What Can We Do to Help Reverse Climate Change NOW?

We have to understand the emergency of the situation. Our leadership has failed us.… 
We need to get angry, and transform that anger into action.

~ Greta Thunberg, Swedish teenager taking action to stop global climate change

As predicted, we're having more and more extreme weather events worldwide. As bad as it is now, this will continue getting worse unless and until we take responsibility for our collective actions and reverse climate change. If we can do it before the climate becomes too broken, which is coming soon. 

So let's act as if our house were at risk of being burned or flooded, and our neighbors’. Let's act as if the well-being of all that we love is at stake. Because it is.

So What Can We Do? 
Books have been written. But I'll put out some ideas to get you started.


(1) Act as if your house were at risk of being burned or flooded. What would your future self wish you had done now, while you still could? What would you wish you had done to tell your children and grandchildren as they live in this future world?

(2) That commitment can drive you to look at action options. There's plenty written once you start looking. Commit to taking X amount of your day or week on this. Include your children to teach them participation and empowerment. Act with friends and allies if that helps you get going. Handle your own objections. 

(3) Look for the highest impact options that you can do. Where can you get a big payoff in reducing your impact? What are you doing now that's most harmful? What will have the biggest impact for the planet?

(4) You don’t have to do everything. Look at your resources and needs. You can also get other benefits, such as saving money, looking good, being positioned for the future, serving your customers better, etc.

(5) You can set targets for yourself. Be bold but realistic, and increase them as they’re met.

Consider What You Can Do in the Arenas of Your Life

TRANSPORTATION
* If you drive a lot, consider getting an electric or hybrid car. Various sources can help you pay for it. A used car is great, if you can find the right match, to save money and keep that car going.
* At least get an highly-energy efficient vehicle. 
* Be more efficient with your driving. Plan errands to combine them. Carpool. Also increase efficiency by taking the bus or train. Or bike or walk and get your exercise too!

POWERING YOUR HOUSE
* Get an energy evaluation of your house to improve your house's efficiency. Insulation, etc. can help you save money too!
* If you have a high electric bill, improve your house's efficiency first before considering solar panels. There are various financing programs and tax benefits that can help with affordability of both.

WORK & SCHOOL
* Consider how you can get your workplace or school more aligned with the climate needs. Look at transportation, building power, etc. But also look at the products and services you offer, and your internal infrastructure, and how those can be eco-powered too. And help your customers be energy-smart too. You might even come up with a cool customer offering this way!
* Get there by carpool, bus, walking, etc. So many people are making the same trip every day, and burning up so much fuel to do it.

COMMUNITY 
* Support candidates and officials acting in a committed way to reverse climate change. We need systemic change. Acknowledge those who stick their neck out to be bold. Get rid of those who want to feed the oil companies while the planet burns.
* Find community groups working on this that you can support. A check is nice. But also get on their email alerts list. See how you might use your gifts to help ensure their success.
* Tell your friends. Get them excited about taking actions to stop climate destruction. People are finally seeing the effects. But it means that we're very late in trying to reverse the harm we've already done.

These ideas are just to get you started. There are many ideas out there, for both individual and community-level action. We need both!

Feel free to comment with your favorite actions here!

Let's do this. Let's know what we've done all we can. Literally, the fate of the planet is at stake! That's when heroes love to arise.

-- In service, 
Patricia Dines (aka EcoGirl)



I first published this on Facebook on 10/3/17.

Blog content (c) Copyright Patricia Dines, 2017 - 2019. All rights reserved. Links are encouraged! My content is also available for reprint. Please don't copy and paste this content without permission. Thanks!

• • •

I hope you enjoyed this piece and I welcome your thoughts. Tell me what you like about it, or any other constructive thoughts you want to share. Thanks!