The 12 Best Things You Can Do To Fight Climate Change
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Climate change is staring us in the face. It’s no longer a “future threat to our planet.” It’s here now: wildfires, dying oceans, species extinction, severe drought, melting icecaps, and rising seas that are sinking countries and displacing populations.
To slow climate change, it’s going to take changing the way we live our lives on a large scale, particularly in more developed countries. As the highest greenhouse gas emitters, people living in developed countries have an especially high responsibility to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we emit.
Worldwide, the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are by far big corporations, and it can feel like, compared to them, there is nothing we can do to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
But that isn’t necessarily true.
By changing the way we live our lives, not only can we directly influence the amount of greenhouse gases we emit, but by changing our lives, and particularly our purchasing habits, we show the government and big corporations that we want and expect change from them as well. Any companies that do not agree to and adapt low-emission strategies will not get our money. Trust me, they will change their tune real fast.
Don’t wait for other people to change. Don’t wait for the government to enact change. Don’t wait for companies to change. To begin change, we ourselves must change. Individuals must change. So here are…
The 12 most effective things you can do to fight climate change
1. Drive Less
According to the EPA, transportation makes up 28% of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. That is nearly ⅓ of the U.S. emissions. Any reduction in gas-powered transportation can be a huge help. We’re seeing a slow switch over to electric vehicles (EVs), which emit a lot less carbon than their gas-guzzling counterparts, but as long as our grid is mostly powered by fossil fuels, it’s still going to emit SOME carbon into the air every time we charge our vehicle.
Go Car-Free: Whenever possible, the best solution is simply not to use a car, but for the vast majority of Americans, we know this isn’t going to be possible for most of us, so we’re better off finding ways to reduce trips in a car.
Carpool: Obviously difficult during the pandemic, but if you are in a situation where this is possible, it’s one potential way to reduce trips in your car.
Ride a bike or walk: Some cities have begun to implement extensive biking infrastructure to encourage more bike riding, and bikes don’t emit any greenhouse gases! If you live in an area with lots of hills or if you live far from work/school, consider purchasing an electric bike. These days they are getting quite cheap and are a much greener alternative to driving. You could even consider walking, if it’s close by! It definitely won’t hurt if you’re trying to get in shape, either!
Ride Public Transportation when possible – Buses and trains use less fuel per rider than cars do, so riding a bus can be one way to reduce your carbon footprint.
2. Eat Less Meat (Or NO meat!)
The next industry with a deep connection to your every day life is the food and agriculture industry and specifically, the meat and dairy industries. The agriculture industries alone emit 10% percent of the greenhouse gas emissions (with the majority coming from meat and dairy), so if we want to make a serious dent in human-made carbon emissions, eating less meat is one of the best things we can do. Even if you don’t quit eating meat entirely, if you were to just cut your meat consumption in half, that would eliminate half of your carbon footprint from meat! Try starting by giving up meat for one meal a day! Or try devoting one day a week to being vegetarian, then working your way up.
If you want to learn more about vegetarianism, you can check out my 3-part blog post on vegetarianism here:
3. Get your energy from Clean Energy Sources
Let’s be honest. The bulk of our carbon emissions come from humanity’s insatiable thirst for electricity: we use it to power our entire lives. So it’s no surprise that this is where most of our carbon emissions come from.
If you own a home and can afford to get solar panels, it’s something you should definitely consider. Depending on where you live, solar panels can take more or less time to pay off, but if you can afford the up-front cost of purchase and installation, most solar panels will pay for themselves within 10 years, after which point they could actually begin to MAKE you money by selling your extra power to the grid.
Even if you don’t own your own home, try contacting your local power utility to ask whether you can opt-in for “green pricing” – some utilities will offer plans where you pay a little more for electricity in exchange for being provided with renewable, green sources of energy like wind/solar/etc. This also adds pressure to the utilities by demanding more clean sources of energy!
4. Stop Flying
Airplanes produce a LOT of carbon emissions. One trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back generates about 118 kg CO2. There are 10 countries where the average person produces less CO2 in a year. In total, the aviation industry accounts for about 2% of all emissions globally, which is a pretty big number.
By eliminating flights that aren’t necessary (flights in-state, or within your own country), you can actually make a huge difference in carbon emissions. While some people who have tried not flying see this as a major inconvenience, others have been surprised at how much they enjoy not flying. A stressful experience at the airport can become a nice road trip. Sure, it requires planning your trips a little differently than before: planning hotels along the way, where you will eat, what you will stop and see can be seen as stressful, but with the right perspective, it can also be much more enjoyable. Some of the best trips I’ve ever had with my family were road trips: full of adventure and unexpected happenings that often become the high point of the trip.
If flying is unavoidable, you can purchase carbon offsets. Yes, there is some debate over whether carbon offsets are good and whether they encourage “laziness” (“I can always just offset my carbon later.”) So whenever possible, just TRY not to fly. And if you absolutely have to, look into buying carbon offsets. It’s still going to be much better for the environment than if you don’t.
