What Are 14 Things We Can Do To Fight Global Warming?
Our planet has been warming dangerously. Earth is being affected by an increase in carbon emissions. We're seeing melting glaciers and polar ice caps, drought and flooding, rising sea levels, wildfires and more. Some of these changes may be beyond our control, but we have a lot we can do to reduce global warming, starting with ourselves. Our planet deserves our best.
1. Stop Driving
Stop driving or drive less. Find another way to get around. Walking, running or cycling are much better for our climate and our health too. Doing so beats even beats driving an electric vehicle or PHEV because a lot of CO2 is produced when manufacturing them and we are not at 100% renewable electricity yet.
2. Ride A Train Or Bus To Work, Carpool If You Must
Use public transportation to work and whenever possible, it produces far less carbon per passenger than when driving a car all by yourself. Ride your bicycle to the nearest train station or bus stop and reduce even more CO2 emissions.
3. Stop Flying
Each flight you take produces significant amount of global warming causing CO2 emissions. Stop flying whenever possible and use online meeting software whenever you need to have a meeting.
4. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Stop buying disposable products. Buy reusable products whenever possible. Avoid buying products that have lots of wasteful packaging to reduce what you have to throwaway. Take advantage of all the recycling programs in your community. Don't buy stuff unless you really need it, the less we buy the less CO2 is released making it.
5. Plant Trees
Trees remove CO2 from our atmosphere and store it in their roots under the soil. Significant amounts of carbon has been released into our atmosphere by slash and burn agriculture. We can begin reversing the effects of this harmful practice by planting trees to replace the trees that were cut down. Trees can provide shade to your home during hot summers and reduce your energy usage and the emissions from your energy usage.
6. Reduce Heating and Air Conditioning
Reduce your use of heating and air conditioning. Insulate your home so that less energy is wasted heating and cooling it. Insulating your walls, adding weather stripping around doors and windows will also lower your heating and cooling costs and carbon dioxide emissions. Set your thermostat lower in the winter and higher in the summer. Use a programmable thermostat so that you can turn off the heating or cooling when you aren't home. You could reduce your CO2 emissions by up to 2,000 pounds a year by simply setting your thermostat 2 degrees higher in the summer and lower in the winter.
7. Switch to LED or CFL Lights
Exchange your regular light bulbs for compact florescent light (CFL) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. They last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs and use up to two-thirds less energy. If everyone in the U.S. replaced one ordinary light bulb with a CFL or LED, it would eliminate up to 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, which is the same as taking 7.5 million cars off our roads.
8. Buy a fuel efficient car (or EV or hybrid vehicle)
A new car is one of the biggest environmental decisions you can make. A fuel efficient vehicle will reduce your CO2 pollution and save you money and compared to larger, gas guzzling cars. If you can, buying a hybrid or EV will also reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses that you are pushing into our atmosphere.
9. Buy Local
Buy local goods and services whenever possible. Get your food from your local farmer’s market and your clothing from local manufacturers, to reduce the CO2 used in transporting goods to you. Buying locally supports our local economy and local jobs and it also can save thousands of pounds of carbon that are produced by transporting of goods made overseas.
10. Inflate Your Tires
Keep the tires on your car properly inflated. Check them every month and save up to 250 lbs. of CO2 and $840 per year.
11. Change Your AC Filters
Clean or replace old air conditioner filters as recommended by the manufacture, and save up to 350 lbs. of CO2 emissions and $150 per year.
12. Go Meatless
Eating less meat can significantly cut your carbon footprint. Studies have shown that reducing your meat consumption by just 10% can save over 1.6 million tons of CO2 each year.
13. Grow Your Own Food
Growing your own fruits and vegetables is fun and rewarding. Plus, you can eat them all year round.
14. Vote
We need to vote for policies that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
Conclusion
Well there you have it, 14 things we can all do to fight global warming. Some of them cost money but there are others that cost nothing. Pick one thing that you can do today. Make a plan. Then, start taking action.