Activate Climate Leadership
Eager to get that optimism machine spinning, but don’t know where to start? Here are some tips for individual actions you can start implementing today. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying every climate-positive action at once. Start in one category, create new habits and norms, and then move on to the next. And remember to have fun while you’re at it!
These are just highlighted tips. If you want to dive deeper and learn more about a specific topic, there are tons of resources here on the world wide web!
Food
Composting
Plant-Based
Order Purposefully
Proper Planning
Leftovers
Food Saving Services + Apps
Packaging
Aluminum, Paper or Glass
Buy in Bulk
Skip the Bag
Bring Your Own
Repurpose
Gift Wrapping
Shipping
Everyday Life
Single-Use Items
“Do I Need This?”
Beauty + Hygiene
Repair + Pass On
Home
Second Hand/Antiques
Mattress
Linen/Bedding
Cleaning Products
Your Closet
Love + Repeat
Clothing Swap Parties
Second Hand/Vintage
Sustainable & Ethical
Conscious Washing
Your Money
Your Bank
Your Investments
Voting with Your Dollar
Giving Back
Your Voice
Sign Petitions
Engage With Your Local Representatives
Vote
Homeowners
Insulation
Solar Panels
Energy Supplier
Retrofitting
Composting
Grow Your Own Veggies
Transportation
Your Car
Biking (or other forms of carbon-neutral transportation)
Public Transportation
Air Travel
Your Carbon Footprint + Offsetting
Below is a list of the individual action tips shared on this page. Use “Command + F” to search for the word on the page.
Food
Composting
If I were to pick one favorite climate action, it would probably be composting. Not only is it easy once you get the hang of it, but it prevents your garbage from smelling as well! I like to think of the garbage can as a monster I do not want to feed, and I definitely do not want to feed it food. When food ends up in landfills, it gets compressed tightly without oxygen, a needed element for organic matter to naturally decompose. Instead, it ends up undergoing a slow, anaerobic decomposition process, which creates a byproduct called methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is more than twenty-five times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, and needless to say, we don’t want to fuel climate change if we can avoid it.
Making sure your food waste gets composted instead of thrown in the trash is a simple way of limiting your negative footprint, but the benefits don’t stop there. If you allow for food waste to compost, it gets to be broken down into fertilizer that can be added back to the soil, helping it become riches and more resilient. Richer soils are better at holding water (preventing flooding), sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, and growing more nutrient rich foods. In other words, by simply composting your food, you are literally inserting yourself into the cycle of life. Not only are you not leaving a negative footprint, but you’re actually creating a very positive one!
The ways to compost are many, so find one option that works for you, or start somewhere and advance over time. If you’re a homeowner with a backyard, creating your own compost pile could be both fun and rewarding! It’s not that hard; watch a quick YouTube video on how to create one and simply get going. The added win will be nutrients for your vegetables and flowers!
If you don’t have a garden, there are many options for us city dwellers as well. Anything from worm bins to fancy kitchen gadgets (check out Lomi or Vitamix Food Cycler), to an option as simple as handing it off to someone else to do the job for you. If you wish to be a “Freezer Free-Rider,” as I call it, you can simply store food scraps in your freezer or in a bin on the counter and drop it off with a local service. See if there’s a municipal composting service in your city or perhaps a community garden or local farmer who would gladly take your “gold.” A quick search online should give you an idea of what’s available in your area.
Plant-Based
As previously mentioned, I am not trying to convince you that you have to go vegan. However, introducing plant-based options wherever you can is good for both you and the planet. Meat consumption is a leading cause of Amazon deforestation, and the amount of water needed to create one pound of beef is approximately 1,847 gallons (or approximately 700 liters for half a kilo of beef!)
For obvious environmental reasons, our meat consumption today is not sustainable, and with so many alternative protein sources at our disposal, we shouldn’t have to consume so much. Not to mention the ethical concerns involving the animals raised in factory-farm conditions where a life is spent in crammed places with very little to live for, only to end up in a slaughterhouse way too early. We have a lot of power in turning the tide on climate change and taking a stance for how we’d like to see the world by being conscious with what we put on our plates, so don’t take that choice too lightly. Besides, plant-based foods are both fun and delicious and leave you feeling so much better, most of the time. So, although you don’t have to commit to any specific dietary lifestyle, introduce those veggies and grains to your plate whenever you can!
