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Friday, April 4, 2008

An Inconvenient Truth...


My old home in northwestern Indiana in the late 70's.


Finally saw Al Gore's movie 'An Inconvenient Truth' this past week. It really got me thinking. The actual video and photo backed up of what he was trying to say and the graphs helped to clarify his statistics, making it basic enough so that most anyone could understand the issue. I'm glad it's a passion of his. Someone has to take this issue and run with it.


IMO, sheer population, which includes number of vehicles on the road, more factory jobs, etc all add up to global warming. It's inevitable that this would happen, but one can still do something about it. It just takes a bit of sacrifice. I am recycling more than ever. I would like to buy a more fuel efficient car, and am shopping for a more energy efficient home. SOMEHOW, we've got to figure out a way to stay warm without consuming so much oil! :0)


I don't know where oil prices will go in the future - right now it's scary - but we've got to think ahead. No more mindlessly going on as before. If I could afford solar panels, I would do so. My Dad got a pellet stove, and believes he has saved considerably on their heating bill. They are far north of me, and their heating bill was quite a bit less, for about the same square footage. I think going back to individual room heating and doors on most rooms would be a good thing. At least you can regulate the heat in rooms you use and don't use. I think the older generations knew what they were doing by building all these old houses with doors on all the rooms. Nowadays, 'open spaces' seems to be the way. I see these homes and think " I'd put a wall up there, with french doors, so that room would stay more cozy". My husband is thinking the same way. He complains all the time how cold it is in this (1986 2 -storey) house. I can't close any doors on the family room or living room, because there aren't any. (we are renting, so adding them isn't an option at the moment)


We are even thinking of downsizing just to save money on heat. I love lots of elbow room, but with just the two of us, do we really need all that room? (I say YES! with doors and multizone heat. :0))


It's actually difficult to find a house for sale right now with multizone heat. How energy efficient the house is is becoming more important than most other things at the moment. When I see a house listing that states "new windows, attic fan, new furnace..." I take a second look.


I know we are just two people. But if 2 people do this, then another 2, then another 2...you get the idea. Maybe, just maybe, we can be part of the solution to global warming.