Monday, October 20, 2008

Week Four: Keep It Warm (and Cool)

Looking around the room in our Carbon Bustin' circle, bathed in the glow of our own infinite wisdom and sheltered by the warm blanket of greenhouse gases, we decided to merge weeks four and five together. We collectively agreed we have no time to waste.
Carbon bust we must we cussed.

Week four is about keeping yourself and your home a decent temperature without using energy, week five about changing the way you heat your home.
Seems like they go together like a toque and a sweater.

Of course, it is never a straight sell when it comes to comfort, and there are always those who feel the cold more than others.
And not all of us can figure out ways to move carbon-free to warmer climes, although we may try and try and try.

So looking around our apartment, what could we do to make our home a more comfortable temperature without sparking up the old gas fireplace?

Well, the first thing we did was take off our shoes and socks.

If stripping off your toes clothes seems counter intuitive to warming yourself, fear not— You aren't the only traveller feeling lost on the path to carbon neutrality.

The baring of our soles led us to find a steady stream of cold air blowing through the living room along the floor, straight through one door and out the other.
Identifying the places where the cold gets in and the heat escapes is the first step — plugging it is next.

So high on our list of things to do, right up there somewhere between getting a new pair of socks that doesn't have holes and moving to a beach in Mexico, is keeping the cool breezes blowing outside by weather-proofing our place.

Well, it might be just below moving to a beach in a Mexico. We'll have to see how motivated we get.