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TALK TO US: WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HELP SAVE THE PLANET?

 

E. ALAN GRISWOLD ’98
When I built my house a couple years ago, I had geothermal heating and cooling installed. Except for a little electricity to run the pump and a little to run the fan, I'm not contributing to pollution to heat or to cool my home. No oil, wood, coal, natural gas or propane has to be burned for heat and very little electricity is consumed for cooling. Since I only drive 7000-8000 miles per year, I couldn't make as big a contribution with the cleanest vehicle on the market.

JAMES N. CORDEA ’62, ’65
There is no question that our current civilization is hooked on carbon. The listing of things that everyone can do to help reduce the need for power and reduce the pollution of the earth was certainly helpful. I’m encouraging my family and friends to do all they can in this direction, but this is not a very long-term solution to the problem. Alternate energy concepts are the solution! We should be concentrating a large amount of our efforts on developing them.

I was very alarmed at some of the items listed in the time line. Specifically, the nuclear reactor accidents at Detroit, Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl are incidents that detract from a very viable, tested technology that would eliminate a great percentage of our current carbon dioxide emissions that are contributing to global warming. With 40% of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States coming from coal and oil fired power plants, it is obvious to me that nuclear power plants are a clear answer to a large portion of the global warming problem. Instead of listing three accidents that occurred over 20 years ago and that were relatively small compared to the deaths resulting from global warming, we should be promoting nuclear power solutions instead of promoting fear of this source to our general population.


MICK DAVIS ’95 (LM)
Regardless of one's stance on global warming, it is quite clear that human life has an impact on the environment, many times in a detrimental way. Surprisingly, there are many easy, inexpensive things that we can do to reduce that ecological footprint.
           
Practices like taking shorter showers, keeping up on leaky sinks and only doing full loads of laundry are just some of the ways my family is making an effort to conserve water. Recycling and purchasing products with less packaging also help reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills, while helping conserve resources to produce new goods.
           
In addition to the efforts my family and I have made, my employer, Stark's Inc., is taking the lead in the "green revolution" for Northwest Ohio. The company recently opened a new division, Green by Design, which will serve the metro-Toledo area and beyond. The showroom is both a retail and educational resource for eco-friendly building products and practices. 

HEIDI A. (HOFRICHTER) SELENKE ’91
My husband and I live in a rural part of Kansas City, Kansas in the town of Bucyrus. We own three acres of land and between last fall and this spring our family planted 75 trees. I lost count on how many of each type, but we have bald cypresses, plums, a willow, river birch, cedars and an oak tree. All were saplings and most are doing quite well despite the early spring freeze we had in the area about a month ago. All but the birch, willow and oak were purchased from the Kansas Forest Service. Our oldest son, ten years old, did a great job in helping to plant the trees and our youngest two kids, five and eight years old, like helping to water all those trees when we have a dry spell. We look forward to seeing the fruits of our labor (pardon the pun) as we watch our trees grow each year.

JENNIFER R. PETTY
I am a seventh grade science teacher at Teays Valley Middle School in Ashville, Ohio. After reading the “Managing the Meltdown” article and sharing it with one of my classes, we decided to write and tell you what we were doing to aid in the fight against global warming
           
Currently, we are big on educating ourselves and others. We visited your Byrd Polar Research Center, watched “An Inconvenient Truth,” designed eco-friendly homes, and increased our recycling. We have also decided to turn off half of the lights in our classroom, and to share what we’re learning with at least two people.
           
My students are very concerned about the issue. We hope to continue to educate and motivate them to take action on this issue. Please take the time to read and publish some of their letters.

Student excerpt:

We at Teays Valley Middle School have been doing many things to fight against global warming. First, we visited your Byrd Polar Research Center where we learned global warming’s effect on Greenland and Antarctica. Since then, we have been doing things differently to reduce global warming.
           
For example, our schools and most of our homes now use fluorescent light bulbs. Also, we have learned to shut off or unplug appliances when they are not in use and how to conserve water. Our schools and homes recycle paper and plastic.

ALICJA GRIFFITH ’04, ’06 MR
Every day I do something to help save the planet. I don’t think that waiting until the Earth Day or getting depressed about the state of environment helps, so I do what I can every day. What do I do?

I drive less than I used to and I carpool to work with my husband to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. I am actually happy that the gas prices are high. I hope that higher gas prices will force people to buy more economical cars, drive less, and that the leaders of this world will have to come up with a different way to fuel our cars.

I not only drive less, I also watch environmental movies to become more knowledgeable about the environment and the planet. As a result of watching environmental movies, I stopped using shopping bags because shopping bags do last for hundreds of years and only a small percentage are recycled. It takes a little longer to do my shopping because I transport food in a shopping cart and put it in the trunk of my car, but that five minutes of extra work makes me feel better about my actions.

In general, I conserve electric energy by using lights only where I need them. I never have lights on in every room of my house, because I can’t possibly be everywhere. I exchanged my light bulbs with the fluorescent light bulbs in the areas where I spend most of my time to conserve energy. I also exchanged my electric garden lights with solar powered ones. In addition, I stopped using my electric dryer to dry clothes and instead I dry them on a clothes rack.

I recycle everything that I possibly can. I buy products that are packaged in recyclable materials and if they are not, I contact the company and ask them to use recyclable packaging.

Finally, when my husband and I go for walks in Columbus Public Parks we are bothered by the amount of trash that people just leave behind. We frequently pick up trash and if it is recyclable we recycle it. I know that the world will not change if we all don’t start contributing, so I don’t expect huge environmental changes as a result of my personal actions. However, I will do the best I can today to ensure that future generations can enjoy this beautiful planet.

*For more letters in response to the Ohio State Alumni Magazine feature about climate change, check out GLOBAL WARMING: THE DEBATE CONTINUES.