We recycle too. We don't have the same bird population in my yard that you do, but I do run the plastic suet containers, as well as others, through the dishwasher then toss in recycling. I'm trying to recycle more odd pieces of paper as well. Must admit I don't recycle everything I probably should. We turn the heat down when we won't be home for a while, the AC too.

We use our share of gas to ride around aimlessly.......at least my current Jeep is way better on gas than my Liberty was.

 

Recycling: Our little state has voluntary single stream recycling. We have 3 street-side containers: One for normal trash, one for yard waste, and one for recycling. In our neighborhood and nearby areas, I would guess that 90% of the residents take the time and effort to recycle. Maybe if more states and localities took that initiative, it could make a difference.

 

Gene, Napa does the same, three containers. You can buy the chipping they do from the yard waste, except sometimes you find weird stuff in it.
People around here are pretty careful to recycle. Our regular trash container is the smallest I can get, and some weeks I don't even put it out as there isn't enough in it.

 

 

Better question, is there anything an average smuck can do beyond recycling to impact the climate? None of us are about to change our entire lifestyle. I am not about to stop enjoying driving, heat, electricity, and all the other things that impact the climate.

 

Lainey, I am impressed. I really thought Donna was only person in the world to go to that extent.

 

I'm not a "tree-hugger" per se, but honestly think that this is THE issue facing us now. Everything else except nuclear proliferation (ANY social issue, e.g. abortion, race issues, me too, etc.) pales by comparison. That's not to say that these issues aren't important, for they are, but they aren't existential threats as climate change is in the intermediate and long term. If you want to read some more discouraging developments take a look at the amount of plastic in the ocean, what it is doing to the food chain, and how it ultimately reaches us in ways that you wouldn't suspect, even showing up in bottled water. But I'm rambling...sorry!

We try to recycle, I periodically take mass transit to work, and I'm seriously considering replacing my daily driver with a hybrid or possibly totally electric car. Do I want to do this? No! I'd much rather go buy a new GTI for my daily. I'm 59 years old and realize that the effect that climate change will have on my life will probably be insignificant. Yet I have two kids in college, and I want to do everything that I can to solve or at least minimize the impact that climate change will have on their lives and the lives of their children.

 

Recycling of materials dramatically drops the energy required to produce them.
Less energy consumption = less power plant CO2 emissions.

In Bolton we don't have trash pickup.
You bring it to the transfer station.
A waste bag costs $2.50 but recycling is free.

 

On the other hand, my kid out in Seattle doesn't even own a car* and moved close enough to walk to work.





*If he didn't have my high cholesterol, I'd ask for a paternity test.

 

To Jeff's point it is a huge global issue.
A staggering amount of the worlds populations live at or near sea level.
Think about all of those Polynesian islands.Look at Florida. Think Bangladesh.
Rising sea levels will displace billions of people.
The failing farms in Syria caused those folks to move to the cities for help and created a huge part of the unrest there.
A few degrees in the midwest will upset the grain bowl that feeds an awful lot of people.