your actions matter!
What you can do to help stop climate change
Climate change is a global problem, with no single, magic solution. But there is a LOT you can do in your day-to-day life to reduce your dependence on fossil fuels and limit greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It’s easy to get creative about solutions once you’re in the habit of thinking about it!
Have two or fewer children.
Imagine, if you can, the amount of food, clothing, energy, and waste you have used and generated in your lifetime! It’s completely mind-blowing the amount of resources we require as human beings. By far, the most powerful way to fight climate change is to limit how many extra humans you add to the 9 billion on this planet.
Photo credit: Nikola Saliba / Unsplash.com
Eat less meat.
Meat is an incredibly carbon-intensive product because of the energy it takes to feed, kill, package, and ship animals around the world. Thus, eating less meat has proven an easy and effective way to make a big difference for climate change. Start with a meat-free meal, then try a meat-free day, and keep increasing according to your health and nutritional needs. You don’t have to give up meat entirely to make a huge difference, for the climate and your health!
Photo credit: FreeTo Use Sounds / Unsplash.com
Drive as little as possible.
St. Louis offers a variety of transportation options that can help us cut down on burning gasoline – take the Metrolink, ride your bicycle, carpool with friends, and walk when you can. Try to build routines that help you avoid driving by living close to your work, your kids’ schools, and the grocery store. Not only will you help fight climate change, but fewer cars on the road reduces air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution in your city!
Photo credit: Matthew Black / Wikimedia Commons
borrow, repair, & buy used
All new products require energy and raw materials, both of which contribute to climate change. One fun way to fight climate change is to get creative with your consumption – buy second-hand and used items, borrow things you need from friends, repair stuff that breaks, instead of buying again. Our consumption of stuff is linked to environmental problems far beyond climate change – plastics in the ocean, trash on our streets, habitat loss and degradation, resource extraction, and more. Enjoy the thrill of thrifting while doing good for the planet.
Photo credit: Becca McHaffie / Unsplash.com