been the emergence and spread of the swine flu. The viral variant of the avian flu that caused so much concern a few years ago has taken over 150 lives in Mexico so far - and that's only the confirmed cases - and has spread to the United States, Canada, Spain, Scotland and perhaps Australia. It combines elements from human, avian and swine flu variants, and while most of the cases diagnosed outside Mexico have been mild - so far - it can be deadly.

So why am I writing about the swine flu on Wet Wednesday? Because a few people here and there have wondered out loud, as I have, if climate change may have contributed to the formation and spread of this strain of flu. Back in October, the Wildlife Conservation Society listed a dozen diseases which may be affected by climate change. Among those diseases was avian flu, which is one of the strains of flu that has contributed to the swine flu. According to a Reuters story about a conference in Spain:

"Even minor disturbances can have far reaching consequences on what diseases (wild animals) might encounter and transmit as climate changes," said Steven Sanderson, head of the society.

It's the Butterfly Effect in action, more or less. The central underpinning of the Butterfly Effect, which has been hugely distorted by the popular media, is that very small differences in initial conditions can be amplified over time/distance to create vastly different end scenarios. A very small change in temperature near the polar ice caps can wreak havoc on the other side of the world - it's part of the underlying theory of climate change. But how does this affect things like the spread of disease?

At that conference, Sanderson went on to say:

"The term 'climate change' conjures images of melting ice caps and rising sea levels that threaten coastal cities and nations, but just as important is how increasing temperatures and fluctuating precipitation levels will change the distribution of dangerous pathogens."

In other words, the small changes can result in very big problems. I talked about that a little last week when I wrote about how coffee is a canary. But coffee isn't the only thing that is affected by climate change. Here's what the Conservation Society had to say about avian flu in their 2008 brochure:

Current data indicate that the movement of H5N1 (avian flu) from region to region is largely driven by the poultry  trade, but changes in climate, such as severe winter storms and drought, can disrupt normal movements of wild birds and bring wild and domestic bird populations into greater contact at water sources. (http://www.wcs.org/media/file/DEADLYdozen_screen.pdf)

Now, in the interests of transparency and total honesty I'll point out that the origins of the current swine flu pandemic are probably a better subject for Therese's Trash Thursday - at this point, it looks like the culprit may be poor sanitary conditions at a Smithfield Farms pork outfit in Mexico coupled with our tendency to be globetrotters, which enhances the spread of diseases. But the possible connection does make one think, doesn't it?

And it makes one think both backward and forward. Seriously, do you think that anyone considered the possibility that the creation of the wheel might someday lead to the destruction of the planet? Or that the guy who figured out how to put things like hairspray into a pressurized can had any notion that aerosol sprays might contribute to a hole in the atmosphere? You can't really blame Eric Rothiem for the hole in the ozone layer - but most of us now know why we can't blithely use aerosol sprays containing CFC's.

Many of the things that we can do to slow climate change are similar in scope - tiny changes that have a large effect when you magnify them. Here's a list of 10 things you can do to stop climate change, adapted from a list at stopglobalwarming.org.

1. Buy local and organic.
2. Hang your clothes to dry.
3. Change out your light bulbs for CFLs.
4. Drive a hybrid - or at least a car with high MPG.
5. Make sure your tires are properly inflated and your air filters are changed.
6. Reduce the temperature on your hot water heater to 120 F. or less.
7. Use a low-flow shower head for your shower - and spend a little less time in there.
8. Change the temperature on your thermostat by just 2 F.
9. Unplug your appliances when they're not in use.
10. Plant a tree.

Deb Powers writes regularly about coffee and Fair Trade at Coffee Break Today and about political and feminist issues at Not My Mother's Blog.