Order Purposefully (+ Bring a container!)
As you already know, slowing down your life and mindset serves as a major climate action, and it serves you well when you’re out eating as well. In the heat of the moment (and with a growling tummy), you might feel like you want to try everything on the menu. However, be honest with yourself, and take a moment to reflect on how much you’ll actually eat. If you think you’re ordering too much, reassess and think again. So much food is wasted simply because we can’t finish what we ordered.
Zero Waste Tip: If you know you’re one of those who can’t help but order one dish too many, or if you’re known for having a hard time finishing a plate, plan ahead and bring your own container. That way you can walk home with some delicious leftovers without having to ask the restaurant for a disposable container, which more often than not is either lined with chemicals or made from plastics, both of which are incredibly hard, if not impossible, to recycle.
Proper Planning
The same mindset goes for the food you cook and eat at home. Be smart with your grocery shopping by planning ahead, and try not to buy ingredients you probably won’t use before they go bad. Plan what meals you want to eat for the week ahead, and bring a list to the store; that way you won’t grab items that seem fun in the moment, but will most likely end up on a shelf in the fridge and going bad. By planning ahead, you can also check your fridge and pantry to see what you already have so you don’t end up buying extra “just in case.”
Also try to be aware of deals. “Three for two” can seem like a deal, but if you end up only eating one, then you’re actually losing money, with food going to waste on the expense. Added mindfulness in the grocery store can take you far being a climate hero!
Leftovers
Put simply, break the stigma with leftovers, if you have any. Many times, food tastes better the next day, and if anything, it’s an easy way to solve a problem—a hungry stomach, that is. If you’re on the adventurous side, use leftovers to mix up a new stir-fry or put it in a blender for a delicious soup. You never know when a new masterpiece will emerge in your kitchen.
Food Saving Services + Apps
Approximately 17 percent of all food produced worldwide is wasted, according to a UN report. In the US, make that 30-40 percent. You’d be surprised to learn that much of that food is actually thrown away simply because it’s not aesthetically pleasing enough. Fruits and vegetables that are too small, too big, or just a little weird-looking may never make it to any grocery store, and therefore, end up being wasted. What a shame!
Luckily, more and more services are available that collect this “ugly produce” and offer them to consumers, many times at a discounted price. If you’re looking to save money, help eliminate food waste, and have groceries delivered to your doorstep, this might be the climate action for you! In the United States, there are services like Imperfect Foods, Hungry Harvest, and Misfits Market, but you can also check with your local farmer to see if they offer farm boxes or something similar. If you don’t live in the US, see if there are any services with similar offerings in your area.
Packaging
Look for Aluminum, Paper, or Glass
Worldwide, only 9 percent of plastic is actually recycled. That is because most plastic used in packaging is extremely hard to recycle and the value of recycled plastic is low. Therefore, try to avoid plastic packaging as best you can and always look for an alternative. Unlike plastic (which, if recyclable at all, can only be recycled once or twice before becoming so broken down it loses quality and value), aluminum is endlessly recyclable. That soda can of yours can become a new can again, and again, and again, contributing to a circular system worth striving for.
Paper and glass are also highly recyclable; just make sure to eliminate food scraps the best you can before adding them to the recycling bin. Also, read up on what standards apply at your local recycling center. Unfortunately, universal standards have yet to be created for how to properly recycle certain materials, so what is possible or not depends on the facility near you. Rule of thumb, though—don’t throw something in the bin simply because you want it to be recyclable. This is called “wishcycling” and actually does more harm than good.
However, if we are to go back to choosing packaging, try to aim for aluminum (metal), paper, or glass over plastic. Glass comes with its own complications (it’s heavy to ship), but at least it can return to the loop and become a new product.
Buy in Bulk
More and more stores offer bulk shopping these days, which is great! That way, you can buy your grains, oats, sugars, or nuts in your own bags (invest in a few produce bags if you wish) without having to grab products off the shelf with excessive packaging. It also allows you to buy whatever amount you want, which, in case you only need a little of something, also prevents you from wasting food as well.
Skip the Bag
This one you’ve probably heard one too many times, but it’s as simple a climate action as there is! Say no to the plastic (or paper) bag at the store and bring your own—both stylish and efficient.
