Solving climate change needs two things; preventing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions and taking existing CO2 out of the atmosphere. Solving the climate change issue will depend on both happening. Removing CO2 from the atmosphere is the subject of ongoing research. This list focuses on preventing emissions. On average, every person in America emits about 17 tons of CO2 every year! We found these 20 actions that you can take, which reduce emissions, some immediately and others over time.
Here we go:
1. Audit your own carbon emissions. This at least puts you in the picture about what your personal situation is. You can hire experts or simply fill out a questionnaire online to assess how much carbon you produce. By doing this you will be in the best position to decide whether to offset, acquire sustainable equipment, or change your behavior. Here are some useful emissions auditing websites:
https://co2.myclimate.org/en/
https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/
https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx
2. Offset your carbon emissions. Your personal analysis will show how much CO2 you generate from, flying, driving, or heating and cooling your house or business. Available offsets include capping leaky old oil wells, planting trees, extracting CO2 or other greenhouse gases, such as methane or natural gas, from the air and many other methods.
To offset your emissions by capping wells you can go to: www.welldonefoundation.com or call 406 460 003 and buy carbon offsets in the form of Climate Benefit Units (CBUs) for $7.00 per ton. 17 CBUs for $119.00 represents the average amount of CO2 previously mentioned ($7.00/ton for 17 tons per person per year). Sometimes the activity resulting in emissions also offers an immediate offset. When you fly for example, make sure you select the offset option when you buy your ticket or if it is not available find one of the many offsets that are available. Flying emissions represent about 5% of global CO2 emissions so it is important at least until the fuel that planes consume is carbon neutral to address this source of CO2. A one-way trip from New York to Los Angeles, for instance, creates 1,237 pounds of CO2. The best carbon offset companies will be transparent about their methods. Here are some which can offset your CO2 for a price:
https://www.cooleffect.org/content/donate
https://sustainabletravel.org/our-work/carbon-offsets/calculate-footprint/
https://offset.earth/
3. Offset your shopping too. Shopping deserves a separate mention because it combines any of the worst emissions activities that we all do in some form. Transportation is one (see #2), but purchasing single-item transactions, which the internet is known for, creates packaging and logistics activities that result in even more emissions. Tackling these converging behaviors is easy by using a service such as EcoCart (https://ecocart.io/). This offsets the power you use and everything else about your order giving you access to 10,000 different shops and climbing! Equivalent groups provide such services both inside and outside the US.
4. Use light emitting diode light bulbs (LEDs). These are now almost as cheap as the old hot kind of incandescent bulbs but consume only 15% of the electricity.
5. Replace your fossil electricity supply with renewable electricity. This is simpler than it sounds. In New York for example, ConEdison, the local utility, offers Independent Power Producers (IPPs) access to the grid so they can sell their emissions-free power. Many, like Clean Choice employ 100% renewable energy.
6. Replace your gas cooking range with an induction range. While still more expensive, chefs say induction ranges are better than gas and use less energy. It’s like a cooking LED.
7. Install a heat pump. These come in air or ground sourced options to provide all your winter heating and hot water. This technology extracts the heat from the cold outdoors just like your fridge extracts heat from its freezing interior. Heat pumps are extremely economic and, if you do this, there are no further emissions of CO2 from burning oil or gas. Imagine the impact if everyone did this!
8. Install insulation in your house. This means you need less energy (of any kind) to heat or cool your house.
9. Exploit “passive systems” to cool and heat your house. In the winter you can use the solar greenhouse effect with a conservatory or skylight windows together with heat exchangers. In the summer you can use breezes, evaporation vessels and updraft chimneys to ventilate and cool an interior. It is easier to select these things when you build or buy a house, but it is also very possible to retrofit an existing property.
10. Plant many trees. Seeds can be bought on Amazon for pennies, and you can select local species. If everyone on the planet planted 132 trees each, we would have reached a trillion-tree target that studies show will annually take out a decades’ worth of all the carbon mankind has generated. If you live in the city and have no access to appropriate land, the best thing to do is offset your emissions by getting the trees planted for you (#2). The tree planting experts will also ensure they go about it the right way and plant indigenous species, protect ecosystems and water supplies.
These websites will help:
https://www.plant-for-the-planet.org to download a tree planting app.
https://www.gff.global for the Global Forest Fund.
11. Install renewable power. Solar costs dropped 81% in a decade and those cost declines are expected to continue. You have two choices. You can pay for your own installation or have a system installed for free and then pay for the electricity you get. Either way, you can reduce your electricity cost significantly over time.
12. Buy an electric vehicle (EV). The acceleration will blow your mind and you can get 3 miles to the kilowatt hour. You can charge your vehicle at home and now a rapidly expanding charging infrastructure makes it easier to keep your vehicle charged on longer trips. Even if you charge with coal electricity, the high efficiency of the EV motor means you significantly reduce pollution per mile compared with gasoline.
13. Use biofuels in your internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. ICE vehicles will still be around for a long time so biofuels are the way emissions can be reduced. In a gasoline vehicle, drivers do not have much control over their fuel, although the main option for reducing emissions currently is a 10% corn ethanol blend in the US. However, if you drive a diesel engine, you can fill your tank with 100% biodiesel or other blends, and you can consult a local map of filling stations to find a convenient location.
14. Rideshare or carpool. As the world opens back up for commuting again, use ride sharing services or carpools as opposed to taking a taxi or driving your own vehicle alone.
15. Sell polluting company’s stock that may still be in your equity portfolio. Invest in companies where most of their activities are in sustainable goods and services instead.
16. Reduce your carbon FOODPRINT. Animals raised for meat emit methane which is 21 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. As well as eating less meat, also buy locally produced food to cut distribution emissions.
17. Do not buy single-use plastics. If you must, recycle them. Select products with less packaging or post-consumer recycled plastic or sustainable packaging. Soap, beverages, and food packaging are among the worst waste-plastic offenders. A laundry soap company like Earth Breeze manufactures laundry soap sheets made from plants, packaged in biodegradable card, both of which are benign when flushed into the waste stream. Cheap biodegradable plastics are on the way.
18. Make your vote count. Vote for politicians who support policies which reduce and eliminate fossil fuel usage and reduce emissions.
19. Use video calls to meet with people. To reduce emissions, celebrate some holidays and do more business meetings by video call. Use one of the many group meeting software products available including:
Zoom, BlueJeans, UberConference, RingCentral Meetings, Microsoft Teams, Webex Meetings, GoToMeeting and Join.me.
20. Help to spread the message that addressing climate change is not a huge, expensive burden for humanity. If everybody does even a little bit of this list, it collectively represents a huge environmental step forward.