If you’re not sure where you can buy carbon offsets, the United Nations has a list that you can find here: https://offset.climateneutralnow.org/
5. Shop Locally Sourced, In Season
It’s amazing how much your supermarket stocks products from all over the world: fruits from South America, vegetables from China, snacks produced in Mexico…Our supermarket is filled with things that come from all over the world. The fact that we get our foods from all over the world means we can get strawberries, pineapples, and avocados all year round. But unfortunately, the downside of all this internationally sourced food means transportation. And transportation means carbon emissions. Refrigerated ships, planes, and trucks all increase the carbon footprint of the things you buy.
As much as possible, try to stick to things that were grown locally and haven’t had to travel as far. Buying things in-season also means that you’re probably not buying a food that is coming from a totally different climate from your own, meaning less distanced traveled.
6. Save Energy
Energy is still primarily produced by fossil fuels here in the US. So the easiest way to reduce emissions from your electricity is simply to use less.
Turning your themostat down 3 degrees F in the winter and up 3 degrees F in the summer will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,050 pounds per year. Or, if you don’t want to manage your thermostat on your own, try getting a smart thermostat.
Smart thermostats are amazing at reducing your electric use as well as you electric bill. They gradually learn your comfortable temperature habits and learn to provide you with the perfect temperature for you: no more, no less. Because of this, they are extremely efficient and will end up saving you a lot of money, generally paying for themselves within 2 years.
Another eco swap that will save you money on your electric bill are LED light bulbs. LED bulbs use 75% less energy than regular light bulbs, meaning 75% less cost to light your home. And while they are more expensive than regular light bulbs, they last much longer (some up to 25 years!) meaning that in the long run, they are actually much cheaper than regular light bulbs. So what are you waiting for? Go buy some LED light bulbs right now!
7. Buy Less
Everything that you buy is made somewhere. And making and selling things requires materials, electricity, and transportation, and hence carbon emissions. Recycling is good, but it turns out oil companies have been paying a lot of money to oversell it to reduce the pressure on them to stop producing it. And recycling is expensive. Not to mention that we actually produce a lot of carbon emissions when we recycle.
Did you know that the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” slogan is also in order of priority? Recycling should actually be a last resort. The best way to reduce your emissions is simply to reduce the amount of things that you buy. Don’t buy things you don’t absolutely need. And if you can, buy things second hand, or find ways to reuse or repair the things you already have.
8. Plant tree to absorb CO2
Some people are against buying carbon offsets. But there’s a great way you can offset some of your own carbon emissions without giving your money away: plant a tree (or 10!)! Trees are made mostly of carbon pulled from the atmosphere. So when you plant a tree, it literally sucks carbon out of the air and uses it to grow bigger, trapping that carbon in your growing tree.
One tree could potentially store tons of carbon, not to mention provide a nice bit of shade for you to read a book under.
9. Start a Garden
Starting a garden is great for the same reason that buying locally-sourced food is: travel distance is minimized meaning no fossil fuels burned. Producing food right where it’s consumed is the absolute best possible scenario for lowering your carbon footprint and your food will be fresher and tastier, knowing you grew it with your very own hands.
10. Donate to a Cause Fighting Climate Change
Too busy to get out and plant some trees yourself? There are plenty of organizations out there fighting climate change that accept donations to do so! Donate to a cause that will put your money to use in the fight against climate change. Vox has a fantastic list of causes that have been thoroughly vetted and you can be sure are doing the right thing to reduce climate change. Check out their article here: Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money.
11. Vote
This one is used so often it’s long since become cliche. But despite how cliche it is, it’s the way our country works: we tell our government what we want to change via our votes at the ballot box. It’s slow and inefficient, but it gets the job done. So what are you waiting for? Register to vote and make sure you get out to the ballot box (or vote-by-mail)!
12. Get Active, Join the Movement
There are organizations at all levels out there fighting climate change! Whether it’s organizing demonstrations, fighting for political change, or doing volunteer work to fight climate change on the front lines, there are a ton of groups out there actively fighting climate change! See if you can find one in your local area or online! Join and get active!
Read up on Medium’s Organizations Fighting Climate Change: A quick guide to start your search!
Fighting Climate Change is Hard, But We WILL Succeed!
With all the doom and gloom around climate change recently, it might be easy to fall into a depression over it: it seems like everything is falling apart and no one is doing nearly enough. But stay positive. Every year, solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy are being installed in increasing numbers and we are on a path to reach net zero emissions within the next few decades, regardless of how much the fossil fuel industry fights us. There is no stopping clean, renewable energy: It’s more efficient, cleaner, and cheaper. And no amount of political willpower or lobbying will change that.
Keep fighting the good fight. The sooner we take down climate change, the better. But know also that it is something that is guaranteed to happen. It’s just up to us to decide how soon. And we do that with our actions and by choosing how we live our lives.