“10:10ATX: Come on, Austin, Let’s Cut Carbon Emissions by 10 percent in 2010″

10:10ATX (borrowed from 10:10UK)

This weekend, I ran into my neighbor at a party. After we complained a bit about the ordeals of being home owners, he mentioned that his water bill had gone through the roof on account of his pool. Since the average swimming pool has a monthly water usage of 7110 gallons/month, I tried to convince him that the luxury of a pool is not worth the ecological or financial cost that it incurs (To put it into perspective: The average Austin household uses about 8,500 gallons of water a month).

That’s when I found out my neighbor is one of those folks who believes global warming is a myth.  I was in shock.  I would expect that kind of thinking from an old man from BFE, TX, but not a UT alum from Austin!?

Don’t mean to sound like a drama queen, but the fate of our species is in our hands, and frankly there are too many people like my neighbor who aren’t doing enough.  The best offer on the table for the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit for a global initiative would only give us a 50% chance of not hitting the 2 degree runaway climate.  C’mon folks, we can do better than that, and we can do it without the approval or encouragement of our leaders.

Bottom Line: We either CHANGE what we are doing and how we are living NOW, or we don’t do anything. If something happens, we’ll be the generation responsible for killing off human life as we know it.  So are you in or are you out?

COMMIT: RoA is initiating “10:10 ATX” and are asking you to commit to cut 10% of carbon emissions in 2010.   This project is modeled after 10:10 UK; if the Brits can do it, so can Austinites!  It’s ambitious, but possible.

By signing up, below, you promise to reduce your personal carbon emissions by 10% in 2010, and encourage your friends, family and coworkers to do the same.  After  you sign up, we’ll send you a weekly tip via email. We won’t send out any marketing materials and we won’t share your contact information. Still don’t want to sign up? Don’t fret, you can catch the weekly tip here on the blog! [UPDATE: This is not a petition against global warming; instead, it's a personal pledge to decrease your carbon footprint]

Ready? Go!

1. Sign up
2. Get 5 of your friends to commit
3. Measure your Carbon Footprint and calculate what 10% of that is
4. Start making changes in your life to decrease your carbon footprint (Don’t know how? Don’t worry! Tomorrow, we’ll post some tips to kick start your efforts. Plus, we’ll keep sending you tips to meet that goal!)

COMMENT: What are you doing to cut your carbon emissions? Let us know in the comments!

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