Bring Your Own…
…fill in the blank! The mindset of being independent from unnecessary, disposable packaging doesn’t stop with bags. Eliminate paper cups and plastic lids at the coffee shop by bringing your own reusable cup. Say no to that plastic fork by making sure you always have your own ready to go in your bag. Bring a fancy to-go cup or a repurposed glass jar to that park party so when you’re offered a drink in a plastic glass, you can kindly refuse and say you brought your own! (You’ll be the coolest one at the party.)
I understand that carrying around a kitchen worth of stuff is not always convenient, but a little bit of a BYO mindset can go a long way.
Repurpose
Now this is a fun game! Instead of just throwing away packaging or a product once it’s used up, tap into your creativity and see what purpose it could possibly serve next. I find old marinara sauce jars or peanut butter jars to be perfect storage for my bulk shops, beautifully displaying rice, seeds, and other grains in our kitchen.
My favorite repurpose win to date is probably one my husband came up with. When going through old stuff before a big move, he wondered what we could possibly do with two perfectly fine plastic covers from an old notebook. When I replied there was probably no use for them, he challenged me further and suggested that, maybe, they could be good cutting boards for our camping trips. I had to admit it was a brilliant idea, and lo and behold, in our AirBnb stay only a few weeks later, there were no good cutting boards to be found, and those plastic covers came in very handy!
Gift Wrapping
I get it; gifting someone a beautifully wrapped gift is sometimes worth more than the gift itself. But think about how much waste goes into something that will soon be ripped apart and thrown away. An estimated 4.6 million pounds of wrapping paper is produced in the United States each year, and of that, about 2.3 million pounds of it ends its life in landfills. You may also be surprised to learn that most gift wrapping paper is actually not recyclable, and by throwing it in the recycling bin nonetheless, you can make an entire load unrecyclable.
I challenge you to be creative with your gift wrapping as well. If you’re handing over a gift in person, you can use a scarf, blanket, or other beautiful material you may find in your home and kindly ask for it back once it’s been unwrapped. (You might want to clarify this to the receiver before the unwrapping begins.) I personally think old newspaper or even paper grocery bags make for beautiful wrapping as well, and you can decorate with natural ornaments like dried orange (so beautiful around Christmastime), a flower, or a twig. Let your imagination roam—the possibilities are fairly endless.
When you do receive a gift and wonder what to do with the waste, here’s a trick to knowing whether or not you can recycle the paper. If the paper is metallic, has glitter on it, or has a texture to it, it is not recyclable. Try crunching the paper up into a ball. If it stays crunched, it’s more than likely recyclable.
Shipping
Let’s be honest, shipping isn’t the best for eliminating either our carbon footprint or waste. However, there are ways to be smarter in this department too. For example, try to carefully open packaging when you receive it, and repurpose envelopes and boxes when you can. Look for more environmentally friendly packaging made from paper instead of plastic, or search for “plastic” options that are biodegradable. Try eliminating Styrofoam as much as you can (it’s simply not recyclable), and choose biodegradable peanuts that will dissolve into white foam in front of your eyes. Add some water and poof, down the drain it goes—it’s almost like magic!
Single-Use Items
We don’t need them, we shouldn’t want them, and it’s time to create some new norms! Once you start to pay attention, you will notice these disposable, single-use items are everywhere, but that only means you have so many opportunities to make mindful choices. Make it a habit to bring your own bag, container, and utensils, and start saying “no” to disposables whenever you can. You will feel so empowered with every action, and remember, you are also planting seeds in the minds around you!
“Do I need this?”
How often do we buy something out of habit or because we think we need it, but we actually don’t? How much of that perceived “need” is planted by commercials and other societal influences? Once you begin to slow down and invite more intention into your life, you will notice that more often than not, you don’t need that coffee/chocolate bar/sweater/new TV/_____ (fill in the blank.) That in fact, you could be just as good if not better without it. (And your wallet will be better too!)
With one simple question—“Do I actually need this?”—you invite in a conscious decision to be made. That, in itself, is empowering. And if the answer happens to be “No, not really,” then save that coffee for later when you can make yourself a cup at home and save one more paper cup from ending up in landfills.
Beauty + Hygiene
All it takes is one look into your bathroom cabinet or a walk down any beauty aisle to realize how much waste is included in our beauty routines. From packaging that can’t be recycled (due to lots of plastics and mixed materials) to toxic ingredients that are neither good for the planet nor you and your skin, this department can feel like a jungle to navigate. Where do you even start?
