For those of you who don't know, it may come as a surprise to you to learn that most of the electricity that we use on the North American continent is created by burning non-renewable resources -- primarily fossil fuels. We're pretty much all aware that that, some day, these resources will be depleted and we'll have to find new alternatives to sustain the electrically-powered lifestyle we've all become accustomed to. This is a fact that we may have to come to terms with sooner than later because our non-renewable resources are dwindling by the day.

As most of us know, the combustion of fossil fuel creates carbon gases. Despite what you may or may not believe about climate change, there is no denying the fact that the emission of carbon gases into the air alters the chemistry of our atmosphere. The effect that this actually has on our environment, and climate, has been an on-going debate for years now; however, regardless of what scientists and environmental advocates tell us, what is important is that (as logical human beings) we realize that altering our atmosphere's make-up has to have some kind of effect. As an analogy, altering the chemistry of your blood-stream (alcohol, for instance) has an irrefutable effect... how would our atmosphere be any different? The combustion of our non-renewable resources is clearly not a "natural" occurrence -- Earth does not burn up coal in large volumes on its own to make electricity for us -- so appeasing ourselves by believing that the obvious climate changes we see around us are due solely to natural cycles is, for lack of a better word, ignorance. Certainly we can't pin-point the absolute single cause of these environmental changes (surely it's a combination of a number of things), but personally speaking I'll tell you that I have been inspired to take a new, cleaner approach to the way I live my life.

The sunshine that we receive each day is full of benefits. The sun has the power to alter moods, provide us with food, give us a tan... the sun is pretty much responsible for everything we have. What most of us do not know is that our sun provides us with an enormous amount of energy... energy that we do not have to pay for, and energy that shines down on us in an amount that is far greater than what we will ever need! Our sun provides us with approximately one thousand times the energy than what we use on Earth! Considering that we're polluting our environment for the sake of creating energy when the sun is giving it away at zero cost... considering that, why aren't we actively using it?

The way society and our culture has evolved, it makes sense when we consider why we continue to use man-made electricity. It's really just how things work these days, and changing our current ways overnight is not only impossible, but extremely inconvenient and costly. What we must consider, however, is that the time will come when it will be necessary to make changes... if you don't believe that our planet is already telling us to smarten up, then you have to believe that fossil fuel will run out (that's simply a fact).

What many of us may not realize is that we're all capable of making some small changes now. Changes that are not expensive at all because they are small, and seemingly insignificant. Using solar lights is one of the first steps we can take to reduce our use of electricity while gaining at least a little benefit from our abundant and free solar energy. It may seem to you that using solar lights [http://solarlightsourway.com/why-solar-lights/] will do next to nothing to curb energy use, but if you knew how much electricity is used in the United States alone strictly from the use of lights, you would fall to the floor. What we burn up simply by using our lights is obscene, and if you don't believe this to be true (based on the information provided by the "solar lights" link above), then you're nuts (and I mean that politely).

Obviously using solar power to electrify everything in our lives is out of the question for the vast majority of us, but it's well within our grasp to use some of it to replace even just our outside lights. I encourage you to read a few more details about some of the ideas touched on in this article. Solar Lights Our Way [http://solarlightsourway.com] hosts some very enlightening information regarding the absolutely HUGE impact the use of solar lights can make on our planet. I was shocked to discover what I learned, and have since become a die-hard advocate for solar lights, and solar power in general. Learn what I have, and you'll soon feel the same way.