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I have chosen to not have children. Environment concerns was not the only factor, but a significant one. I suspect that this choice is far better for the environment then anything listed in that article.
- Find a job closer to where you live or move closer to where you work.
- Get a smaller car.
- Get solar installed in your home.
- Decrease usage of disposable products. Use a shopping bag, a water bottle, your own mug, your own utensils, etc.
- Stop buying objects you don't strictly need. Prefer products that do not suffer from planned obsolescence. Prefer reusable/recyclable packaging.
- Decrease or stop consumption of meat.
- Wear more clothes instead of turning up the heater and get better thermal isolation (e.g: thicker windows).
Now, electric cars do not contaminate your immediate surroundings, but the process of manufacturing them can have a higher carbon footprint than the lifetime emissions of the vehicle.
There are so many things we can do, and these people are telling us that "the winner" is driving brand new fuel efficient cars, hot off the assembly line? What about biking? Walking? What about changing our habits so as not to rely as much on cars in the first place. How about not driving? There are people who don't drive at all, you could become one of them. What would it take?
How about some gardening? Plant a raspberry bush or a tree. If everyone planted a tree, do you know how many trees that would be? Billions of new trees. It wouldn't be very difficult. It would be much more affordable than buying a brand new electric vehicle.
We are beyond the point where individual action can make a difference. Legislation is necessary to stop the worst of catastrophes.
A difference in culture has much more potential effect than what may be perceptible.
You may not control Congress, but you can control your actions and influence your peers. Tiny influences can impact in an emergent change in the future.
Of course, this is highly subjective and probably more in the field of Ethics than anything else.
Look at the difference in per capita carbon emissions between California and say, Texas, a place where many Californian's are moving to because of high housing costs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_carbon_...
If everybody does this, it results in a reduction of 5% for the US which isn't even in the ballpark of the 80% required from industrialized countries.
And I'm not sure this article is taking into account what the environmental impact of a few hundred million Americans all buying new cars and throwing out their old ones ...
We are beyond the point where individual action can make a difference. Legislation is necessary to stop the worst of catastrophes.
In some ways, remember how lucky we are! We still have time and energy to prepare! We could be living in a world where the forces of intentional ignorance had done much more damage than they've managed. Yet we have excellent scientists.
Look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants
It's an amazing resource! Don't forget about our amazing collective resources! Now is not the time to neglect them!
I thought the best single thing was going vegan. Anyway, I sometimes think it's quite funny how my own lifestyle is so much more green than the average "green" person. I don't have children, I don't own or drive a car, I only use public transporation, 99% of which runs on electricity. I'm vegan, I haven't been on an airplane for like maybe 4 or 5 years. I live in a modern, energy efficient and small apartment. I buy…
I tried to research this a while ago, and I think the numbers work out to say that going from a "standard" American omnivorous diet to a "standard" American vegetarian diet corresponds to a CO2 emissions reduction equivalent a one-way NY-SF flight or drive. Going from that to the a vegan diet is about equivalent to avoiding the return flight or drive.
So if you've already avoided having children, and already avoid flying and driving, then going vegan is probably one of the best things you can personally do to reduce your CO2 emissions. But if you haven't yet done those things, changing your diet, while a step in the right direction, may not be enough to effect a major reduction in your emissions.
(Sorry for lack of references --- I'll add them up if I can find them again. They were surprisingly hard to find the first time. Corrections appreciated if I've misremembered the figures.)
2) Go vegetarian. (Avoid beef if you can't and eat meat less).
3) Stop buying stuff.
4) Repair not replace.
5) Move to an urban environment.
6) Consider going car free. (Walk, Bike, Public Transport, Car clubs).
7) Stop flying.
8) Avoid plastic packaging, or at least any product in packaging that cannot be locally recycled. (Here in the UK I have no idea why we allow food to be supplied in black plastic which most councils do not recycle).
9) If you have to have children, just have one. Choose schools they can walk/bike to.
10) Insulate (cheap) and solar (expensive) your home.
11) Buy local goods.
12) Join recycling groups https://www.freecycle.org/
Reading this article makes me feel very angry, especially as I look at the authors' background. There are so many things we can do, and these people are telling us that "the winner" is driving brand new fuel efficient cars, hot off the assembly line? What about biking? Walking? What about changing our habits so as not to rely as much on cars in the first place. How about not driving ? There are people who don't drive…
Starting to bike doesn't solve climate change problems.
Not sure how you would plant a raspberry tree in a New York apartment.
There is very little the normal person can do about climate change without radically changing the way they live their lives and thats just not an option for most people.