What You Can Do About Climate Change
Climate change is a man-made problem with man-made solutions.
What was decades in the making will be decades in the solving.
Your personal choices have a positive impact––and save you $$$!
USE YOUR VOICE. USE YOUR SKILLS.
USE YOUR MONEY. USE YOUR POWER.
Pick one of the suggestions below and do it. Later, do another. REPEAT!
- Reuse and recycle.
- Change your light bulbs. LEDs are best, CFLs second best.
- Control your gadgets! Turn off your computer, TV, stereo when not in use. After batteries are charged, unplug the charger.
- Use energy-efficient appliances.
- Put on an extra layer of clothing instead of blasting your heater all winter.
- Wash clothes in cold or warm water. Air-dry clothing when possible.
- Reduce consumption of meat from livestock (their flatulence is bad news for the atmosphere!). Substitute plant protein.
- Eat locally grown food if it’s available.
- Drink tap water, not bottled water, whenever possible.
- Plant trees and/or support tree planting (GreenBeltMovement.org)
- Support the fossil fuel divestment movement. (350.org)
- Invest in solar energy projects. (JoinMosaic.com)
For more, see: True Green, K. McKay and J. Bonnin, National Geographic Books, 2006
ON THE GO
- Drive less, drive the speed limit, inflate tires correctly (save gas and $).
- Fly less.
- If you can, walk, ride a bike or take public transport.
- Buy diesel, PZEV-rated, hybrid or electric vehicles.
- Speak up about what’s really happening to the climate.
- Push for action in the communities closest to you.
- Tell your elected representatives where you stand on climate change.
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN TELL YOUR FRIENDS — AND SKEPTICS:
- We degrade our air and atmosphere by burning oil, coal, natural gas and wood; deforesting the tropics; and raising methane-producing livestock for food.
- Degrading the quality of the air we breathe causes climate change.
- Change the molecules in the air and you change the behavior of the atmosphere. Scientists have understood this relationship for more than one hundred years.
- Though some of the climate change we see today is a result of nature’s normal variation, most climate change is caused by human activity.
- Each of us inhales air 12 to 18 times per minute. When the molecules in our air are degraded, it has a ripple effect throughout our lives, from our respiratory health, to our food and water supply, to our economy.
- Dirty air and changing climate impact every child, woman and man. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of people die each year from climate-related stressors.
- We all have a right to clean air and a stable climate. No society or institution should deny people that right.
- The fossil fuel industry funds a widespread disinformation campaign to keep the public confused about climate change. Manufacturers of DDT and cigarettes tried similar tactics—yet truth eventually prevailed.
- Understanding climate change is not a question of what you “believe.” It’s about what you KNOW, based on the rational evidence around you.
- American military planners think that climate change will become yet another geopolitical stressor and could lead to war.
- The American military is an innovator in clean energy technology, waste management and water conservation.
- Humanity already possesses the economic, technological and policy solutions to deal with climate change and provide workable, economically viable alternatives to the way we live now. What’s missing is clear perception that our civilization has a climate change problem. The Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Trust were founded to shift perception.
- There’s no such thing as a tipping point when it comes to climate change. IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO TAKE ACTION.