Things you can do to help climate change

Personal action does make a difference. Making some changes in how you live will reduce the amount of pollution generated, help the health of the planet and yourself. Below are some great options we recommend implementing in efforts to become carbon neutral, or even better, carbon negative. 

1. Shift your eating habits

A plant-based diet is not only the best for your water and carbon footprint, but it has also been shows to have positive health benefits as well. Simply looking at our meals for the week and making some choices to swap out the meat and dairy for vegetarian alternatives will have a big impact if enough people get on board. And they are, the rise of meat alternatives is booming. So, let’s keep this going as 66% of all crop calories goes just to cows. Eating low on the food chain (vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans) is great for the planet and your health.

2. Go electric

We can’t embrace the future of electric soon enough. If you live in an area with a green utility like Seattle, switching your car over to an electric will completely remove your driving emission. Not to mention there are no oil changes that need to be done. If you drive a gas car for 10,000 miles this will emit around 8,000 to 12,000 lbs. of carbon. It takes over a full acre of tree cover to mitigate that amount. Since there are not enough trees for all the driving and flying done this is large reason greenhouse gases continue to rise. Don’t just think car either, electric heat pumps, electric ranges, electric dryers and installing solar all will make a difference.

3. Look at your retirement investments

There are lots of publicly traded companies that work in the green space. Some green business includes industries like wind and solar power, industrial recycling, and companies that are rated in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Investing in these types of companies will help speed the rate in which we are able to sequester and mitigate human pollution.

4. Plant trees, volunteer, donate

There is a whole articles worth of the benefits of trees here. Finding a place and planting trees can be a fun and rewarding activity. The best part is as the tree grows, it’s ability to clean the air, water and local habitat also grow. Other options that have the same effect are contacting your local environmental non-profits and see if they have any volunteer opportunities. Short on time? Well, making a donation will give these charities the ability to continue to do great work. Carbon pollution is homogonous in the atmosphere so improving your environment anywhere helps everywhere.

5. Mitigate your carbon

Say you have a vacation planned and will be traveling on a plane. Did you know hour for hour the time spent on a plane is probably the worst thing you can do for the environment? A one-way flight from San Francisco to Paris can produce about 1.25 metric tons of carbon emissions per passenger! A good way to fix that is by purchasing carbon offsets. Carbon offsetting allows you to compensate for the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions you produce by reducing emissions somewhere else. A simple google search will bring some option up for you. An example is here.

Want to calculate your carbon footprint. Here is a tool to do so Click Here.