Global warming is a very serious issue. Five years ago, when it was touted as one of the major threats facing humanity, no one took heed. Everything was nice and working and there was no need for panic. The general public waited for the governments to do something. After all, the environment was the government's responsibility, wasn't it? Wrong!

Five years later, the climate around the globe is changing. Temperatures have increased and are threatening to reach a point which would be termed as unbearable. Now people have realised that if it goes on like this, five years down the line we would be in for a really difficult time. Global warming is threatening our way of life and the planet we live in.

It is only through education that we can curb this rate of carbon emission and fuel depletion. Global warming cannot be stopped, but yes, it can be curbed, curbed with education, with each responsible individual taking steps to curb it.

In your own house

• When using an air conditioner, avoid the coldest setting and let the system warm up before adjusting the temperature. Make sure you use an energy efficient air conditioner of 10.0 or higher. Most importantly, clean your filter once a month. Also keep an eye out for solar powered air conditioners.
• Solar heating reduces utility costs, saves energy, and effectively heats a home.
• Use furnitures made from sustainable materials such as bamboo. Bamboo is a hip, green alternative to other types of wood furniture. It is a fast growing crop, can be grown without pesticides, and on top of that, it looks great! Or go with furniture made from recycled materials, that is, materials that come from old furniture, houses, or scraps from factories. Eco-friendly furniture is generally easier to repair and recycle. Suffering from allergies? Breath easy with Greenguard furniture that eliminates VOCs(Volatile organic compounds) from being offgassed into your home environment.
• And remember, always buy vintage, or buy local when you can.

In your kitchen

• Go organic and ingest nearly two thirds less pesticides and help increase long term soil fertility. Buy locally grown organics to lessen environmental effects of food transportation. Better yet, build your own little garden and reap the rewards of your own harvest.
• The amount of carbon pollutants emitted producing those cute little plastic containers in your cupboard is hard to make sense of. Use recycled-paper containers to keep foods fresh. Or better yet, use two plates to do the job; keep your leftovers on your dinner plate and cover it with a plate on top.
• Keep your fridge from other energy sources like oven and heaters etc. If your fridge was made before 1993, you are spending way too much on electricity and also causing huge damage to the environment. Please upgrade to a newer fridge.
• Dump the bottled mineral water. Even if it's from that fabled eternal spring, it's hard to ignore the packaging, use of plastics, and the untold amount of carbon pollutants emitted just to truck it to you. Use the tap water instead. It's good and safe. For extra safety, boil the water and use.
• Use CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) bulbs or LED bulbs. They have a lifespan of 10 incandescent bulbs but use 75% less energy. Cut your electricity bill while saving the environment.

In the bathroom

• Start reading labels. Many products contain PETROLEUM (PROPYLENE GLYCOL, MINERAL OIL or PARAFFIN) which are depleting our Earth's limited fossil fuels. Buy organic and try to stay away from aluminium, carcinogenic coal tar and products tested on animals.
• Minimise use of Aluminium. Production of Aluminium is the most carbon emitting process that I know of, so stay away from it.

At the office

• Spare the air and your sanity. Working from home cuts down gas usage, auto pollution and stress from traffic.
• Try to keep ur office paperless by sending emails instead of memos or by switching from file cabinets to file servers. Make sure your energy settings on your computer are optimised to save a good deal of energy.

For people who drive, these are a list of things you could keep in mind and save petrol as well as reduce emissions.

Here are 10 easy-to-follow steps to increase your fuel economy.

1. Don’t speed.

   Driving 65 mph instead of 75 mph will increase your fuel economy by about 10 percent. Pride yourself on being a slowpoke.

2. Avoid "jack rabbit" starts.

   Flooring the gas pedal wastes gas and leads to drastically higher pollution rates.

3. Anticipate stops.

   Think ahead to anticipate stops so your vehicle can coast down. Accelerating hard and braking hard wastes gas, increases pollution, and wears out your brakes.

4. Keep your tires properly inflated.

   For every 3 pounds below recommended pressure, fuel economy goes down by about 1 percent.

5. Avoid rush hour, if possible.

   Stop-and-go driving burns gas and increases emissions of smog-forming pollutants. For hybrids that can stay in electric mode at low speeds, the effects of stop-and-go driving are greatly reduced.

6. Travel light.

   An extra 100 pounds in your trunk reduces fuel economy by about 1 percent.

7. Combine trips.

   Warmed-up engines run more efficiently and generate less air pollution.

8. Leave the air conditioning off, if possible.

   AC increases fuel consumption, increases smog-forming NOx emissions in some vehicles, and can involve environmentally damaging fluids. At high speeds, open windows increase drag; use vents if possible.

9. Check your own fuel economy every few weeks.

   If you notice the numbers slipping, then think about how your driving might have changed, and consider getting a tune-up or an oil change.

10. Drive less.

    Give your car a rest by taking public transportation, riding a bike, or walking. The exercise will do you good.

So please pledge to do at least one of the following things

1. Turn up the temperature on the air conditioner by at least 1 degree in summer. Open up your windows and let the breeze come in. Or better still, don't use the air Conditioner at all.
2. Change at least 1 incandescent bulb (ordinary light bulb) to CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) bulbs this month. They are brighter, last 10 times your normal light bulbs and use only 75% of the energy
3. If you drive a car, car pool. Also when you drive, drive at the economic speed.
4. Set your water heater thermostat to not more than 48 degrees C or 120 degrees F.
5. Stop using and promoting plastics.
6. Stop drinking bottled drinks or water. Use boiled tap water instead.
7. Recycle anything and everything you can.
8. Pledge to make those around you care for the environment and educate them on the steps to stop global warming.

Together we all can curb this threat of global warming. Let's make it happen.

Education is the only answer. People should know about this and know what they can do and how much of a difference that can make. You could put up the below icon on you website to raise awareness.

	<a href="http://mbanut.com/node/61"> <img alt="I Can Stop Global Warming" src="http://mbanut.com/upload/ican-blue.png" style="border: 2px #ff0000 dotted;" /> </a>
	<a href="http://mbanut.com/node/61"> <img alt="I Can Stop Global Warming" src="http://mbanut.com/upload/ican-green.png" style="border: 2px #ff0000 dotted;" /> </a>
	<a href="http://mbanut.com/node/61"> <img alt="I Can Stop Global Warming" src="http://mbanut.com/upload/ican-red.png" style="border: 2px #ff0000 dotted;" /> </a>

We Can!