With the latest reports, it is clear, again that climate action can not be delayed. Major changes are needed, and there is very little time left to prevent catastrophic climate change that will seriously limit the quality of life that we pass on to our children and future generations.
Combined from recommendations of others, and a few of my own thoughts, here are my top recommendations (not an exhaustive list) for things that we can all do right now:
- Switch to a whole foods, plant-based diet. Whether you go 100% or just part way, this will help. Cut red meat and processed etc first, then keep going to reduce/eliminate other meat, dairy and eggs. Use local/organic as much as possible, for sourcing food. (Naturally, the further you go, the better, but every step is better than nothing. So, don’t be intimidated by the end goal. Take it one step at a time, and you may surprise yourself with how easy it is to switch!)
- Let’s imagine switching to plant-based for school cafeterias, church potlucks or any of a variety of other places, in addition to what we do at home.
- Reduce/eliminate single-use plastic etc as much as possible.
- Live simply/downsize in whatever ways work for your household. 🙂
- Transition to more public transit/electric cars and away from gas cars: the sooner the better.
- Seriously support green energy projects (solar panels on your roof, wind farms etc) and help to end support for pipelines/fossil fuels/nuclear etc. Add BullFrog Power (or other similar) to your house etc if you haven’t already.
- Elect goverments that will seriously act on climate change: now, not just at some distant election far off into the future. No other gains that a goverment might offer are worth stalling on climate action. In Canada, supporting proportional representation is likely our best bet to get more Greens elected. (Check LeadNow for more info on PR.)
- Think back to where you were a decade ago, and imagine 10 years in the future: It’s not a long time. Waiting until a different life stage (eg when the kids are grown/when I get a promotion/when…) will likely be too late, and changes will be more expensive than they are now. So, let’s get excited about what we can do together! 🙂
Remember that there are sometimes contradictions that we will face (eg sometimes it’s hard to buy nuts and seeds that aren’t packaged in plastic.) Also, to be clear, I am not asking anybody to do things that are bad for them. So, if you are allergic to chickpeas, I am not asking you to start eating hummus every day. If you already live in a small space, them I am, naturally, not asking you to downsize. I do believe, however, that most of us have some space in our lives to make changes – some will be easier and some will be less convenient, but there is lots that we can and must do. This is about what we can each do – individually and collectively. Let’s focus on what steps we are able to take, and not on what we can’t do. This is achievable, if we all do our best together. 🙂
There’s lots of coverage out there, and I’m not going to list them all here. Here are a couple to start with:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45775309
“Keeping to the preferred target of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels will mean “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.”
