BeFriending Creation
Awareness, individual actions can help slow global warming
Creation works in unison with a cosmic clock that has everything perfectly timed. We have disrupted that clock and have already seen the consequences. Biodiversity is being lost, we are having heavier rains and snows, arctic ice is melting, Hurricane Katrina devastated the land along northern Gulf Coast, and maples trees are budding so early that little or no maple syrup can be made. From the Arctic to the breakfast table we are experiencing climate change.
Humankind created this problem and it is up to us to solve the problem. To do nothing is not denial it is immoral. By being more attached to things than to Creation our Inner Light has dimmed. We need to reach out to Creation to heal it and, in turn, our inner selves.
While we can work to have our city, county, state and federal governments establish laws and practices to make us a more sustainable country, we need to make changes to the way we live our lives. If 35 percent of the U.S. population were to make the changes to live a more sustainable lifestyle while reducing our share of greenhouse gases, we could reduce our nation's emissions to the level the Kyoto Protocol targeted while saving money.
My household has decided to reduce the amount of energy used and the amount of greenhouse gases that we are responsible for emitting. (This is not necessarily a chronological account—my family never let details get in the way of a good story.)
The first step was to replace all light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. This sounds easy but also required a lot of dusting and cleaning of globes on overhead lights. Older light bulbs went into the hazardous waste recycling box. Bulbs that had some useful life left were saved for one of my nephews. In some strange fit of enthusiasm I even installed dimmer switches in the living room and downstairs hallway (dimmer switches also reduce electricity use). I managed this without electrocuting myself but was stymied by the dining room, where there were two switches for the overhead light.
I hadn't really planned on this being a cleaning process but can't claim my house didn't need it. I seriously cleaned the oven and microwave to reduce cooking time. I'm not claiming that I will immediately increase the amount of cooking I'm doing, but I'm ready just in case. You can also reduce the energy used in cooking by: not peeking; preheating less (baking breads and pastries are an exception); and using glass and ceramic pans.
My kitchen is a "hand-washing dishes" site. Since my kitchen has two side-by-side sinks, whoever is washing dishes can fill one with hot, soapy water for washing and the other side with cold water for rinsing. This way of washing dishes saves half the water you would normally use in a dishwasher, as well as reducing the carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere.
I think of dishwashers as staging areas for dirty dishes that I don't have time to wash right away—no one looks inside your dishwasher. For those who use dishwashers there are some suggestions that can reduce energy and water use: Don't pre-rinse dishes (you can scrape instead). If you have to pre-rinse for older dishwashers, use cold water in the sink or a pan. Run the dishwasher with full loads. Use the "energy saver" or light load setting. Use the air-dry option, not the "rinse-hold" option. Soak pans overnight with warm water and soap rather than scrubbing them under running water.
Most homes today are host to numerous "ghost sappers"—anything with a remote control, battery charger, internal memory, AC adapter plug, instant-on feature, permanent display, or sensor—that are quietly using electricity even when they are "off." These include cell phone chargers, radio/alarm clocks, TVs, satellite dishes, computers, music systems, and who knows what else.
