What can I do?

Societies have a role to play to tackle climate change, although some of us do not know how. This post presents ways to fight this climate crisis.

 

Even though personal actions might be incapable of drastically reducing worldwide carbon emissions, our actions can raise awareness to people in charge of the decision-making process. The most effective way to influence policies is to speak up, take action, recruit others, and vote. Let companies and governments know your support for eco-friendly policies. This will put pressure on their agenda and will make them take immediate action to fight this crisis.

 

“Use your voice, use your vote, use your choice.”

            Al Gore, 45th vice president of the United States

 

If you are going to vote, read the government official’s plans to combat climate change.

 

You can even take action by educating your friends about the effects of climate change in our life. If the current and next-generation are well informed, they will be prepared to fight this problem.

 

Join an environmental movement dedicated to solving climate change such as Youth Strike 4 Challenge, The Woodland Trust, Fridays for future, or others. You can be involved in this by participating in fundraisings, awareness campaigns, planting trees, leveraging on your social media and recruiting friends.

 

Photo by Tobias Rademacher on Unsplash

Just a few changes in our daily lives can reduce our environmental footprint. For instance, turn off the lights, heater, and air conditioner when they are not needed, save water, recycle, and do not waste food. Rotten food produces methane, which is a greenhouse gas. Also, it is recommendable to compost any leftovers.

 

Everything we buy has an ecological footprint. To reduce your impact, avoid a consumerism behavior, buy fewer things, shop second-hand, donate or sell unwanted items. Provide support to eco-friendly and local products, as well as environmentally friendly companies.

By reducing your consumption of animal protein by half, you can cut your diet's carbon footprint by more than 40% (Arguedas, 2018).

The meat industry plays a part in global warming because animals are being fed by food, they require a lot of water, fertilizers, and land, which sometimes come from cleared forests (Arguedas, 2018). Eat more fruits, grains, plant-based foods, and fewer dairy products that do not require prolonged refrigeration and the production cycle emits fewer greenhouse gasses.

 

The reduction of vehicles has a positive impact on the environment. The production process of vehicles and the fossils used by them emit greenhouse gasses. Therefore, it is recommended to walk more, use bicycles and public transport. For long-distance trips, travel in trains, and car-sharing schemes, try to avoid planes.

Reference and additional information

Arguedas, D. (2018). Ten simple ways to act on climate change. Retrieved from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181102-what-can-i-do-about-climate-change