Luckily, many sustainable and non-toxic alternatives are coming to market, and with a little bit of research, I’m sure you can find an alternative that better fits your values when it’s time to fill up. Don’t replace all your products all at once (this is not very sustainable), but use up what you have and slowly start replacing your beauty routine, one product at a time.
Repair + Pass On
Whatever it is, whether it be a chair, phone, or pair of socks, it’s worth adding some love to the things in your life to make sure they last as long as they can. Mend a hole, repair what’s broken, and pass on what you no longer wish to keep. Remember that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
Everyday Life
Home
Second Hand/Antiques
Buying used is both fun and sustainable, and it usually comes with a better price tag as well. Hit up your local antique store or find a used marketplace online to scout for new furniture before buying something new.
Mattress
You might be surprised to learn that a lot of the furniture in your home could be emitting toxic chemicals through off-gassing. (Off-gassing happens when non-natural materials off-gas toxic chemicals that your body absorbs through your skin.) Your mattress is no different. Since you spend such a big amount of your life in your bed, choosing a natural mattress that doesn’t off-gas could be a critical choice, both for your wellbeing and the environment.
Linen/Bedding
Off-gassing can also happen with the sheets you wrap yourself in at night. If you tend to sweat a lot at night, it could have more to do with your sheets than the room temperature. If you’re wrapped in toxic chemicals, your skin will try to fight those toxins by sweating. A natural material like linen or organic cotton, therefore, is a much better option both for you and the environment.
Cleaning Products
Continuing down the same path, let’s have a look at what’s in your cleaning products. Products that you, by the way, spray across your entire home! If you wish for a safe and healthy environment, look for natural and zero-waste cleaning products.
Similarly, many cleaning products come in heavy excessive packaging, creating both plastic pollution and adding heavy shipping miles to the carbon balance. New companies are offering tablets that can be dissolved in water instead of buying the full product in the store. The products are just as good, but much better for the environment. Examples include laundry detergent in the form of sheets, and dish tablets that aren’t wrapped in plastic. Look for these better solutions and make a big stance for the environment!
Your Closet
Perhaps no industry needs a serious makeover more than the fashion industry. It is responsible for up to 10 percent of global carbon dioxide output every year as well as a fifth of the 300 million tons of plastic produced globally. It’s time to rethink how we wear our clothes. Luckily, many brands are starting to approach this issue by upcycling materials or redesigning already existing garments. At the same time, new clothes are made without material blends that are hard to recycle (like polyester and nylon), and new technologies are evolving that enable those already circulating mixed materials to find a second life. Here are some tips on how you can help fuel this transition and invite circularity into your closet and outfits.
Love + Repeat
Nothing speaks trends more than fashion itself, so let’s create some new trends and make it cool again to re-wear the same clothes. The idea that we need a new outfit for every party is silly to begin with and an outdated trend worth a fixer-up. The fastest, cheapest, and simplest way to become conscious with your fashion is simply to love what you already have and dare to repeat that outfit you love. Wear it to every party if you so wish. Get people talking and start shifting trends!
Clothing Swap Parties
How many items in your closet have you (hand on your heart) not worn in a very long time, if not at all? It’s not your fault, so drop the shame. Living in a fast-fashion world that promotes the need for always buying new things makes it easy for the most conscious shopper to make an impulsive buy from time to time. When you recognize you can probably do a cleanse, what better way to create circularity out of that never-worn sweater than by hosting a clothing swap with your friends? Pick a date, send out an invite, and instruct your friends to bring clothes they’re no longer wearing. Add some snacks and drinks to the event and you can sip away while shopping each other’s clothes—for free! Can you think of a better friends date?
Second Hand/Vintage
Enough clothing is already circulating the surface of this Earth to last us for a lifetime. So, instead of always buying something new, make it a habit to visit the local secondhand shops first. You might be amazed by the gems you find and the deals you’ll get. Circularity is both fun and stylish.
Renting
Clothing rental has taken a new turn in recent years with both bigger and smaller companies offering outfits for renting. If you’re someone who likes to have new outfits all the time, a weekly or monthly rental subscription could be for you. It’s also a great option for special occasions when you want something a little nicer but aren’t willing to spend the money, or when you can’t justify buying something you might only wear once or twice.
