THE GREEN CORNER - Dan Dibble

 Are you having trouble making any sense of the idea of carbon
 footprints? The National Geographic website has a "Green Guide" section
 that makes this visualization easier. One of the images used is to
 think of pounds of CO2 as balloons inflated to two and a half feet in
 diameter. Then imagine how much room that would take up if every time
 you did something you do every day inflated those balloons around you.
 
 In one day, the typical person would inflate 47 balloons by driving,
 using heat and light in their homes and workplace, schools etc. So if
 Warwick has a population of 750, we would inflate 35,250 balloons each
 day. That is a lot of balloons. Now, imagine being able to reduce the
 number of balloons by making a few simple changes to your daily
 schedule.
 
	1. Wash clothes in cold water and burst 9 balloons a week. The clothes
	will still be clean and will last longer.
	
	2. Use a clothes line or drying rack and burst 14 balloons a week. This
	will also help your clothes last longer while saving money on
	electricity or gas.
	
	3. Seal and weather strip your home and burst 17 balloons a week, again
	saving money in the process.
	
	4. Insulate your house and burst 30 - 40 balloons a week. This and
	sealing your house is important in the summer for keeping the house
	cool.
	
	5. Wrap your water heater and turn down the temperature to 120. This
	can burst as many as 16 balloons.
	
There are many programs for insulation and energy efficiency up grades
that can save you lots of money, not only for the cost of the work, but
in the coming years by reducing the cost of daily living. That can burst
a whole lot of balloons if we all do something now. Start small, but
start.