Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Ouch…how do I get a smaller foot?
This article in the Toronto Star today worries and hurts me. For a lot of reasons.
Seriously, how do I get a smaller foot?
The other day I was browsing Ford’s website. Apparently as an employee of Media General, I can get an employee discount on new Ford cars. So, I looked up the Escape Hybrid. It’s the only hybrid Ford makes, and I’m currently driving the “regular” Escape model. With 2 giant dogs, we need a rather large vehicle. But I feel guilty driving it. The mileage sucks; I’d rather drive something a lot more efficient. So, with need of a large vehicle (and domestic, hubby won’t buy foreign cars, even if they’re made in the States) I looked at the Hybrid. The employee discount is a couple thousand dollars. We could trade in the Escape we have now. That puts the price of the brand new Escape Hybrid still at more money than I can make in a year here. Not to mention sales tax, and property tax (yes, vehicles are charged annual property tax here in North Carolina!).
I’ve also considered just buying a little sedan of some sort, something that gets better mileage than the Escape and my hubby’s 14 year old F-150. Something to drive back and forth to work, which is only a couple miles. But we can’t afford insurance on a 3rd car, the dogs won’t fit in anything much smaller than the Escape, and hubby’s not getting rid of the pick-up. We bought it from his Mother after his Pops died. Its about all he’s got left of his dad. So, we’ll have that til it falls apart I’ll bet.
So, how do we get a smaller foot? We already turn off all the mini-fluorescent lights when they’re not in use. And apparently just by switching one bulb to the mini-fluorescent, its like we’ve taken 20,000 cars off the roads. The thermostat is turned down so the heat doesn’t come on all that much (yep, its on already. Seems we’re actually going to have winter this year), and we had my car tuned up recently so I’m getting 2 to 5 more miles per gallon.
Still, I feel guilty.
Solar panels are an option. A very expensive option! More so than a new hybrid car. We’re not close enough to the river to make hydro, and I think there’s a city ordinance against windmills. Not to mention, we’re really hoping to move somewhere other than here!
Perhaps I’ll just turn off the light and the computer monitor and go sit in the other room to watch hockey with James. Its something, right?
Source ¶ 8:51 PM
On average, every person on Earth needs 2.2 hectares, but the planet has only 1.8 hectares of capacity. That means demand is 25 per cent greater than resources.
…
This time, the Emirates' average footprint is a whopping 11.9 hectares, but a small population means its global impact is small. The extravagant American lifestyle requires 9.6 hectares and that heavy footprint combines with its 294 million population to make it by far the biggest drain on Earth's resources.
China has a small average footprint of about two hectares but its 1.3 billion people give it a massive total impact, and rapid economic development is swelling its footprint.
The average Canadian's lifestyle requires 7.6 hectares, a figure that dwarfs the international average and Earth's capacity. And it continues to expand: In 1998, it was less than six hectares.
Seriously, how do I get a smaller foot?
The other day I was browsing Ford’s website. Apparently as an employee of Media General, I can get an employee discount on new Ford cars. So, I looked up the Escape Hybrid. It’s the only hybrid Ford makes, and I’m currently driving the “regular” Escape model. With 2 giant dogs, we need a rather large vehicle. But I feel guilty driving it. The mileage sucks; I’d rather drive something a lot more efficient. So, with need of a large vehicle (and domestic, hubby won’t buy foreign cars, even if they’re made in the States) I looked at the Hybrid. The employee discount is a couple thousand dollars. We could trade in the Escape we have now. That puts the price of the brand new Escape Hybrid still at more money than I can make in a year here. Not to mention sales tax, and property tax (yes, vehicles are charged annual property tax here in North Carolina!).
I’ve also considered just buying a little sedan of some sort, something that gets better mileage than the Escape and my hubby’s 14 year old F-150. Something to drive back and forth to work, which is only a couple miles. But we can’t afford insurance on a 3rd car, the dogs won’t fit in anything much smaller than the Escape, and hubby’s not getting rid of the pick-up. We bought it from his Mother after his Pops died. Its about all he’s got left of his dad. So, we’ll have that til it falls apart I’ll bet.
So, how do we get a smaller foot? We already turn off all the mini-fluorescent lights when they’re not in use. And apparently just by switching one bulb to the mini-fluorescent, its like we’ve taken 20,000 cars off the roads. The thermostat is turned down so the heat doesn’t come on all that much (yep, its on already. Seems we’re actually going to have winter this year), and we had my car tuned up recently so I’m getting 2 to 5 more miles per gallon.
Still, I feel guilty.
Solar panels are an option. A very expensive option! More so than a new hybrid car. We’re not close enough to the river to make hydro, and I think there’s a city ordinance against windmills. Not to mention, we’re really hoping to move somewhere other than here!
Perhaps I’ll just turn off the light and the computer monitor and go sit in the other room to watch hockey with James. Its something, right?
Someone recently asked if we should inform our users that monitors in screen-save mode reduce energy consumption by only a few watts. At $.105 per kilowatt hour (kwh), turning off a 75-watt monitor outside 40 hours a week saves $4.38 a month (42 kwh). This saves 750 lb. of CO2 (greenhouse gas emissions) by burning 450 fewer pounds of coal each year! Flat screen monitors consume about one third this much energy.
Some typical consumption levels for computer equipment are:
* desktop computer: 60w (watts)
* CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor: 75w
* flat screen monitor: 25w
* laserjet printer: 7.2w
Using a 120-volt wattmeter borrowed from the public library, I made a quick check of some high-profile energy-consuming items at home, revealing the following:
* 32” television set: 90w
* coffeemaker: 980w brewing, 2w warming
* microwave: 1950w
* fan: 95w on low, 125w on medium, 180w in high
* 100w-equiv. compact fluorescent light bulb: 22w
* 17” Dell monitor: 84w active, 74w blank blue, 67w blank black, 69w screen-save, <0.1w active-off (standby)
* Laptop computer: 60w active, 25w idle, 1.6w standby mode.
* Dot-matrix printer: 3w idle; 13w max
Source ¶ 8:51 PM
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Yeah well, as the registration (or ownership as we say back home) is in my husband's name, I can't really trade in the Escape without his approval. And he wouldn't trade it in for a foreign car. Unless Ford sold out to the Japanese or Germans.
The Civic Hybrid is top notch, and a traditionally very reliable and enjoyable car to own (Best selling car in Canada for years). Most parts manfacture and all assembly of foreign cars is done domestically anyway, your husband should get the facts if he's going to make decisions based on them.
Check out this related short video.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-5508287703311663318
Also, I urge you to see An Incovenient Truth. The message is clear: change needs to happen NOW. I commend you for not making it a partisan issue, as close-minded people like to do. Good luck with your changes, we're all better for it!
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Check out this related short video.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-5508287703311663318
Also, I urge you to see An Incovenient Truth. The message is clear: change needs to happen NOW. I commend you for not making it a partisan issue, as close-minded people like to do. Good luck with your changes, we're all better for it!
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