51 Things We Can Do

Group 1 (Nos. 1 – 4)
I. Turn Food Into Fuel
• The Department of Energy has doubled its
2005 commitment to funding into bio fuels
• Half of nearly II billion bushels of corn
produced each year is turned into ethanol
• Researchers are prospecting more
alternatives, preferably one that don’t rely
on food crops.
• Municipal waste, wood pulp and left over
grain and corn husks produce cellulosic
ethanol,
• Cellulosic ethanol – contains more energy
than corn
2. Get Blueprints for a Green House
• “Reducing your impact on the earth is not
just a question of what you drive but also
of what you live in”
• Residential energy use accounts for 16% of
US greenhouse – gas emissions.
• Doing simple things could drastically
reduce your energy costs by 40% says Oru
Bose
• Examples: sealing windows and doors,
protect windows from suns rays with large
overhangs
• Consider renewable energy sources.
3. Change Your Lightbulbs
• Compact fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL)–
hottest thing in household energy savings
• CFL’s cost 3 to five thimes as much as
conventional incandescent bulbs yet use
one quarter the electricity and last longer.
• CFL’s contain 5mg. of mercury, thus, it
can’t be thrown away as regular trash.
4.Light up your city
• Light emitting diodes (LED’s) – new white
brighter fixtures
• LED’s consume 40% less electricity but
cost two to three times more.
• Though LED’s costs more, they can go
five or more years compared to a regular
bulb that can only last 16months.