Minglverse Celebrates Earth Day!

Today being Earth Day I thought I would take some time to talk about, well... the Earth. I just checked the stats and the combined carbon savings total of all minglers is now 16,719 metric tonnes! That's a serious amount of carbon saved and even if you've mingled just once you're making enormous contributions!

Let's put that 16,719 metric tonnes into perspective. According to the Air Canada Carbon Offset Program, our savings are equal to:

• 3,344 trees planted


• 4,139 cars taken off the road for a year


• $267,500 in carbon offset purchases

As much as buying hybrid cars and taking the bus help the environment, the best way to help the environment is cut out your unnecessary travel, and that's exactly what you are doing when you use Mingleverse.

Here are 5 easy tips to cut your carbon footprint:

1. Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)
   CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.


2. Install a programmable thermostat
   Programmable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill.


3. Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
   Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.


4. Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
   Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.


5. Reuse your shopping bag
   When shopping, it saves energy and waste to use a reusable bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop. Waste not only discharges CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, it can also pollute the air, groundwater and soil.


6. Want more? Read 45 More Tips!

Happy Earth Day!

- Daniel