Politics & Society
Staving Off Mass Extinction, One Person at a Time
Changes in engines, bulbs and habits can help
wendy.tang@nyu.edu
You’ve heard plenty about what governments and industry should do to stave off global warming. But there are also a few things you can do.
Driving a hybrid car is one.
Instead of spending $23,000 on a new 2007 Toyota Prius, Issac Katzoff spent less than $2,000, to convert his car’s diesel engine to run on vegetable oil and animal fat.
Katzoff, 30, a San Diego painter and glassblower, feeds his 1983 Mercedes 300 SD with used cooking oil that he collects regularly from Asian restaurants for free.
When restaurateurs think he’s joking, he lets them smell his exhaust.
“It’s full of the smell of shrimp tempura, spring rolls, and orange chicken,” Katzoff said. Restaurateurs are usually happy to give away their dirty grease, because it costs them about $50 to $300 a month to get rid of it.
“Driving on a congested highway in California, reaching bumper to bumper traffic, all the people next to me spend three dollars a gallon for gas that they burn, but mine was totally free,” Katzoff pointed out.
Biodiesel fuel like vegetable oil typically produces 60% fewer net carbon dioxide emissions than petroleum-based diesels do.
To convert to a greener car, you’d need to install an auxiliary tank, a heating system, and switches for fuel supply and return.
You can also pursue simpler energy-saving strategies.
New York University student Kristen Dolle uses energy-saving light bulbs. “My electricity bills significantly drop in half after I switch the bulbs,” she said.
In fact, incandescent bulbs are really small heaters that produce more heat than light.
Even small changes make a big difference, said Bill Chameides, chief scientist for Environmental Defense.
“Energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs use only a quarter of the electricity, and they last about 10 times longer,” Chameides said in an interview.
“If every household replaced just three 60-watt incandescent bulbs with [compact fluorescent] bulbs, the pollution savings would be like taking 3 million cars off the road,” he said.
Dolle also refuses to use Kleenex brand tissues.
Greenpeace charges that Kleenex manufacturer Kimberly-Clark helping wipe out forests essential to preserving climate stability, by using paper and pulp from North America’s boreal forests. Greenpeace campaign Kleercut contends that more than 80 percent of the company’s tissue products come from such sources.
A Kimberly-Clark spokesman countered that 85 percent of Canadian trees were cut down to build homes.
“We are just using the byproducts of fiber, reusing the chips and sawdust to make our tissues,” said spokesman Dave Dickson.
Environmentalist Erik Blanc suggests eating local organic food.
“A piece of food we eat in the U.S. on average travels 2,000 miles,” Blanc said. “Local food travels about 100 miles, which burns less fossil fuel energy.” Bypassing food produced with pesticides also cuts down on chemicals flushed into rivers.
But individuals should also join with others, to pressure the authorities to act to save the planet, Blanc said. “We need sound policy to build infrastructures using clean energy.”
The campaign Step it Up 2007, for example, is demanding Congress require cuts on carbon emissions to reduce global warming pollution 80 percent by 2050.
Another campaign, Fight Global Warming, by Environmental Defense, The Ad Council and The Robertson Foundation, suggests Americans buy green power. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory reports that 75 millions electricity customers in 42 states have the option of buying alternative power through their utility. Wind, solar, geothermal and hydro power are among sources available.
Said Chameides: “By choosing to purchase a green power product, you can support increased development of renewable energy sources within your utility.”
SIDEBAR
How to Save a Warming Planet:
- Walk or bike more instead of driving.
- Unplug your cell phone charger when you’re not using it.
- Use power strips for your cable boxes and video game boxes; turn them off when not using them
- Drive an efficient car, or take public transport.
- Change light bulbs and turn off lights you don’t need.
- Use natural light, open shades and use sunlight to help light rooms.
- Install motion-sensors in rooms.
- Upgrade to Energy Star appliances, which offer the best energy savings.
Source: Fight Global Warming
New York University student Kristen Dulle, 20, uses energy-saving light bulbs. Photo by Wendy Tang.