Dressing Down
"Japan to promote "Warm Biz" look to save energy"
To reduce their contribution toward global warming, Japan's Environment Ministry is advocating that business people and government officials shed dress coats and such during warm weather, and wear extra layers during the fall and winter when office temperatures will be turned down to 68 degrees.
What do you think of this idea? What concrete steps is your political party-of-choice advocating to reduce our collective impact on global 'greenhouse gas' buildup? What can you do personally to reduce your use of electricity, gasoline and other fossil fuels (like natural gas and propane?)
This is a topical bullet for class discussion (or at least offering the potential for it) via the weblog for that purpose. If you have a comment, please consider leaving it on the BIOLOGY 103 WEBLOG to 'seed' the discussion, to add some wider viewpoints, and let students who are blog-naive see how easy it is to add comments and get used to the idea this semester. Thanks! -- FF
Comments
i applaud this --i'ts a no-brainer. one of the things i have always hated about summer is the freezing cold temperatures in movie theatres and office buildings. about the time the temps get up to where they are bearable and i am revelling in the heat, i have to walk around carrying a sweater like it's january or i'll end up in some overcooled building freezing to death. for years, actually as long as i've had a home, i've been setting my home a/c temp in the summer at 83-85 degrees; in the winter the heat doesn't come on until the temp dips below 63. instead, we dress in layers that we remove when necessary, and pay very close attention to where the sun is in the sky, opening windows and closing doors to keep the cross-ventilation and/or sun rays working so that the actual indoor temperatures rarely get out of the 70s year-round. we also spend alot of time outside, so we are acclimated to the heat and cold. in winter, we do move those nifty electrically-heated oil space heaters in & out of some cooler rooms and plenty of blankets. in summer, we do the same thing with fans. also, we always let ceiling fans ensure that the air circulates whether it's winter or summer. it's a no-brainer, actually. one way i've managed to avoid my biennial case of pneumonia is to also avoid a/c in the car duing the summer. a/c is for yankees, imho. we'd all be better off without it.
Posted by: susannah eanes | August 23, 2005 9:10 AM
OK, you got my post for your class... let's see how many still want a Hummer.
Posted by: Carl | August 23, 2005 9:40 AM
As usual, my wife came up with a simple, quick and potent solution before I could type the dry, mundane, textbook recital of the laws of economics. Her two cents were, "Let people work from home via Internet, where possible. Think of the huge savings in gas from not having to commute to work." I can't top this. Jim
Posted by: Jim | August 24, 2005 9:25 AM