12 New Year’s resolutions for a more sustainable life – 01/07/2024 – Environment

Climate change often seems like an insurmountable challenge: the entire planet must move away from fossil fuels and rethink how we live, eat and get around.

But the path to net-zero emissions is not unlike a series of humanity’s New Year’s resolutions — trying a new way of doing things, moving forward with change, and unlocking a different, better permutation of ourselves.

This also applies on an individual level. That’s because we can all do better when it comes to tackling the worsening climate crisis — how you do that just depends on the level of time, energy and money you’re willing to spend. See 12 suggestions on where to start.

Talk about climate change

Rating: easy

One of the easiest things you can do to help combat climate change is to talk about it: at the dinner table, at the bus stop, at the office holiday party. “The situation is so extreme that the feelings will be extreme too,” says Margaret Klein Salamon, a clinical psychologist by training and executive director of the Climate Emergency Fund, which supports disruptive activism.

She recommends sharing these feelings with family, friends, and neighbors — and fighting the urge to be alone with your climate anxiety and grief.

“The fact that people aren’t talking about it makes it seem like they’re not worried about it. ‘Well, they’re acting normal, so it must be OK,'” she says.

“The implication is: just by going about your normal life, you are contributing to mass climate denial because people are looking at you and seeing that you think things are normal.”

Start a Climate Book Club

Rating: easy

If you’re still figuring out how you feel about climate change, or maybe you don’t know enough to feel something, a good first step is to read about it.

You can start with the book “The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration”, by Grist portal reporter Jake Bittle, which details as America’s great climate migration has begun.

Or “The Parrot and the Igloo” by New York University writer and artist-in-residence David Lipsky, which traverses the long history of climate science, the modern era of climate denial and more.

For a climate book that’s hopeful, check out “Not too late” by activist and storyteller duo Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua. For a fun, lighthearted book, try Amy Brady’s “Ice,” an exploration of ice as a hot commodity. And also “Climate Capitalism” (“Climate capitalism”, in literal translation), by Bloomberg news agency reporter Akshat Rathi.

Don’t change your smartphone

Rating: easy

Try to ignore the urge to buy a new phone, even when the latest model is released. Apple is calling the iPhone 15 a sustainability success: its carbon footprint has decreased by nearly 30% compared to a company-defined baseline, plastic packaging is limited, and several components are made from 100% recycled materials. But Apple data shows that 80% of carbon emissions over the full lifespan of an iPhone 15 Pro come from its production, meaning the longer consumers keep their devices, the more emissions they help avoid.

Eat the leftovers

Rating: easy

The World Food Program estimates that around 30% of food produced for consumption is wasted globally. About 40% of food is wasted in the US, where households are the largest source of waste.

“When we throw away food, it sits in a landfill and emits methane,” a potent greenhouse gas, says Emily Broad Leib, director of the Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard University.

A good way to waste less food is also simple: eat your leftovers. When researchers from Gallup and Miter Corporation surveyed the food waste habits of more than 9,000 U.S. households for a week in mid-2023, they found that those most willing to eat leftovers generated just 3.5 cups of waste per week, in compared to about 6 cups on average.

Households that identified themselves as least willing to eat leftovers produced approximately 12 cups of waste.

And if that’s not attractive enough, do it for the money. Research suggests that reducing food waste can save each household at least US$1,500 (about R$7,300) per year.

Start composting

Rating: moderate

To up your commitment to keeping food scraps out of landfills, consider composting. There are a few different ways to do this.

Your city or town may collect your organic waste if it has a program in place, or you can take your waste to a compost collection site. You can also try composting at home.

Once you’ve figured out how you’re going to compost, the next step is to learn what can be composted (e.g., banana peels, coffee grounds, orange peels, eggshells) and what can’t (e.g., metals, milk cartons, tea bags made from plastic). Not all composting programs accept the same types of food waste.

Learn to identify greenwashing

Rating: moderate

Consumers beware: More companies than ever are making dubious claims about their environmental credentials to attract profit. This practice is known as greenwashing and is gaining increasing scrutiny.

