A few weeks ago, the IPCC report on climate change was released. And there were a slew of articles about the personal decisions an individual can make to combat climate change.
CNN says the 5 things you can do about climate change are make small changes at home (LED bulbs, turning off the lights, changing thermostats to be more eco-friendly, use less water), recycle at the office, use public transportation, get informed, and get involved.
Sure, you definitely SHOULD use energy efficient appliances/bulbs, turn off the lights and water when not in use, and all of that. I definitely agree that everyone should do the list of things that CNN has laid out.
In the same vein, Forbes recommends that you should campaign/protest/lobby/vote, change your commute to be more eco-friendly (hybrid cars, public transit, carpool, biking), build better and utilize green infrastructure, use less energy and invest in solar, use the 5 Rs (refuse, reduce, repair, reuse, recycle), and eat less meat and focus on locally sourced food.
I also agree with these.
However, all of those things are only drops in the bucket. They are helpful, yes, and you SHOULD do them.
But there's bigger picture steps that you can take, as an individual.
- VOTE VOTE VOTE. You can check to see how much money various industries give to politicians and use that information to vote wisely. For example, Ted Cruz (R-TX) received the most oil & gas money in 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/
- VOTE VOTE VOTE 2.0. Vote for politicians who are environmentally minded. Who are pro-green new deal. Who have the environment's best interests at the forefront, not those who are pawns for polluting industries.
- You can invest your money with Swell Investing which uses UN Sustainable Development Goals to pick the mixture of companies for various impact areas - like climate action, clean water, etc. You can make a change by voting with your dollars. Put your money where your brain is, so to speak.
- Buy from companies with sustainable practices, or to not support companies you disagree with. The movement is called voting with your wallet, and you have many options to learn more about that. Boycotts can be effective to make companies change their ways. I also talked more about this with clothing in a previous post.
- Donate money to organizations doing the good work. Non-profits like The Nature Conservany, The Ocean Conservancy, Sea Legacy, and the like are all doing their part.
- Rethink your daily actions. Consider the impact of your habits. For example, if I buy a single use bottle of soft drink every day, I'm generating 7 pieces of plastic that are recyclable but avoidable. I could use aluminum cans instead. Or buy a 2-liter larger bottle and drink from a reusable cup everyday. I could eliminate the soft drinks all together and opt for water, tea, etc in reusable cups. The same idea could work for the daily coffee on the go (use a reusable cup), lunches, etc. Just rethink your habit and find creative ingenious solutions to be more eco-friendly!
- VOTE!
If everyone makes the small changes AND votes wisely
https://www.opensecrets.org/ - database for campaign financing
https://www.buycott.com/ - vote with your wallet
https://grabyourwallet.org/ - database of companies in support of Trump or NRA
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is. Vote With Your Dollars Huffington Post, 2/19/2017
Every Purchase You Make Is A Chance To Vote With Your Wallet Fast Company, 4/5/2017
5 things you can do about climate change CNN, 6/2/2017
Five things we have learned from the IPCC report BBC, 10/8/2018
It's getting harder for Big Cola to not take responsibility for its plastic pollution Quartz, 10/10/2018
What Urbanites Can Do To Slow Down Climate Change Forbes, 10/18/2018
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