Climate Change; What Can You Do?
The climate is changing, and it’s changing fast. In reference to my last article (you can find the link below), not only are we shifting fast, but we seem to be doing so faster than we thought.
In this high climate, literally, buying a metal straw is no longer enough to keep us going, and neither is relying on the government to fix everything for us. As far as climate is concerned, it’s time to work harder, it’s time to take this into our own hands, it’s time to fix our planet. To those out there without a clue of what to do, here’s a few suggestions on how you can help the Earth without just relying on politics.
1. Using less single-use plastic
While I mentioned above that just by stopping the use of plastic straws isn’t enough, it still is something. However, just metal straws isn’t what I’m getting at.
According to Environmental Defense 90% of plastic in Canada ends up in landfills, oceans, lakes, and parks. Less than 11% of the plastic in this country is recycled. So, while striking outside the Legislature is nice and all, as said before, we can’t rely on other people to get this fixed. Buy consuming less single use plastic, the 90% that is not recycled will slowly shrink until it represents far less. Buying resuable bags, using glass containers and metal straws and utensils; buying “green” really comes into effect now.
2. Travelling less by car and plane
It’s obvious that air travel is bad for the environment, and car travel too. Casually emitting greenhouse gases into the air each time we travel has proved to be a large issue in heating up the atmosphere. However, it’s easy to fix.
The amount of options that provide even the slightest bit of change are everywhere. Biking, walking, carpooling and bussing are alternative possibilities to reduce the amount of gases you’re emitting into the heating atmosphere.
3. Plant more trees
Greenhouse gases are being emitted into our atmosphere faster than we’re ready for. The biggest issue with that being that each minute, the technology that clarifies the unhealthy gases are being destroyed by the minutes. Fire, pike beatles, and chopping down; these causes are the few that cause ecosystems to constantly collapse. With more trees, which help clarify the air, the effects of greenhouse gases would be positively affected.
So, plant a tree! Whether alone in your backyard, or with a company like Root for Trees (link below) you can help the conditions of the Earth we stand on and air we breathe.
4. Eating less meat
Cutting back on meat has become one of the most popular trends in helping the environment. Despite seeming odd, the science behind it can’t be ignored. The action of cattle grazing produces tons of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide, which are greenhouse gases.The effect on water is also a large issue. Hormones given to animals turns up in waste and can affect streams and rivers nearby. Not only that, but the processing and production of meat contains a large amount of excess water which is rather wasteful.
The argument that cows will overpopulate if no one’s eating them is quite arbitrary, cows don’t reproduce as quickly as most think, especially if humans aren’t forcing them to. Thereby, cows overpopulating the human race is truly nothing to be scared of.
Even cutting back on meat, or giving up red meat would be a small wonder for the world.
5. Change in shopping habits
Whether it be because of plastic packaging, or just unhealthy means of fabrication, the amount of products we have can have an intense impact on the environment. That’s where buying “green” comes into play. By buying environmentally friendly products, there’s no more worry in Earth-friendliness. However, buying a ton of environmentally friendly products isn’t the way to do it either. Studies from the University of Arizona show that the over consumption of products one of the leading causes of climate change; but it’s not only better for the environment. Reducing materialism through adjusting buying patterns leads to a healthy well-being and causes most people to feel better about themselves and happier in general.
Five simple things that, even though small, help the environment and climate incredibly (and doesn’t involve reliance on any government or anyone else at all). A pattern among these points that I noticed while writing is the word “less”. Most may argue that “less” is a negative word and that whatever we can do more of is the real solution. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Over the centuries humans have been on this Earth, we’ve been finding ways to do more, and how to do more in easier ways. How to have more, make more, be more. Though as we create, produce and multiply we’ve been ignorant to the effects on the very Earth on which we stand. The real question is: what will you give up?