“If you look across jurisdictions, from the UK to the EU to the US, even Asia, you get the clear sense that legislators and regulators are doing something about this and want to be seen to be doing something about it,” he says. Jonathan White, lawyer at environmental law charity ClientEarth.

In the United Kingdom, for example, regulators are starting to crack down on misleading corporate climate ads.

Here are some tips to avoid getting scammed: Be skeptical of certain climate jargon like “carbon neutral” and “CO_two compensated.” Watch out for vague terms like “make a change” or “make a greener choice.”

And question comparative and superlative claims like “50% less plastic” and “the greenest option.” (Ask yourself: what exactly are they comparing the product to?)

Replace beef

Rating: moderate

Food systems are responsible for about 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions produced by humans, and almost 60% of these come from animal products. A large source is ruminants, such as cows and goats, which release methane during their digestion process and are linked to emissions through deforestation used to create both them and their food.

“Ruminant meat produces about seven times more emissions and uses about seven times more land than chicken and pork to consume the same amount of protein,” says Raychel Santo, a food and climate researcher at the NGO World Resources Institute.

“They use about 20 times more land and produce about 20 times more emissions than lentils and beans.”

This means that replacing beef with other animal proteins or, better yet, beans, legumes and other plant-based foods can be an effective way to reduce your own emissions footprint.

Replace beef, pet edition

Rating: moderate

If changing your own diet seems like too big a resolution — or if you’re so excited that you want to change the entire household’s diet — think about your pets.

If the 163 million pet dogs and cats in the U.S. formed their own country, their meat consumption would be the fifth highest in the world, according to a 2017 study. But there’s a growing industry dedicated to changing the diets of cats and dogs. using climate-friendly alternatives, including plants and insects.

Get Creative When Cooling Your Home

Rating: moderate

In the face of rising temperatures, air conditioning offers an effective and popular way to stay cool. But air conditioners also contribute to the climate crisis by adding pressure to local energy supplies, amplifying the urban heat island effect and using refrigerant elements, which are potent greenhouse gases.

Instead of running the air conditioner unrestrictedly during hot days and nights, consider a gentler approach. Examples include making sure your air conditioner is the right size, avoiding cooking when the air conditioner is on, and using smart thermostats to help control when and how you stay cool.

To keep your home cooler through design tweaks, consider outdoor shutters (which are more effective than indoor curtains or blinds) and climbing plants to add shade.

Buy an electric stove

Rating: challenging

If you’re looking to make larger home climate renovations, consider starting in the kitchen. Replacing a gas stove with an electric alternative solves two problems at once: It reduces emissions and air pollution that can trigger or worsen asthma.

Gas stoves can release this pollution even when they are turned off, and households with gas stoves are routinely exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution, according to a recent study in Europe.

Unlike conventional electric stoves, which can be slow to heat up and cool down, modern induction stoves are quick, convenient, and even stylish.

“It’s better than gas at high heat, it cooks at low heat, the responsiveness is the same,” says Sue Bailey, a former Viking executive who for years helped sell gas stoves to consumers. “There are so many benefits to these stoves from the cooking aspect.”

Buy an electric car

Rating: challenging

If you’re planning to buy a new car, there’s never been a better time to opt for an electric car. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., which means reducing emissions will involve replacing fossil fuel-powered cars and trucks with electric alternatives.

This transition is already underway: the United States market has more than 50 models available, and the United Kingdom has more than 70.

To encourage the exchange of internal combustion vehicles for electric vehicles, many countries offer tax incentives linked to the purchase of an electric vehicle. In the United States, there are also state programs that include payment to drivers who deliver old, polluting cars.

China, the world’s largest electric vehicle market, offers manufacturers subsidies, local government rebates and widely accessible government-subsidized charging stations.

Abandon the car completely

Rating: challenging

Sometimes having your own car may not be necessary. Consider using public transport, cycling, scootering or even carpooling to work. Some companies even encourage this change.

At the Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, in the US state of Arkansas, for example, the company has a goal that 10% of its employees will use means of transport other than a single-occupancy car by 2025.

In Culdesac Tempe, Arizona, a new community is being built with the goal of being car-free. Meanwhile, developers in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Houston are also experimenting with projects that intentionally exclude parking space.