Noah Flores

UNIV 105I
Lifestyle Project
Lifestyle Research Project
Three great aspects in life in my opinion are Heat, Garbage, and Electricity.
When we use heat in our homes it raises our electricity bills and uses a lot of
electricity from the Earth which could be reduced to save energy. Garbage in the
world is a problem because we use a lot of things and most of the time we make
waste and a way to reduce this is to decrease wasteful products and reuse the
products if able too. Electricity is a daily factor in our lives and most of the world
uses electricity to power their homes or electronics of some sort and reducing
electricity used saves a ton of energy that can be used in the world.
According to Energy.Gov, heating and cooling accounts for about 48
percent of energy use in a home in the U.S. This makes heating and cooling one of
the largest energy expense in most homes in the U.S. One way to reduce air
conditioning energy use is switching to high-efficiency air conditioners. By
switching to high-efficiency air conditioners you can reduce your air conditioner
energy by 20-50 percent. An air conditioner works by transferring heat from the

interior of your home to the outside warm air. Air conditioners makes us feel cool
or warm by reducing the amount of moisture in the air.
From the article Environmental Impacts of Air Conditioners by Richard Dahl,
air conditioners affects the environment by contributing to global warming. By
running air conditioners were putting out more climate pollutants by burning
more gases and coals to run the air conditioner. According to Cox, approximately
80 percent of the impact of air conditioning on climate results from the draw on
fossil fuelfired power plants. The remaining 20% comes from the units'
refrigerants, the liquid agents within the coils that are used to cool and
dehumidify the air (Dahl, 2013). In order to make changes to the Earths climate
and energy use we need to make changes to how we use this energy and reduce
it. To make changes to how we use this type of energy is by making habits to
reducing the temperature on our air conditioners. To start making habits we
should lower our air conditioners by two degrees every week. If enough people
start making changes with their energy use towards heat in their home global
warming wont be in as much of an affect as it is right now.
From the article, Too Much Trash by Sheri Amsel, we are running out
resources to make things in the world and running out of space to throw out all

the garbage in the world. The United States makes more garbage than any other
country, since Americans each make out 4.5 pounds of garbage every day.
According to Sheri Amsel, earlier in history the bubonic plague, also called the
black death, killed 75 million people and this was all caused by too much
garbage in the streets. Piles of garbage attracted rats, which had fleas, which
carried the disease. The lack of sanitation made the spread of the epidemic the
worst in human history. This all started because of too much garbage. Many
early landfills were made in wetlands, which were thought to be wasteland back
then. Early landfills leaked into rivers and lakes and built up gases, like methane.
Garbage dumps used to catch fire and even explode, because as garbage rots, it
gives off methane, a flammable gas (Amsel, 2014). In order to fix this problem a
law was passed that all landfills must be lined up with big plastic liner to keep
them from leaking into the environment. This law also required landfills to have
gas monitors to keep track of the dangerous gases that build up. Methane gas has
also been in effect due to too much garbage in the streets. Methane gas adds to
the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere and is also burned for energy. Methane
is made from biogas which is a form of energy that uses waste and mixing old cow
parts and manure and then adding bacteria that will digest the mixture. The
bacteria gives off the gas which effects the atmosphere. We can help by

conserving, recycling, and buying recycled products. Conserving is using less of

something and this can slow the use of our planets resources. There are many
ways to conserve which includes recycling and buying recycled products. You can
make recycling boxes for paper, magazines, newspaper, cardboard, cans, and
bottles for small household things (Amsel, 2014). The Environmental Protection
Agency reported in 2005 that Americans who recycled and composted, stopped
64 million tons of stuff from going to landfills or being burned and that equals 174
billion pounds of trash in a year (Amsel, 2014). You can also help out by returning
bottles that have deposits for your parents. The first step of recycling was for
people to recycle then the next step is when recycled things get collected,
cleaned, and sold to factories that can use them again. Recyclables are made into
new products like newspapers, carpets, and plastic tubes and then are bought by
consumers. All these steps put together completes the recycle loop.
I think if people advertising used the approach of showing before and after
pictures people would be more affected. If people keep telling people whats
going on in the world they are not going to take it in and take action. You have to
start with something simple to get people engaged, if its too complex they wont
know or understand how to take action. If people understand how garbage is

affecting the environment and the atmosphere and realize how easy it is to make
an impact more people would be helping the cause.
According to Twenty Things You Can Do to Conserve Energy by Pace
University in 2000, conserving energy, by taking actions like insulating your home
and purchasing certified and efficient appliances, is usually the smartest, most
economical and most potent environmental action you can take. Some topics
people can improve on are home improvements, home appliances, home heating
and cooling, and smart small investments. Home improvements that will help out
the environment will be too insulate your walls and ceilings, modernize your
windows, plant shade trees, paint your house a light color, and weatherize your
home. For home appliances you can turn your refrigerator down, set your clothes
washer to the warm or cold water setting, make sure your dishwasher is full when
ran, turn down your water heater thermostat, and select most energy-efficient
models of old appliances. To heat or cool your home be careful not to overheat or
overcool rooms and clean or replace air filters when needed. A few small
investments that pay off are to buy energy efficient fluorescent bulbs for your
most used lights, wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket, and use low-flow
shower heads to reduce hot water usage.

References:
Dahl, R. (2013). Environmental Impacts of Air Conditioners. Environment Health
Project. A19-A25
Amsel, Sheri. Environmental Issues. Too Much Trash. Exploring Nature
Educational Resource. 2005-2014. November 7, 2014.
Pace University, 2000. Twenty Things You Can Do to Conserve Energy. Baseline
Institute. Lafayette, Colorado.