I heard so much about "green " educating in Dr. Cramer's curriculum class that I don't think I learned anything new from this chapter. It sounds great, but I am not sure how I could possibly do anything to make it happen.
I am a firm believer in reduce, reuse, and recycle. Creating gardens and composting cafeteria garbage is easier to accomplish than changing our total consumption of energy. I, for one, did not forgo air conditioning this week to save the environment. I did, however, set it higher than most people (80 degrees). But then, I like it a little warmer than others.
Calculating how a purchase affects the environment is difficult. For example: Should we purchase a new, more efficient refrigerator? Ours is 30 years old and is still working. A new refrigerator is probably going to last only 10 years; so we will need to buy 3 refrigerators to get through 30 years. What is the total effect on the environment to create 3 refrigerators, transport them to my home, use them, and dispose of them when they are no longer working? How does the less electricity used balance with the total environmental effect of the refrigerators needed over the time period? What is the total carbon footprint of everything we use?
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