17 April 2007 @ 4pm

An Inconvenient Truth (aka: Oh, Shit…)

An Inconvenient Truth

I finally got around to watching An Inconvenient Truth last night. Wow. If you haven’t seen this yet, please do yourself a favour and watch it. If you have Sky Movies, it’s on there now for you to select and watch. Go rent it, borrow it or buy the DVD. It is well worth the time.

It astounds me how rapidly global warming is increasing. It’s a scary thought. I don’t think any of us, with all the privileges we have, can ignore this, and it really doesn’t take that much. For example, today, I took two easy (and fairly quick) steps:

1. I called Southern Electric and changed our plan to the RSPB Energy plan. This is the green energy option with Southern Electric and costs slightly more, but is so much better for the environment. Southern Electric will also make a donation to RSPB Wildlife if you switch, so it’s win-win. It just takes a phone-call. It’ll take a few days for them to send you the changed details, so the sooner you can call, the better. As a tip, if you don’t already have direct deposit setup, do so. You can save yourself some money to make up for the slightly higher cost with the RSPB Energy plan.

2. I ordered a Standby Saver (you can order through PayPal - quick and easy). If anyone in the UK has watched Dragon’s Den, you may be familiar with this product. It seems, that even when your digital TV box is off, it’s actually on “standby” and is using electricity the entire time. The Standby Saver reduces the power used to zero. Much better. It’s approximately £27.00 with shipping, so not exactly cheap, but you’ll buy it once. You may save a little on the electric bill, but even if you don’t, you at least know your TV isn’t sucking up electricity for no reason whatsoever.

There is still more we can do, and we will, but it shows just how easy it can be to help in some way. I may post more tips in the coming weeks. The website, climatecrisis.net, has a lot of great information on the topic, as well as what you can do.

I don’t want to come off like I am lecturing, but please do see this movie as soon as you can. It’s worth it.

(Image from CrisisClimate.net)

Tagged: World

8 Comments

Posted by:
liz

17 April 2007 @ 7pm

i just saw this about a month or two ago, i had the same reaction. a few months ago on the cover of Rolling Stone, across the top, it said “Why Al Gore Should Run For President and Why He Would Win”.

two things, you should check out sewgreen.blogspot.com (if you don’t already know about it) and there’s an amazing article that came out in the New York Times (Magazine) on Sunday, i’ll email it to you later but the title is “The Power of Green”. amazing read. loving your blog Lor!

Posted by:
Martin

24 April 2007 @ 6am

Great documentary.

Al Gore’s enigmatic characteristcs are exactly the reason why he couldn’t win an election. He’s just too independent-thinking for the masses, too uncontrollable by the powers-that-be.

Posted by:
lorissa

24 April 2007 @ 11am

Liz - Thanks for the article link. It was very interesting.

Martin - So true! Sad, but true.

Posted by:
Donna Lee Michas

28 April 2007 @ 10pm

Glad you posted this, Lorissa. I’ve seen it 2 times and will buy it to show others.

One of the easiest things any of us can do is to turn our refrigerators down 2 or 3 notches; more in the wintertime. You will see a big difference on your energy bill.

Also, lights on ONLY in the room(s) you are actually in. Plugs pulled on major/minor appliances when not necessary while one is away from home … this includes REMOTE phones. I pull my batteries out, as well.

And inflate your auto tires to the proper psi. But, drive less. Period. Bike. Walk. Take public transportation.

I was involved in 1970 with the first Earth Day. I’ve seen so much change. We can do this. We can.

Posted by:
amanda

30 April 2007 @ 11am

We must have watched it around the same time.
I did a test to see what effect I am causing personally and I found out I kill at least 86 trees a year. :(
It depressed the hell out of me.
If I had the money, I’d go out and buy a Hybrid tomorrow. Why the hell do they cost so much?

Posted by:
Andy

6 May 2007 @ 6am

Just wondered did you get the standby saver units that you ordered I have yet to come across anyone that has one

Posted by:
lorissa

6 May 2007 @ 12pm

Amanda - It can be quite depressing, I know. It’s sad that to do the right thing you have to spend so much more. They definitely don’t always make it easy, do they.

Andy - I actually just emailed with the Standby Saver folks the other day. It seems they have had such a huge response following the Dragons Den program that they have run out of stock. It’s good to see biz going well for them. I emailed about my order and within the hour I heard back explaining the situation. They are processing the orders they can and refunding folks who they think they can’t fulfill the orders for - I’m one of the latter. So, I need to wait a few months before I can try and reorder it. They seem to be handling the situation really well. Honestly though, I would have thought with the Dragons Den investors, things would be a little more prepared, but these things happen.

Posted by:
Andy

1 July 2007 @ 6pm

thats what they said to me but still havent got it yet so i got my money back, bought an intellipanel from one click it does the same thing