10 ways you can reduce your impact on climate change

Like many of us, I work for a company and spend more hours than I might like stressing over deadlines, mulling over project roadblocks and anticipating office politics.  Yes, I have to earn a living but is that what life is really about?   Now that I am off the consumerism train,  I realize that all I want is time with my family and friends, fresh air, clear blue sky, trees and the natural world:

Unfortunately, society (or is it the marketing departments of large companies?) continues to tell us to work so that we can buy more stuff that we do not need.  Instead of more green space, what we are now getting is more shopping malls:

What is the impact of more brick and mortar and fewer trees on our world?  By the way, I thought  that with the internet, brick and mortar was supposed to disappear?

If we don’t change our consumerist ways, we will destroy our planet.  Based upon the multiples articles in the media, we probably already have.  I recently read Drawdown, a book which summarizes all the possible solutions that can be implemented to reverse global warming: 

While the book itself is not an easy read (it is a summary of the research of many scientists around the world on climate change), what I like about the book is that it explains in plain language the terminology associated with climate change and ranks and compares the best ways we can reverse global warming.  The title of the book was a bit of a mystery to me.  Paul Hawken explains that Drawdown, a term used to describe the reduction of military forces, capital accounts or water from wells,  is used in this scenario to describe how to not only slow but reverse global warming because doing only the former is insufficient.   Global warming refers to how the temperature of the earth is increasing due to the concentration of gases in atmosphere.  With current practices, the estimate is that the temperature of the earth will increase by 2 deg C in 10 years.  The impact to our lives:  extreme weather events, changes to our ecosystems, rising sea levels, drought.  All of this will affect everyone, regardless of the amount of money or stature that you have. 

Fortunately, there are many actions that can be taken and must be  taken.  I thought I would share the top 10 areas identified to reverse climate change in the book:

1: Manage Refrigerants – Refrigerants are used in fridges and air conditioners.   Even though we have eliminated CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) and repaired the hole in the ozone by transitioning to HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons),  improper disposal of new refrigerants can create greenhouse gases.  Therefore, it is is particularly important in developing countries where refrigerant management systems may not be in place.

2: Utilize Onshore Wind Turbines for Energy – Alternate forms of energy have to be part of the solution.  We cannot continue our dependence on fossil fuels.

3: Reduce Food Waste  

4: Eat a plant Rich diet

5: Protect our Tropical Forests – Bottom line, we need to preserve them to prevent large impacts due to global warming.

6: Educate Girls

7: Support Family Planning

8: Utilize Solar Farms for Energy  – Again, we need to think about alternate sources of energy.

9: Implement Silvopasture – This is an interesting practice whereby animal grazing takes place in existing forests without the removal of trees.  We actually saw this when we were in France this summer.

10: Utilize Rooftop solar energy  

 How does this translate for you and I? Here are 10 easy ways that we as individuals can reduce greenhouse gases:

• Avoid wasting food.  Don’t buy too much and eat what you buy.
• Eat less meat.  As Michael Pollan said so well: Eat food.  Mostly plants.  Not too much.  The meat that we eat leads to production of a lot of a greenhouse gases, not to mention that it is not especially good for us.  Red meat has been linked to elevated cholesterol, heart disease, digestive problems and certain cancers.   Not eating meat also prevents forests from being destroyed (to allow cattle to graze).
• Plant a tree:  Trees are nature’s way of cleaning our air and absorbing carton dioxide.  Plus, aren’t they beautiful?
• Grow your own food.  People who have gardens not only eat healthier, they tend to waste less food because they know what it is involved in growing their own food.
• Carpool or take public transit.  This is one area where I personally have to improve.  If my sustainable sister Nancy now takes the bus to work every day,  I can do it too…

• If you do have a car, buy an electric car (ranking #26 for reversing global warming).  Carbon dioxide emissions per gallon of gasoline is 25 lbs whereas the emissions for electric vehicules is half that.  
• Exercise the first 3Rs of 5Rs (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse).  Reducing our consumerism is a great way to protect the planet and prevent pollution and the generation of greenhouse gases.
• Consider installing solar energy panels in your home.
• Support the education of girls in foreign countries.  While we are fortunate to live in Canada where most girls have the opportunity to go to school, this is not the case for many girls in other countries.  A great Christmas gift idea:  sponsor a girl’s education.  
• Heat and cool less.  Greenhouses are generated whenever we heat or cool our homes.  Having a heat pump increases energy efficiency (#42 on the drawdown list) and reduces the production of greenhouse gases.  In the summer, increasing the temperature of our homes and offices a few degrees is extremely beneficial.  A study showed that the amount of electricity used to keep buildings cool in the US is equal to the amount of energy Africa uses for the entire country.  Keep this in mind when you set the temperature in your home!  

While the challenge of climate change can seem daunting, I like to think that the human ingenuity that invented modern technology and closed the hole in the ozone will allow us to reverse or slow global warming.

Challenge for the Week:  What are you going to do to help reverse climate change?  I like to think that like waste reduction, every little bit helps.  We don’t need to aim for perfection but we need to start somewhere.