Sustainable & Ethical
With shifting trends and increasingly conscious consumer habits, the supply of sustainable and ethical brands are stepping up to meet the growing demand. Sustainable fashion made from natural materials, with manufacturing processes using less energy and water; clothing that is repurposed and finding second life; and garments that are made on demand to eliminate deadstock and other waste, are slowly taking up space across the industry. Look for smaller brands that are sustainable to the core or support bigger brands’ collections that are on the right path. Just be aware of greenwashing (when an organization spends more time and money on marketing itself as environmentally friendly than on actually minimizing its environmental impact) and always bring a critical eye. Sometime a product is not as sustainable as the company makes it sound, so a bit of consumer awareness can be helpful.
Nothing can be completely sustainable if it’s also not sustainable for the people working the supply chain. Therefore, looking for ethical practices that care for garment workers, their families, and cultures is a huge part of the sustainable fashion journey.
Two great resources for knowing what brands to support are the websites Remake and Good On You. They both offer brand directories and reports.
Conscious Washing
Last but not least, you have a tremendous opportunity to lower your clothing footprint by becoming more conscious about how you wash your clothes. Not only is the dryer one of the most energy-sucking machines in your household, but drying your clothes in a machine also emits a lot of microplastics. Therefore, simply hang-drying your clothes serves as a mega opportunity to be a climate hero in your day-to-day life.
When it comes to washing your clothes, wash on low temperatures as often as you can and fill the machine before you run it. Be mindful about how often you wash your clothes and whether, perhaps, a few hours of airing out would do the trick! When it comes to most athletic wear, it’s even worse since most of those materials are synthetic, so they shed microplastics (think polyester and other performance materials). Invest in a Guppy Bag to wash your clothes in; it will catch those gnarly microplastics and prevent them from entering the ground water.
Lastly, look for alternatives to laundry detergent. I personally love the different options for detergent sheets. They come in paper packaging, and all you have to do is rip a sheet apart and let it dissolve into the water. No plastic waste involved and no extra carbon footprint from shipping heavy liquids to the store.
Your Money
Your Bank
Believe it or not, when you put money in a bank, it’s not just sitting there and waiting for you to come collect it years later. The bank puts that money to work; it goes out into the world to fund all sorts of projects. So while you’re at home recycling and putting solar on your rooftop, your money could be out there funding projects that wipe all your efforts clean and then some.
Ninety-seven cents of every dollar that you put in your bank goes right back out into the world to fund stuff. That is great because money should be put to work, and often it’s funding really good projects, like roads, renewable energy projects, ground-breaking technology, etc. However, you might be upset to learn that trillions of dollars—your money—are fueled into environmentally damaging operations, like arctic drilling, fracking, tobacco, and oil.
Each year, the Rainforest Action Network comes out with a report called Banking on Climate Chaos where it exposes all the banks and how much money they’re funding into various fossil fuel projects. Go to BankingOnClimateChaos.Org to find this year’s report and learn the worst that banks are doing right now. If you’re not happy with how your bank is doing, consider switching to a better one. Smaller banks like credit unions are usually a lot better, but you can also talk to the bank to ask what projects it is currently investing in, and what its outlook is on the future. Understand that where you put your money matters, so choose your bank wisely!
Your Investments
While banks can invest in dirty or clean projects, so can you, and there may be no better way to help fuel the transition into a better world than to help fund the ideas and visions that will take us there. Not only can you sleep well at night knowing your money is out doing good in the world, but investing in a green and clean future is also a financially great idea!
Trends might vary and the opinions from people around you even more so, but if we’re not investing in a world worth living in, are our investments worth anything at all? Who can cash out on a dying planet?
Check with your bank to see what investment options it offers or go with a platform that’s solely focused on “doing good.” If you’re looking for more resources to get educated, the resources page at the website Women Power Our Planet is a good place to start.
Voting with Your Dollar
The easiest way to make a positive change with your money is probably how you choose to spend it. Which products you buy in the grocery store and which brands you choose to support has a tremendous impact with unknown positive ripple effects. Not only will the stores look at those numbers for future purchase decisions, but you’re also contributing to those shifting trends and cultures by making it okay to buy certain things. Just take a walk down any grocery store aisle today and you will see plentiful plant-based milk options and just as many alternatives for meats and other traditional products. It didn’t use to be this way. Trends and people’s spending habits gave way for a whole new marketplace!
