Wednesday, January 09, 2008

IRONY?

Today just out of the blue my 4year old grandson came out of the living room where he was playing with his Pirate Ship and asked, "Granma-Where does CO2 come from?" I looked at my daughter and she looked at me, both incredulously shaking our heads. Just by what has been said today, etc where did he get this from! SO I answered the best I could and he demonstrated how we exhale CO2. Did I ever ask this kind of question when I was 4! I surely doubt it, but then I think with tv, videos, books etc they are bombarded with so mush more. That is one sure reason their tv etc should be monitored closely!

Then to the Irony part- I was looking at Treehugger.com and below is what I read! Go figure!

Today's Tip from Planet Green: Put your computer to sleep.Allowing your PC to get some shut-eye when it's not in use can chalk up significant environmental and financial savings. In the computer and models recently tested by Consumer Reports, putting your computer to sleep for 12 hours out of 24 would save about 576 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, or around $44 in dough. Turning off the computer would save even more, of course, although new PCs made within the last three years use very little energy in sleep/standby mode.Monitors and displays, on average, draw twice as much power as your CPU does when left on (yes, even with that flashy screen saver you stitched together from your vacation photos), so configure your power-management options to put your PC and monitor into sleep mode after a certain period of inactivity. Still, hitting the off button is your best bet-a couple of clicks is all it takes to do your part for the planet. ::More at Planet Green

Next he will be asking what a carbon marker or carbon footprint is! Fortunately, so far I have been able to come up with reasonable/reliable answers without having to look them up, but I know this won't last forever! My older grandson regularly has me looking online for something and we learn together!
and how is your day!

4 comments:

Virginia Gal said...

oh lovely - I learned about this green tip at the Live Earth concert, I didn't know how much energy my computer wasted when I left it on. You know what I like is that some of the newer computers automatically go to sleep when not used for a while. How great is that?!

Molly Malone said...

y'know, you learn what's socially relevant for your generation. for him, it's eco-sensitivity. for me it was nuclear arms races and reductions; for my parents it was fear of communism. luckily people can do something on an individual level to help the environment. i remember being little and feeling scared about nukes because to fight them, i'd have to go to the USSR to sing against them (i'd use music as my weapon) and we couldn't afford that kind of trip. at least these days, i can turn off lights, switch to CFL bulbs, look for a hybrid car. there are lots of things i can do on my own.
... and the other good news is that at 4, your grandson asks about CO2, not Britney's latest meltdown. child is watching the RIGHT kind of media!

Zelda Parker said...

I applaud your advocating for a greener planet. Just the other day Merci and I were discussing that small effort reap bigger rewards, using renewable shopping bags for example. I look to these sites for examples around Earth Day. Maybe you could plant a tree with the kids and further explain the benefit of CO2 reduction. Hummm...
Peace

Molly Malone said...

mommanator!! it's been like 2 weeks! when you gonna update, yo?!
;)