Eco friendly home ideas
If you're like me, you're torn between two worlds when it comes to being environmentally friendly. On the one hand, you have grown up with all of the creature comforts like TV, swimming pools, nice cars, and food (my weak spot). On the other hand, you know that it is exactly our modern lifestyles that is the direct cause of the environmental problems we face.
To some extent, I think the answer is to adapt our current lifestyle rather than giving things up. It is going to be too difficult in the short term to convince the masses that drastic change is needed but maybe by applying some intelligent design, we can reduce the way our lifestyles affect the planet. In this report on lifestyle changes, Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri says that "Studies have shown that producing one kilo (2.2 pounds) of meat causes the emissions equivalent of 36.4 kilos of carbon dioxide." He goes on to say that "...raising and transporting that slab of beef, lamb or pork requires the same amount of energy as lighting a 100-watt bulb for nearly three weeks". Imagine if everyone cut their red meat intake in half - this would make a huge difference!
There's lots of other choices you can make around the home as well, even if you have some pretty energy intensive luxuries. Swimming pools use a lot of water to fill and maintain, not to mention the chemicals used. Salt water pools are one way to reduce the chemical use, and retractable swimming pool covers are another great idea to cut down on evaporation and thereby minimise water use.
This is just the tip of the iceberg really! For every facet of your life, I bet there is a way to minimise your environmental footprint. Any other bloggers out there who want to share ideas of their own?
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