Rhonda started school this fall and decided to take to the bus instead of driving a second car. It's a small contribution to be sure, but she made the decision based in part out of concern for the environment. When I went to school in the 1990s, I drove my car all over town to get to class on several campuses, including SFCC, Cheney, and EWU-Spokane. I'm happy for her decision, and besides, we will also save money as she makes her contribution to save the planet. As she begins to take the bus, she opens the door for more discussion about what else we can do to conserve energy.
Over the summer I learned some ways to conserve energy. They say you should only take a 6 minute shower. A humidifer helps so you don't need the house as warm. A fan in the attic helps cool the whole house. Check your food in the oven as little as possible, every time you open the door in lowers the temperature by alot(I forget how much. If you change the rotation of your celing fan it will either bring warm air up or push warm air down to help keep the hot air where you need it. There are many more, if you go to Avista's website.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention. I started energy conservation this summer. The first month I decreased my usage by 1 unit. The second month I decreased it by 4 units. I did this just by being aware of what I was doing and turing of whatever I was not using as soon as I was done using it.
ReplyDeleteI think there is some web site where you can track your ecological footprint - where it will "track" how much she is helping the environment by riding the bus. Something to check out. I'll see if I can find it. I'm always so proud of my hubby when he rides his bike to work.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great response. Thanks to everyone for the tips.
ReplyDeleteThat's the central bus stop downtown on your photo, when we lived in Spokane I always got around by bus, walking or biking or a combination of these. I found it so cool that you can transport your bike on the bus, you cannot do that here in Switzerland. In Spokane people actually talk on the bus, say hi and bye to the driver which doesn't happen here either. And you can knit on the bus or read a book (well I'm a knitter)and since you don't have to concentrate on the traffic you actually perceive things in the various neighbourhoods that you'd never notice driving a car. Lots of good things to say about bus riding besides the ecological factor, well done!
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