Show Is our our world as safe as most of us think Kyle Hewitt Staff Writer T THERE HERE has been a lot of talk lately about our en en- Talk about the ozone layer environmental pollution disappearing and the list goes on and on With all the attention the environment is getting now it would seem that things thing's are getting better right Well they're not Its It's worse than ever Sure taking that extra step to recycle aluminum or replace that old air filter helps but its it's not eno enough gh There are many other things we should be doing to help preserve our world Take the ozone for ex ex- ex- ex ample In 1985 a hole was stretching its way across across the sky above Antarctica It is isnow isnow isnow now believed that this hole is isas isas isas as deep as Mount Everest is tall and as wide as the United States The US U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicts that over the next 80 years more than million more people will get skin cancer in inthe inthe inthe the United States alone if nothing is done to save the ozone layer The substances credited with eating this hole are or Automobile air conditioners are the biggest source of in the United States An es estimated estimated estimated es- es 90 million auto air conditioners are in use in the US U.S. There are many things you can do to keep from being released into the ozone One is to avoid buying a car air conditioner altogether Vermont has banned the sale of cars whose air conditioning units rely on Another is to not have your cars car's air conditioner serviced During servicing 48 percent of the coolant is released into the atmosphere i 4 v. v I 1 t 1 ra ll m e f I a n w u j f ff t JET y t rUb o 1 fW jf tt rge hn ng g mOUl h- h wout 1 v Y 1 f are 9 7 4 1 4 l ri I m ft e 1 15 1 t J jno z F. S m mI Another example of steps we can take rests in the power industry About 95 percent of the worlds world's commercial commercial commercial com com- mercial energy comes from fossil fuels coal oil and natural gas The earth has only a limited supply of fossil fuels The amount of fossil fuel burned by people has nearly doubled every 20 years since 1900 Someday the supply will run out Scientists Scientists Scientists are seeking new sources of energy to replace shrinking fossil fuel reserves At the same time conservation conservation conservation conser conser- can do much to relieve the strain on the earths earth's energy supply More families could use florescent lights instead of incandescent Ii light g h t b bulbs u 1 b S. S W When hen a ap approached approached ap- ap p- p with the option to switch from incandescent light to florescent many people equate florescent with long skinny tubes that emanate an eerie light The new compact florescent bulbs produce a soft glow that rivals incandescent bulbs in reading comfort and fit into any standard incandescent socket Just by switching to florescent light bulbs one can save up to 75 percent of the energy used for lighting a stunning statistic when you consider according to Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories in California 40 large US U.S. power plants could be given early retirement by using florescent bulbs It is true tru that compact flu ores ores- cents can cost as much as 17 a bulb and they may last 10 times as long as the incandescent incandescent incandescent cent ones now in use Lets not forget the energy to power it Nine watt 60 incandescent incandescent incandescent incan incan- descent bulbs will cost an average of 40 in electricity for hours of light For Forthe Forthe Forthe the same hours of light one compact florescent will cost an average of 10 for electricity If you cant can't find compact florescent light bulbs in the hardware store you can out of the Seventh Generation catalog by calling toll-free toll 1 There are other ways to protect the environment along with recycling or keeping keeping keeping keep keep- ing the lights off Take a deeper look into solutions for fora a better world c i |