Sustainable Living
I have been giving some thought to sustainable living recently. While not affluent enough to make major changes in my lifestyle, I have done a couple of things that I think help out.
I have completely eschewed the use of traditional light bulbs in favor of Compact Fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs. This may not seem like a big change, but if everyone did this the amount of energy saved in California alone would be staggering. In addition to their energy savings, CFLs have a much longer life expectancy, so the damage done to the environment during production of the lamp and it’s packaging should be significantly less than an ordinary light bulb.
I have recently become the proud owner of a Honda Civic, which I lovingly call my “Ferrari”. The 2007 Honda Civic LX gets 32 MPG in the city and 38 MPG on the highway (mine get slightly less than that as I did not get the automatic transmission). While not anywhere near the MPG ratings of a “hybrid”, I think that this was a very green choice for me. I have some reservations over hybrids due to the manufacturing problems associated with their large batteries. Also, when the car eventually reaches the end of it’s service life there will be an additional problem with the batteries. I think hybrids are a step in the right direction, but I am not ready to support them yet. They also have a rather high price penalty at the moment.
The final act in my quest to live greener is the act of simply living in an apartment, although this isn’t necessarily by choice! I would certainly prefer living in a single family home, as it provides benefits for raising a family that cannot be had in higher density housing. For now though, I am satisfied with our choice of apartment living.
What’s next? Well, I am not sure. I have recently investigated the use of public transportation for my commute, but found that to be woefully inadequate.
