Quantcast
Skip to content
Communities
  • North Fork
    • Jamesport
    • Mattituck
    • Orient
    • Riverhead
    • Shelter Island
    • Southold
  • The Hamptons
    • Montauk
    • Quogue
    • Sag Harbor
    • Sagaponack
    • Southampton
    • Water Mill
    • Westhampton Beach
  • NYC
  • Palm Beach
  • Home Pros
  • Digital Editions
  • Dan’s Best of the Best
  • Contact Us

Hello, Reader!

Account Settings › Help ›
Log Out
You have successfully signed out.
Login  |  Register
Dan’s Papers
  • Things to Do

    Events Calendar

    View and Post Events

    • Books & Authors
    • Concerts
    • Comedy
    • Fairs & Festivals
    • Film
    • Fitness & Outdoors
    • Galleries & Museums
    • Kids & Families
    • LGBTQ+
    • Nonprofits & Philanthropy
    • Pets & Animals
    • Seasonal & Holiday
    • Shopping
    • Theater

    Dan’s Events

    Visit Dan’s Taste

  • Arts & Culture
    • Artist Profiles
    • Books & Authors
    • Galleries & Museums
    • Performing Arts
    • Music, Film & TV
  • Food & Drink
    • Recipes
    • Restaurants
    • Bars, Breweries & Distilleries
    • Wine & Wineries
  • Celebrity News
  • Local News
    • Crime & Police
    • Politics
    • Health
    • Business
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Obituaries
  • Real Estate
  • Lifestyle
    • Dan Rattiner’s Stories
    • Fashion & Style
    • Hotels & Inns
    • Kids & Family
    • Nonprofits & Philanthropy
    • Party & Event Photos
    • Wellness

Hello, Reader!

Account Settings › Help ›
Log Out
You have successfully signed out.
Login  |  Register
Dan Rattiner’s Stories

Towel on the Floor: How to End Climate Change

By Dan Rattiner
3 minute 02/21/2016 Share
Towel on the floor
Saving the world one towel at a time, Photo: AnikaSalsera/iStock/Thinkstock

We have all seen these signs in hotel rooms on the East End.

They read:

SAVE OUR PLANET

You Make the Choice

A towel on the rack means “I will use it again.”

A towel on the floor means “Please exchange.”

Yup, there you go, the clean, simple way of getting rid of climate change.

But give it some thought before you take this action. The human race is unique among all the species in the universe. We have, entirely by our own efforts, been able to burn so much carbon fuel that we’ve actually enabled an entire planet to alter its temperature. This is an incredible achievement.

Do you really want to end the results of this remarkable achievement with just this simple act?

Someday, an alien landing here looking back on all this will be able to say we think this happened with the dinosaurs and don’t know why, but here we DO know why and we know how, with one simple flick, it all ended. Those humans. Wow.

Seriously, I am completely baffled that we don’t end climate change the old fashioned way, by creating an engine or series of engines down here on the Earth that will gather up the atmosphere bit by bit and clean back out the carbon. I’m told it can be done. We’ve done it on a small scale. There should be an international effort involving all of the world’s scientists and manufacturing companies to bring about a 100,000 engines that will do that. We made the commitment to go to the moon in 10 years. We did that. Now we have this other situation. And yet we are not even talking about this. This is not even something on the table.

Here is the kind of thing we put on the table. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Airlines in 23 countries, including the United States, agreed last week to reduce the pollution by 4% from all aircraft brought into service after 2028.

  • Vetted Hamptons Resources

    Hamptons Classified 

    Access our trusted network of local professionals and browse employment opportunities in the Hamptons.
    Find a Home Pro Search Jobs
  • Most Recent Articles

    Montauk Fire Department at Montauk St. Patrick's Day Parade

    Montauk St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2026: 5 Things to Know Before You Go 

    MaryAnn Giella McCulloh and Mei Fung

    One Art Space Debuts Woman’s History Exhibition

    Dan's Papers columnist Frank D'Agostino at the 2026 Olympics in Milan.

    Looking Back at the Olympics: If All the World Is a Stage, We Are All Acting Together

    Robert L. Hamon, Susan & Dom Telesco

    The Art of Giving: Spring Garden Party Raises $1.5M for Center for Creative Education

  • Things to do on the East End

    More local events

    Passover Community Seder

    Center For Jewish Life – Sag Harbor
    Apr 1, 7:30 pm

    AMSEAS Beach Walk & Cleanup at Hallock State Park

    Hallock State Park Preserve
    Mar 28, 10 am

    Author Talk and Book Signing with Jeffrey Sussman “Mafia Hits, Misses, Wars, and Prosecutions: The Rise and Decline of the Mob in America”

    East Hampton Library
    Mar 28, 2 pm

    Long Island During the American Revolution: The Battle of Long Island and the British Occupation with Bill Bleyer

    The Nathaniel Rogers House
    Mar 28, 5 pm

    POETRY: Philip Schultz in conversation with April Gornik

    The Church
    Mar 28, 6 pm

    Conscious-Connected Breathwork Workshop

    One Ocean Yoga
    Mar 29, 3:30 pm
    Dan’s Papers

    The iconic mainstay of Long Island’s East End for over 60 years.

    Read Our Papers

    Digital Editions of Dan’s Papers are available online.
    Get our best stories right into your inbox. Subscribe
    Follow us
    © Dan’s Papers 2026 Schneps Media |
    Designed by Digital Silk
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

    Post an Event