How are we helping the polar bears, Mommy?

Polar bears stranded on thin ice in the great ...

Image by ocean.flynn via Flickr

In schools these days, children are learning about climate change and (in my children’s school, at least) lessons are linked to the melting ice caps and survival of the cute little polar bears. Sometimes around our dinner table, you’ll hear conversations about the importance of using less electricity, driving less, getting power from the wind and the sun. But when my daughter asked me what we were doing to help protect the polar bears, it caused me to pause and really take stock of what we were doing.

We’ve installed energy efficient appliances when we’ve had the opportunity to replace our energy guzzling ones. We’ve installed compact fluorescent light bulbs, more efficient windows (even though these are not necessarily the most cost-effective improvement), insulated our attic and basement and caulked to reduce air leakage. We use a set back thermostat on our heating system so it doesn’t run when we’re not at home. We try to lump our errands into fewer trips to use the car less and save on gas. So we’re doing some things.

I consider my husband and myself to be fairly well educated on energy and environmental issues. My husband often says, “We’re doing our part.” But how should we (as a society) define “our part?” Shouldn’t “our part” really be anything and everything we possibly can do? After all, we’re talking about the future of our planet here.

Despite our family’s list of actions, I’m one that feels like we can never really do enough and remain frustrated about the things we probably will never be able to do. For example, we don’t have wind turbine in our yard and probably never will due to our subdivision’s bylaws. We don’t have solar panels on our roof or trackers in our yard and probably never will due to the surrounding trees and orientation of our house. (My best chance to do these things will come when I finally win HGTV’s Green Home!)

We’ll continue to have these conversations at our dinner table, no doubt, and continue to chip away at my family’s energy usage as we can. But imagine the impact, if each one of us stopped and considered what it is we’re doing (or not doing) and made a change (even once a year). It would make a difference… and those cute little polar bears just might have a chance.