Individual Climate Actions

Fighting the existential threat of Climate Change requires systemic change by government and industry. But while we wait for that to happen, we can all make individual changes, large and small, that will contribute to the battle.

The most important thing we can do to encourage systemic change:

VOTE: When deciding where to place your vote, look at each candidate to see if they fully “get” the issues of pollution, habitat destruction and climate change or do they just pay lip-service to the issues so that they sound good? Are they thinking about the world we will leave for future generations? Do they promise to cut taxes without telling you what services they will also cut?

Some of the simpler individual changes we can make include:

• Reduce Meat Consumption.
• Reduce Food Waste.
• Eliminate Disposables.
• Eliminate Single-Use Plastics.
• Reduce Use of All Plastics.
• Reduce All Consumption – Buy only what you truly need.
• Shop Locally – Why?
• Say No to Freebies.
• Take broken items to the Repair Cafe.
• Walk, Cycle or Take Public Transit.
• Hang Laundry to Dry.
• Switch From a Bank to a Credit Union – Banks invest in Fossil Fuels.

If you have more time and money, some bigger changes include:

• Create a veggie garden and grow your own food.
• When you have to replace your car, go with an Electric Vehicle.
• When you have to replace your furnace, go with an electric Heat Pump.
• Have an energy audit on your house and upgrade your insulation.
• Install Solar Panels.

The effectiveness of different actions varies.

The following chart shows the impact of some actions: