Hopefully you’ve already read my first post on this topic – Reduce Reuse Rewire. If not, click on the hyperlink and bring yourself up to speed.
If you’ve read the post, you know why we should place the most emphasis on Reduce, and Reuse, and why we need to stop focusing on Recycle.
Hint – recycling is sadly a huge sham. The vast majority of plastic does not get recycled. Rather it ends up in landfills, getting incinerated, or it gets dumped into rivers, streams and the ocean.
Our planet is literally drowning in plastic. Microplastic is already found in our rainwater. That’s right. Disgusting and sad, but true.
Seriously, if plastic in our rainwater isn’t a call to action I don’t know what is. I digress.
Plus, many parts of the country have abysmal recycling programs. People are throwing glass and cardboard into the trash (gasp!) because they don’t have a way to recycle it where they live. This makes my heart hurt.
Bottom line – we cannot recycle ourselves out of this mess. So….
Reduce Reuse Rewire
My friends at Rewiring America are urging us all to drop the third R – recycle – and replace it with ReWIRE.
They say:
“For the first 50+ Earth Days, “reduce, reuse, recycle” served us well. But in 2023, it’s time for a new strategy: “reduce, reuse, rewire.” Reduce energy usage by upgrading to efficient electric machines, reuse by relying on renewable energy rather than fossil fuels, and rewire your life by electrifying everything in your home and your vehicles.” – Rewiring America
Can I get a hell yeah!?!
THIS is something that gets me excited.
- Reduce energy consumption – Using less should always be the first step.
- Reuse = renewable energy! We do not have to worry about running out of sunshine or wind in our lifetimes, or our children’s live times, or our grandchildren’s life times. It’s a no brainer!
- Rewire – Put all of that clean, renewable energy to work by electrifying everything.
Rewire
The bottom line is that in order to save our planet from climate change (or at least do our part to leave behind a planet that continues to be hospitable to human life) we have got to stop burning fossil fuels. We must electrify everything and we must power our grid with renewable energy.
That’s right folks. Electrify everything (cars, lawnmowers, home heating systems, etc.) and power those things with renewable energy.
We can do it! In fact, it’s already happening.
Money to Help You Make the Switch
Fortunately there has never been a better time to do this, because the Inflation Reduction Act is providing $ for folks to make the switch from fossil fuel burning appliances and vehicles, to electric powered appliances and vehicles.
You read that right, you can get money to make the switch. I covered all of this in my Inflation Reduction Act = Money in Your Pocket post a few weeks back.
What This Means For You
I’m not suggesting that you get rid of all of your appliances and vehicles that are in good working order, but when they start to reach the end of their lifespan, replace them with an electric version of the same appliance.
Here are some ideas:
- Swap out your gas furnace for a fully electric air source heat pump. Heat pumps heat and cool your home, and they are more than 100% efficient. How cool is that!
Stay tuned for a post dedicated entirely to heat pumps. I’m kind of an expert on them 🙂
- Buy an electric vehicle the next time you’re in the market for a new car, truck or van. EV’s have gotten SO much better. Many models have a range of over 300 miles, and charging infrastructure is rolling out at a rapid clip across the country. Today you can go almost anywhere in an EV. Plus many EV owners charge their vehicle at home so they no longer visit a gas station at all. Pretty sweet!
- Replace your gas stove with an induction stove. Did you know that the fossil fuel industry was behind the campaign to market gas stoves as being superior for cooking? That’s right. Many people believe that gas is best for cooking because THE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY convinced us to think that way. Give me a break. Here is a link to an in depth look into this.
Additionally, it has been demonstrated time and time again that cooking with gas in your home is horrible for your indoor air quality. Sad but true. There are a ton of reports to back this up. Here’s a link to one of them.
- Replace your lawn mower, snowblower, weedwacker, etc. with electric versions. Small engine appliances like lawn mowers are horrible polluters. Unlike vehicles, small engine appliances don’t have emissions standards. Imagine! Swapping out these things with the electric model is a no brainer. If you hire a lawn service to take care of these things, be sure to only hire a company that uses electric models of these things.
Here are two brands that sell electric versions of lawn equipment. Both of them can be found at Lowe’s and Home Depot. Both of them have interchangeable batteries so you can use the same battery for the lawnmower that you use in the snowblower.
Some states are offering $ to those looking to replace their gas powered lawn equipment with electric models of the same equipment. My home state of Colorado has the Mow Down Pollution program which gave folks $150 to turn in their gas mower and purchase an electric mower in the 2023 growing season. They’ve already got a waitlist for the 2024 growing season.
A quick Google search will tell you if your area has a similar program.
Is This All Really Possible?
I assure you, this is all possible. Two years ago my husband and I replaced our gas furnace with a geothermal heat pump. Our furnace was our last remaining gas powered appliance. When we got rid of the furnace we called our public utility and told them to remove our gas line. IT. WAS. AWESOME.
Today our house uses zero gas. Everything we own is electric.
Plus, we live in Colorado where we get snow and below zero temps in the winter, and hot, dry conditions in the summer. We use a snowblower and drive in wintery conditions. We cool our house when we get blisteringly hot temps in the summer.
These days we no longer worry about carbon monoxide. We no longer worry about rising gas prices.
Best of all, we can look our kids in the eye and tell them that we are doing all we can to help make the planet a cleaner place for them.
But Isn’t The Grid Powered By Fossil Fuels? What’s the Point of Electrification if I’m Plugging into a Coal Fueled Grid?
Good question.
Yes, some parts of the grid are powered by fossil fuels, but more and more states are adding renewable energy to their suite of power sources and this is only going to continue.
To name a few, California, Colorado, New Jersey, heck even Texas are making the switch. It won’t be too long before the majority of the grid is powered from renewable sources and it is feasible that in our children’s lifetime the entire U.S. power grid will be flowing with renewable energy. They are already doing it in other countries. We can do it here.
So regardless of where you live, the time to make the switch and electrify everything is now.
Have you switched to any electric appliances or tools? What has been your experience with the new electric model?
