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One thing to understand about Americans is we vacation less and tend to often speak only one language. While this differentiates us from the rest of the world, Americans are still concerned about the way the rest of the world sees us. Anyone traveling overseas is stereotyped as an “ugly American,” but even more so in today’s world due to our over consumption of the world’s energy. In fact, according to recent studies, the United States is about 4% of the world’s population, but consumes nearly 25% of the world’s energy.

The rest of the world right now is forming a plan to reduce their overall CO2 levels by 20% before reaching the year 2020. This is a huge claim, and it means all the countries who are a part of the European Union are taking a monumental step. It also means they’ll be utilizing solar and wind energy a lot more than before. In fact, to this point today, countries such as Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and others have invested billions to make this happen.

Unfortunately the Americans never responded. Instead our politicians are too busy arguing about whether or not the climate change is a factual and viable issue. Until we can reach an agreement, a new legislation will be waiting in the wings. The truth is, they’re all simply missing the point. Even if climate change isn’t a real issue, the fact that we consume much more energy than we should for our population count has to say something. The easiest way to explain it is it’s shameful, and extremely embarrassing. This is even worse considering there are various forms of alternative energy right in front of us, and rather inexpensive.

So in order to change our country and help the world, it’s up to us to make the change ourselves. We have to work together and show all of our politicians that this is the answer. Granted, it’s not going to be an easy task, but it starts with you. When you realize the benefits and see the difference, your word of mouth will spread to others, and eventually we can all consume less energy, save money on bills, and help the environment.

Solar Power - The first option most people turn to is solar power. This definitely makes sense considering our recent rise in electricity costs. While solar power is clean, sustainable, and free, it’s extremely inexpensive to install. Just ask all the individuals already taking this route whether or not there are plenty of benefits. What it comes down to is the majority of your electricity needs can be met with ease. However, solar power doesn’t produce electricity on cloudy days or at night, so some people utilize wind turbines as well.

Wind Turbines - While most people believe wind turbines are only for big farmland, the truth is they are nothing more than small windmills to produce electricity. They are often used in combination with solar electricity and are efficient at producing their own. This is just one of the many reasons why the Europeans have invested heavily in them. Then of course they are also inexpensive. If you want to install one for your home it’s only a few hundred dollars. Plus, they’re as close to maintenance free option as you can get.

Hybrid Cars - Even though hybrid cars are more expensive then your average vehicle, you will soon realize the benefits of saving on gas. It’s nice to know you can save up to $1500 a year just because you purchased a better and more efficient energy car. If you look at the big picture you will save $15,000 over a decade.

Fluorescent Lights - Replace all of your standard light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones. These bulbs are far more energy efficient and may end up saving you hundreds of dollars a year on your electricity bill. They also last up to 10,000 hours, which is 10 times as long as the average bulb, and when they are spent they can even be recycled.

Energy Efficient Windows - Believe if or not, most of the heat that is lost from your home during the winter is lost because of poorly constructed windows. Making an investment in energy efficient windows is probably the best thing you can do to instantly lower your heating bill.

In the end it’s all about knowing what’s out there. If each one of us can utilize just one of these options, the rest of the world will stop thinking we’re just ugly Americans. Oh, and we’ll help the environment tremendously.