‘Everyone has an impact’: how to start reducing your environmental footprint | Well actually

2024 was the most hot year. The average global temperature has increased to 1.6 ° C above the pre -industrial levels, according to data from Climate Change Service in Copernicus in the European Union (C3S) – A height that led to the harsh weather and “misery of millions of people”, as one of the group’s experts told Guardian.

Less than a month of the new year, Fires It was torn through severe areas of Los Angeles, which increases the lives of thousands. Donald Trump, a ClimateThe country comes out of international climate agreements and makes efforts to reduce the high average global temperatures.

All this led to an increasing feeling Climate despair within Experts and Ordinary people both. Governments and companies bear a large part of responsibility. But what can individuals do in the face of these huge global threats?

“Everyone has an effect,” says Darby Hoover, the chief resource specialist in the NARDC. “Companies consist of individuals, and countries consist of individuals. We need work at all levels.”

What are the most effective steps that one can take to reduce a person’s environmental footprint? How can one affect others to take action? We asked experts.

I know that you can make a difference

The first step to take climate action is to know that your actions are important.

“I think people feel exhausted or as if they should be experts to take some of this measure, and you really don’t do it,” says Samantha Harrington, Yale Climate Connections.

Experts also encourage people to overcome perfection. Many are limited in measures that they can take due to economic, geographical or personal conditions.

“You are not a bad person if you cannot get it now to get a file Heat pump “Instead of using your gas oven,” says Harrington. Even if all you can do now is to get a reusable water bottle, or bring reusable bags to the grocery store, this is the beginning. “All you can do is important.”

Resources such as Nature Conservance’s Carbon fingerprint machine It can help you identify the areas in your life as you spend the most energy and think about how to make changes.

Reducing, recycling, recycling

One of the most useful abstinence in preserving the environment is “limit, reuse, recycling”.

“This is a hierarchical sequence,” explains Hoover. Reducing one consumption is the most important, followed by the reuse of goods, then recycling.

Hoover says that prolonging the products of the products and buying well -made items that lasts can travel a long run to reduce the amount of waste produced by one. And when it is time to get rid of an element, try to donate it or recycle it so that it does not end in the landfill.

“If there is anything in your life designed to use it once and then throw it, think if there is an alternative to this thing,” Hoover added. For example, plastic water bottles can be replaced with reusable water bottles, and a single -use table tools can be avoided if one of them exceeds a reusable table.

Check where your money goes

Think about the products, services and companies that support you with your money, and what its impact on this planet. Fashionable fashion, for example, is an environmental disaster – tons and tons of cheap clothes Waste burials and BeachesAnd plastic from artificial fabrics drains Water passages.

Catherine Hayu, chief scientist in nature preservation, says that buying high -quality clothes will last for a longer period or used shopping can reduce this type of waste.

“My decision last year was that I decided to buy as much clothes as possible,” says Heheo. “I love them! It’s at very reasonable and unique prices.”

Also look closely to any investments you may have. Harrington suggested checking for an investment of 401 (k) or other money in its financial institutions. “Many banks support and finance fossil fuel projects,” she says. If you are able, you may consider transferring your money into Environmental sustainable funds.

Look at what you eat

It is no secret that food production has a great impact on the environment. According to International government plate on climate changeAgriculture represents 23 % of greenhouse gas emissions. From this, approximately 60 % comes from Meat production Lonely. What’s more, a lot of food is lost.

“We may waste up to 40 % of the food supply in this country,” says Hoover. This has a tremendous effect. This means that the quantity associated with these resources that enter into food production also is lost. “

This does not mean that every person needs to become vegetarian immediately, as experts say. Although it is correct that meat has a very big effect on the environment, the most sustainable way to eat is the sustainable way for you.

Hayhoe says: “Say that you go to the cold vegetable Türkiye for a few weeks, then decide that you cannot do this anymore and that you resigned.” “It would be better to say, I will do on Monday without meat, or I will integrate two vegetable recipes into my regular recipes.”

In order to reduce food waste, Hoover suggests checking resources like NRDC Savethefood.comWhich can help you to calculate the exact amount of food you will need to be a weekly planning for meals or a party, without wasting any surplus.

season

One of the easy ways to reduce energy use in your home is to separate devices and turn off the power strips when they are not in use.

“Even when we don’t use it, electronic devices can still consume electricity,” says Lieblank. Experts refer to this energy as “vampire loads”, which can be “very large” in terms of energy production, says leblanc.

“So just separate things,” says Lieblank. It is not separated, for example, her toast every time she leaves the house, as she admits. But before long trips, you separate all the devices in its kitchen.

Be effective

One of the main principles of sustainability is efficiency – the less efficiently you are, the more energy you can use.

“If you are running tasks and need to use your car, plan for the future so that you can combine many small missions on one trip,” says Hoover.

And when you use your car, you can help it more efficiently by ensuring your tire pressure at the right level, says leblanc. “With the right tire pressure, your car can move more efficiently and burn less gasoline,” she says.

And consider the amount of flying. Air travel is great source Carbon emissions. It is clear that some travel is necessary, such as work trips or to see family. But think about ways to reduce. Can you do multiple events on one trip? Should the meeting really be personal, or can it be hypothetical? Can you take a train or car instead?

“Now, more than 80 % of his conversations are virtual talks,” says Hayhoe. “I only travel when I can collect events on one trip to make carbon and time worth it.”

to speak

While reducing daily energy use is important, experts agree that the most important environmental procedure that a person can have has to do with the carbon fingerprint: it is the use of their voice.

“Most people in the United States are concerned about climate change,” says Harrington. “We are not necessarily talking about this because we believe that it is more taboo than it is already.”

Talking to our family, friends and neighbors about our environmental fears and the measures we take can help in motivating others to take action as well. Consider the “neighborhood effect” on the use of the solar power panel. Paper 2015 in Economic Geography Magazine I found that one of the strongest predictors of the solar panels that are installed in an area is if another house in the neighborhood is already. Hayu says she noticed this in her life.

“We got solar panels, and within a year, we saw solar panels that come to our region,” she says. “It comes to showing people what you are doing, and making it infectious.”

This can also be done at work. Ask if the meetings that require travel can be hypothetical instead, and if the materials really need to print them. These measures may seem small, but they can have a major effect. Hoover says that before NRDC, she worked in an organization that worked to encourage large companies to use recycled paper. “I was surprised to see these large companies registered on it, and I realized that in many cases, this was the result of one preacher in the company that speaks to the people who need to speak to them,” she says.

It is also important to speak politically, by communicating with your local representatives and state representatives. Studies He appears The Congress and employees in Congress regularly It reduces it How much their voters care about climate change, because they do not hear from their voters on this topic.

Finally, Hoover says one of the most important measures we can take for climate is to vote in local and federal elections. “Voting for politics who will make some kind of changes you are looking for,” she says. Electing officials and support policies that enhance environmental protection and progress.