Mood:  caffeinated

What fun is fall and winter fashions if it is always too warm to wear them? (I’m not making this stuff up, read this report: http://www.cnbc.com/id/16224813) Patterned tights, knee-high leather boots, wool-cashmere blend coats, and faux fur mufflers will all be things of the past if we all don’t get on the ball to stop (or slow down considerably) global warming. If this warming trend continues at the rate it is going now, Manhattan (bye-bye Carrie Bradshaw-esque fashionistas), San Francisco (can’t get Bene Tint if Benefit disappears) and parts of Florida will be under water. Washed away. Gone. Never to return. Global warming will do worst than anything al-Qaeda or homegrown terrorists can do.

 
On January 6, 2007, New York City will achieve record temps in the low 70s. Hello? It’s January!!! Where is the cold? The blustery wind? Sleet? Snow? Or even a little black ice? December 2006 was the third warmest December on record ever in New York City. Reportedly, 20 out of the 31 days saw temps in the low- to mid-50s. Partisan politics aside, you can’t tell me that something isn’t terribly wrong. It’s either Global Warming or the biblical End Days. Even if it is the latter, we should still do something to help the environment.

 
Ten Things You Can Do:

1. Write your city, state, and federal representatives and demand that they come up with better (and enforce) laws to protect the environment. Remind the politicians that you are a registered voter.
• Find your state representatives: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml
• Find your state senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
• (Senator Joe Biden of Delaware is pro-reducing U.S.’s dependency on oil: http://biden.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=263981&&)
2. Write big businesses, especially car manufacturers and factories. Tell them to make good faith efforts to reduce air pollution and create environmentally friendly automobiles. Remind them of your consumer demographics and all of your disposable income. Ceres.org can help.) 
3. Use the energy-efficient cycle on your washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, and refrigerators. (If you don’t have these cycles, wash your clothes and dishes in warm to cool waters.) 
4. Lower your thermostat by 5-10 degrees, and then splurge on fancy window coverings to keep the heat in your home. (Improve your entire home’s energy efficiency: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_improvement.hm_improvement_index)
5. Unplug your chargers and turn off power strips when not in use. Go old school: if you’re not in a room, turn off the light. (Use energy-efficient light-bulbs! FYI: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls)
   
6. Walk, bike or use public transportation to go to work, go shopping or run errands.  If you must drive, use fuel-efficient cars or cars that run on alternative fuel sources. (For a list of alternative fuels, check out: http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/altfuels.html)
   
7. Help control the human population. There are now more people than the earth can sustain. Abstain from sex, use birth control, or adopt and love babies and children already here. Control the pet population by having your pets spayed or neutered. http://atlas.aaas.org/index.php?part=1
   
8. Use less water! (For tips on how: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/personal-finance/50-ways-to-save-water-805/index.htm)
9. Join StopGlobalWarming.org and rent the DVD An Inconvenient Truth
   
10. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! (http://www.earth911.org/master.asp)

• Choose recycled products.
• Choose products with recyclable packaging. 
• Reuse paper bags.
• Recycle paper, plastics, and metals.  
• Print and photocopy on both sides of the paper.