Letter: Changing habits can help the climate

Karen Campbell's recent letter emphasized writing to government representatives about climate change. This reminded me of President John F. Kennedy's famous quote: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Although government must play a role, individuals can make a difference.

One way to do this is to examine how much we let our cars idle. A great article by Jenny Whidden on Jan. 10 stated 2 interesting facts: "idling for more than just 10 seconds produces more emissions - and uses more fuel- than stopping and restarting your engine does" and "personal vehicles create around 30 million tons of carbon dioxide annually just by idling."

Anyone who is truly concerned about climate change can consider these suggestions:

1) Giving up/decreasing use of drive-up service and instead, walk into businesses.

2) Turning off car while waiting to pick up students after school or extracurricular activities.

3) Turning off engine while waiting for freight trains to pass.

4) Thinking if you really need a remote starter. Car manuals often recommend starting your car, wait 10 seconds and then drive.

5) Examining our habits before entering or leaving stores, etc. It's very tempting to sit in our cars with engines running while checking our phones.

The above can also pertain to electric cars in terms of overall energy conservation.

It will take years to make the transition from gas to electric vehicles, from coal generated electricity to renewable and preparing the electric grid to handle all the new demands for energy (electric ranges, e-scooters and bikes, electric lawn mowers, etc. and of course electric cars.) Let's look at our own habits in the meantime and do more for our country and the environment.

Patrice Basso

Naperville