The Charleston Real Estate Search.com

Why Go Green?

So many people are talking about Going Green these days that the facts can sometimes get lost in the politics of he said/she said. So here’s the skinny.

The 10 hottest years ever recorded in the Earth’s atmospheric record have all occurred in the past 14 years.

As the planet gets hotter, we lose our protective outer layer of atmosphere, creating a spiraling effect of even more heat and radiation coming through to the surface.

As the planet heats up, it disrupts our natural balance of hot and cold regions, glaciers melt, oceans rise, temperate zones flood and arid region gets drier.

The long-term effects of these changes are unknown but scientists across the globe all agree on one thing – no one wants to find out.

Here in Charleston so many of us have lived through disasters like hurricane Hugo, that most of us are all pretty much aware of their incovenience, not to mention their tragic effects on our society.  Multiply Hugo ten fold and you are now scratching the surface of what the Going Green movement is trying to help us avoid.  We may not be able to stop hurricanes, but we can stop the long-term effects of Global warming.

If you are one of those nay sayers who doesn’t agree with the studies, think about Going Green from another perspective.  GOING GREEN MEANS SAVING GREEN – money that is.  Green households save up to 20% on their energy bills.

Since charity begins at home, let’s start there.  Here are Al Gore’s top 5 recommended changes you can make in and around your house to green up the place.

1. Compact fluorescent light bulbs: These energy-efficient bulbs cost less than $4 and are produced by major corporations like GE. If every household in America switched five regular light bulbs for five fluorescent bulbs, it would be the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the highways for a full year.
2. Outdoor solar lighting: These yard or patio lights cost less than $20, and they don’t burn any electricity or produce any CO2.
3. Programmable thermostats: Though these thermostats cost from $50 to $100, they can actually cut your heating and cooling costs. Set the setting so it’s a little bit cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer when you’re not in the house. A difference of 2 degrees can reduce a home’s CO2 emissions by up to 9 percent over the course of a year.
4. Air filters: Changing the air filters in your heating and cooling systems regularly can knock 2 percent off of your CO2 output each year.
5. Electric hot water heater blanket: Hot water heaters use a lot of energy and generate a lot of CO2. A blanket costs less than $18 and can cut your home’s CO2 emissions by almost 4 1/2 percent.