Giving Back
Philanthropy work is not for everyone, but there is something to be said about gifting your hard-earned money to a cause you care about. It also serves as a great opportunity to do good in places where you can’t be physically active but can still help support people who are passionately working to make this world a better place. I like to donate automatically to a few philanthropic organizations on a monthly basis. When I receive that “thank you for your donation” note in my inbox, it brings a smile to my face, and I didn’t have to put any effort whatsoever into creating that change. Money left my bank account and entered another.
Energy flowed from me into something good. Sometimes creating change can be streamlined and simple.
Your Voice
YOUR VOICE
Never think your voice doesn’t matter. It’s the most powerful tool you have. Not only can you spread awareness, curiosity, and optimism in the conversations you spark with the people around you, but by adding your voice to causes you believe in, you can help propel the shift into a different world.
Sign Petitions
It may seem like a silly act just to add your name or email address to a list, but signing petitions matters. Numbers speak for collective power, and that’s how we trigger action. The people organizing these petitions need to prove other people care about the cause too, and they will use these lists of collected signatures to make their points heard. So, similar to donating to philanthropic causes, signing petitions is a great way to make change possible with very little action.
Engage With Your Local Representatives
Your politicians have been voted into position by you, the people; therefore, they are there to listen to your wishes and concerns. You may think the only way to have an impact on politics is every few years when there’s an election, but that couldn’t be more wrong. By calling into your local office and letting them know what changes you’d like to see in your town, or to express support for a new bill you’d like to see into law, you are making your voice heard. You would be surprised how much you can actually influence your local politics, especially if you’ve gathered a list of signatures to prove further support. The politicians are there for you, so never forget that!
Vote
If you are to start anywhere with your climate optimist actions, please start here. Educate yourself on whoever is running for office, what they stand for, and whether they are mapping out the future you’d like to see. Then please show up to vote whenever you can. We need systemic change in order to make a climate-just future take shape, and that means turning politics in the right direction.
Homeowners
If you own a home, you hold tremendous power to make a difference, all while creating a universe for yourself where more positive actions get to live and thrive. Your direct environment is a constant reminder of who you want to be and the world you want to see, so don’t think that changing the world takes place far away from home. It happens right inside those walls where inspiration is sparked, hearts are changed, and insightful conversations are nurtured.
Here are some tips for how to make an eco-oasis out of your home!
Insulation
Nothing could be more energy efficient than making sure you have the right insulation. If you live in a slightly older home, make sure to check your insulation and update it where possible. Making sure no heat or cold air escapes your home saves both the environment and your money.
Solar Panels
The world of electricity, heating, and other energy consumption is ever-changing, with a growingly uncertain landscape on the horizon. Will energy prices continue to go up? You can avoid this uncertainty by joining the green energy space today. By installing solar panels on your roof or in your yard, you create energy independence while taking a big stance for climate change. Clean energy is the future, and luckily for all of us, solar panels are cheaper than we dared to predict only a few decades ago. In fact, the price of solar dropped 89 percent from 2009 to 2019—in only ten years!
When you look at the numbers, switching from dirty to clean energy only makes sense. Bill McKibben, writing for The New Yorker, states:
In 2021, reports read that “with current technology and in a subset of available locations we can capture at least 6,700 PWh p.a. [petawatt-hours per year] from solar and wind, which is more than 100 times global energy demand.” And this will not require covering the globe with solar arrays: “The land required for solar panels alone to provide all global energy is 450,000 km2, 0.3% of the global land area of 149 million km2. That is less than the land required for fossil fuels today, which in the US alone is 126,000 km2, 1.3% of the country.” These are the kinds of numbers that reshape your understanding of the future.
Say “yes” to solar and you partake in that future today!
Energy Supplier
If you don’t have the ability to install your own solar panels, you can go green by changing your energy supplier to one that offers solar, wind, and other renewable sources of energy.
Retrofitting
You can retrofit your home in many ways besides updating your insulation and switching to solar panels. You can paint your roof white, which helps reflect sunlight, which helps cool down your home. You can install ceiling fans to be used instead of AC, helping cut energy use. Creating more wild areas in your yard is better for biodiversity and carbon sequestration than a lawn. You can also plant a green roof or install a system for repurposing greywater. All these are great options to climate-up your home, and there are many more. Stay curious and learn what would work best for you.
