Climate Cocktails may be delicious, but what can you do to make a difference in your daily routine?
Reducing emissions requires knowing where greenhouse gases intersect with our lifestyles so we know what to do to help reign in the C02 levels in our atmosphere. So while you enjoy that bubbly drink, ponder how you can trim the carbon from your life and help bottle up what’s left.
Top Ten Things You Can Do To Fight Climate Change As An Individual
(Every respected source has their own list. This is ours)
- Green your intentions:
PLEDGE to reduce your carbon footprint. Say it out loud, put a note on your mirror, tell a friend! - Green your food consumption:
REDUCE YOUR FOOD WASTE. Pay attention to what you consume and what you toss, eat through your food (clear your cupboards, clear your fridge). Compost food scraps. - Green your diet:
EAT A PLANT-RICH DIET, aka eat less meat—especially beef. Eat organic. Eat and shop local : buy from your local farmers market. Eat sustainably. Use a food app to guide you like Seafood Watch for seafood, or Sustainable Palm Oil Shopping for apple or android (to protect orangutans and, while you’re at it, boycott Nestlé, Kellogg’s and Hershey). - Green your home’s electricity:
GO SOLAR with rooftop panels or, if available in your area, join community choice aggregation efforts that puts more renewable energy onto your utility’s power grid. Ditch the natural gas and ELECTRIFY your home’s furnace, water heater, stove and clothes dryer. - Green your transportation:
DRIVE AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE or hybrid, use public transportation, walk or bike. Carpool. FLY LESS and buy carbon offsets for flights you can’t avoid. - Green your vote:
VOTE FOR CANDIDATES THAT SUPPORT CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVES. Write them, call them. Ask your elected representatives to support legislation that reduces fossil fuel dependence and incentivizes renewable energy. Tell them to support big ideas like the Green New Deal, returning land to Indigenous People, educating girls and supporting family planning. And ask that they fight to restore eroding environmental protections. - Green your consumer habits:
CONSUME LESS. Buy local. Be a minimalist – buy quality that lasts, not cheap stuff that will need replacing (e.g. avoid fast fashion). Repair broken items instead of buying new. PRACTICE THE THREE R’s: First reduce, then reuse, then recycle. In that order. - Green your personal climate:
LIVE YOUR CLIMATE. Reduce your use of climate control systems (AC and heat) in your home and car. Lay off the AC, open your windows and dress light in the summer, and keep your furnace low and wear layers in the winter. - Green your investments:
DIVEST your personal investments from fossil fuels and extractive companies. - Green your words:
TALK ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE IDEAS, your choices, your concerns, perhaps while enjoying a Climate Cocktail!
Project Drawdown4 has distilled what we all can do as individuals, by industry, and through legislation to turn things around. Check out this fun quiz to test your own knowledge!
