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Just a Hue of Green
Getting on Board to Help Protect the Earth
By Charlene Torkelson
Midwestern farmers are beginning to grow corn for use in ethanol production – a fuel source for our motorized vehicles that lessens the need for fossil fuels. Ethanol burns cleaner, providing a more environmentally friendly source of fuel as well as lessening our dependence on other countries for our energy sources. More and more vehicles and service stations are including an ethanol alternative for consumers and this enables our own farmers an income crop alternative.
What Can You Do?
You might ask, "What can I do to reduce our use of energy and encourage a better, more environmentally friendly source of renewable fuel?" In addition to embracing community action to provide better energy systems such as the wind farms, there are many things individual people can do daily to "go green" and help our environment: - Use your community's recycling programs by separating plastics, papers, glass and tin for recycling. Organize a recycling program for your workplace or school if there is no current program.
- Buy products and packaging that is recyclable. Instead of the familiar "paper or plastic" shopping question, some stores are now charging for the unfriendly plastic choice rather than the recycled paper bag to encourage better choices from consumers.
New florescent light bulbs (called CFL), although initially more expensive than traditional bulbs, not only save money in the long run because they burn more efficiently and longer, but also save on energy used. The CFL uses 75 to 80 percent less energy than the traditional bulb. It is estimated if everyone used just one CFL in place of a regular light bulb, it would save enough energy to power a city of 1.5 million people. Wal-Mart discovered when crunching the numbers if they replaced the lights in their ceiling fans with the CFLs, the company could save $6 million a year. Needless to say, Wal-Mart is now one of the companies dedicated to encouraging consumers to purchase this new light source. Something to think about!