Composting
As I mentioned in the food section, composting is one of my favorite climate actions. If you have access to a backyard, you literally have the opportunity to create a pile of gold for no money. How you create a composting pile is up to you. You can either have an active compost pile that takes a little more work but creates fertilizer much faster, or go for a passive one that more or less takes care of itself. Just make sure you keep it far enough away from the house or locked up somehow so you don’t invite unwanted guests (read critters and bears).
A quick search online should give you an ocean of articles and how-to videos to get started.
Grow Your Own Veggies
What could be more glorious than walking out to your own veggie garden on a late summer afternoon to harvest the produce for your dinner? The summer I started growing some of my own vegetables, I realized—not much! There is something so magical about being the harvester of your own love and hard work, and when it comes to shopping locally, it doesn’t get much more local than this.
Growing your own vegetables is good for both your body and soul. It helps you ground and reconnect with Mother Nature, and it makes your appreciation for food so much stronger. If you’re completely new to the green thumb game, start simple and go easy on yourself. It’s okay to kill a plant or two in the learning process.
Transportation
Your Car
If you find yourself in a life situation where living without a car feels impossible, do your absolute best to be mindful of its impact. Can you switch to an electric or hybrid? Could you maybe reorganize your family’s schedule to enable more efficiency and car-pooling? Would you be okay with planning your trips better so you can shop for all the things you need in one trip instead of doing multiple runs to town? The fate of our world’s ice sheets are literally in our hands, and they’re melting faster than we can imagine. In a reality like this, every mile matters, so make sure yours count!
Biking (or Other Forms of Carbon-Neutral Transportation)
Growing up in Sweden, I was brought up on a bike. And I still love biking! Despite the profanities that would occasionally slip out of my mouth in specifically nasty weather, biking provides a sense of freedom that a car or public transportation can never give you. Commuting to work or school via bike is not just good for your health, but it obviously leaves zero carbon footprint on the environment.
Public Transportation
It goes without saying—the more of us who can share the footprint of one vehicle, the better. Choose public transportation whenever you can!
Air Travel
Now, this is a tricky one. In a favorable reality, all of us would stop flying today. Yet you know just as well as I do that won’t happen. We shrunk our world with air travel, and it’s a win we’re not willing to give up anytime soon. However, you can make a huge difference by being conscious about how often you fly and for what reasons. Try to take fewer trips and stay for longer periods instead. Short weekend flights should be replaced with longer stays where you get to truly live and appreciate a new culture. Also try choosing destinations closer to home, and use other transportation like a train or boat when available. And when you do fly, use the feature that tells you which option comes with the lowest carbon footprint. (Google Flights now offers this per automation.)
If you’re interested in knowing exactly how much polar ice your one flight melts, you can calculate that in seconds with Shame Plane by visiting www.shameplane.com.
Your Carbon Footprint + Offsetting
Like it or not, your existence comes with a carbon footprint. Your challenge (as it is mine) is to become aware of how big it is and find whatever ways possible to minimize it. That starts with calculating your carbon footprint. Luckily, many free resources help you to do so today. One worth checking out is Clever Carbon: www.clevercarbon.io.
Besides minimizing your footprint the best you can, you can also offset some or all of that carbon by purchasing carbon credits. That means you’re investing in restoration and/or protection projects with the mission to balance the carbon levels in the atmosphere by either capturing new carbon or making sure carbon already captured doesn’t get released. Carbon offset programs include everything from empowering Indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest that will safekeep ancient trees (that hold a lot of carbon) to kelp forestry and tree-planting projects. The options are many, as are the companies providing carbon credits, so if you want to start offsetting, do a little research and find one that fits you.
I will also mention that although carbon offsets are a great idea, they come with their fair share of complications. Measuring the accuracy of carbon stored or saved is still tricky, and clear guidelines have yet to be set for what can be counted as a carbon offset or not. There’s also the mindset of, “As long as I keep offsetting, I’m cool,” which doesn’t really work. Carbon offsets are good for balancing things in the short term, but we still need to do all we can—and put all our creativity in play—to find solutions for a carbon-neutral, if not carbon-positive, world. In other words, don’t just buy carbon credits.
Look into all these other action opportunities to start living life as a true climate optimist!