Easy Ways To Off-Set Fossil Fuel Use
May 10, 2011
You might think that it’s beyond your scope of capability, but there are actually some easy ways that you can off-set your fossil fuel use. While investing in an electric vehicle, properly insulating your home or business or outfitting them with solar technology are fantastic solutions, and could in the long-run potentially save you tons of cash, for many of us these things just aren’t economically feasible at the moment. Let’s examine some ways to off-set that all of us are able to do right now.
1. Drive Smart
Have you ever felt the pang that comes from realizing that you’ve left the faucet running on full blast while brushing your teeth for minutes or more? I know I’m not the only one who remembers the Sesame Street gang crooning about water conservation. This is the pang you should feel when you waste gasoline. Save the gas, use your legs, or better yet–use your bike. Additionally, when you do drive, make sure that your tires are fully inflated. This one simple act can drastically improve your gas mileage.
2. Plant Trees
Lots of people argue that a decent way to off-set carbon/fossil fuel use is by planting trees to last 50 years or more. Naturally trees act as a carbon sinks, much like the ocean–trapping carbon, breaking it down and converting it into safe compounds. As long as the wood of the tree hasn’t decomposed, the carbon is sequestered. There’s a lot of debate over whether or not this can actually be described as off-setting burning fossil fuels, but every little bit helps!
3. Control Your Heating/Cooling Habits
Improving our increasing fossil fuel use goes hand in hand with improving our energy efficiency- especially at home. Use less air conditioning and heating, and if possible install a programmable thermostat to adjust temperature for certain times of the day when you’re not home.
4. Add A Carbon Filter To Your Car
This may sound like a costly endeavor, but outfitting your car with one of IEC’s carbon filters is a very economical and effective way of off-setting your fossil fuel consumption. Our filters are custom made as a vehicle exhaust add-ons, and are relatively quickly and easily installed. The filters need only to be changed as often as you get an oil change. And did you know that once these filters are changed out, we at IEC have devised a method for safe carbon storage by collect the filters and converting the captured carbon into limestone? For more information about how you can reduce your impact, or to order a CO2 filter for your car, visit our website at www.carboncapturefilters.com.
