The climate is changing but are you? For those of you resolving to do your part to reduce your emissions and engage more sustainably with the planet, we are here, offering 5 simple ways to tackle climate change.
1.Walk or Cycle
Even parking your car and riding a bike the rest of the way to your destination can save fossil fuel emissions and introduce some exercise to your day. A 2015 study by the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis found that a dramatic global increase in bicycling could reduce urban transportation emissions by up to 10 percent by 2050.
2.Reduce your use of plastic
Find alternatives to plastic whenever possible, and properly dispose of the plastic you do use to keep it out of our oceans and other waterways. Plastic is the all-around material par excellence and is therefore present in pretty much every aspect of our lives. But the durability of the material (which also makes it so popular) is of course also its most drastic disadvantage: we’re struggling to get rid of it. Plastic has found its way pretty much everywhere – on streets, in rivers, on the beach, in cosmetics, in wastewater, in our clothing, even in the air we breathe. Almost every plastic is produced from fossil fuels – and in every single phase of its life cycle, plastic emits greenhouse gases. Reduce your use of plastic.
3.Protect our forests
Physically connecting with the literal earth and caring for what’s grown helps you understand and appreciate it. All the better if what you plant is native and attracts pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. A research team at ETH Zurich has compiled some fascinating figures: Two-thirds of man-made CO2 emissions could be removed from our atmosphere if we were to reforest 900 million hectares of forests worldwide. Forest restoration “isn’t just one of our climate change solutions, it is overwhelmingly the top one,” said the lead scientist, climate change ecologist Tom Crowther.
4.Save water
It takes energy to produce water, so the more water you save, the more energy you save. The UC Davis Center for Water and Energy Efficiency found that between June 2015-April 2016 of California’s drought, water conservation saved 1,830-gigawatt-hours of electricity enough to power 274,000 homes per year, with greenhouse gas savings equivalent to removing 110,000 cars from the road for a year. Their results were covered in the LA Times.
5. Make your voice heard!
Countless reports have stressed the urgency of taking action now if we are to stand a chance of halting the most devastating consequences of climate change. Far too little has happened so far. But the voices from civil society are getting louder. Climate action isn’t just about energy efficiency and carbon sequestration. Exploring ideas and feelings about the changing world through song, visual arts, writing, and more can be a powerful way to share your unique perspective and help people understand climate change through a different lens.
