Climate change is large-scale shifts in weather patterns caused by global warming that are made worse by human-driven greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions mostly come from factories and other man-made sources. They cause acid rain, forest fires, the Earth to warm rapidly, inhospitable environments for growing food, and ice to melt. The Earth is gradually becoming warmer than it should be and if humanity continues to kill the planet for financial gain, it will become more and more difficult to inhabit the globe. Scientists predict we will cross the global warming threshold, the period in which we will not be able to even try to reverse climate change, as early as 2027.
Even though it may not seem like it, the average person has the power to help reverse climate change as much as possible. There are a number of actions a person can take at home to reduce their carbon footprint and take pressure off the rest of the world. These can be flying less when you travel, joining an environmental group and protesting, taking legal action and bringing a case against your government at any level, and using appliances like the dryer less, washing clothes with cold water, buying energy-efficient light bulbs, and getting an electric stove.
You can also take it one step further and stop purchasing new clothes and instead, borrow clothes like youth activist Greta Thunberg. Ceasing to buy new clothes cuts down on the greenhouse gases and other pollution it takes to make them. Clothes are actually recyclable through retailer’s recycling programs. Of course, one family doing this will not change the world, but educating as many people as you can on this practice will surely lead to less pressure on the environment. At the very least, you can buy second-hand clothes.
You can also buy second-hand for almost everything you own if you’re comfortable with that. You can purchase second-hand appliances, furniture, and shoes. On a bigger scale, you can join or start an environmental group to protest to catch the attention of leaders who can make changes to begin to reverse climate change. You can bring a case against our government at any level for infringing on your human right to have a safe environment in which to live our life. You can protest outside the White House or any government building like Greta does every Friday to pressure leaders to start helping the environment.
You can write your congressman or other legislators to influence them to divert their energy and efforts to this issue. You can switch to solar and wind energy by putting solar panels on your house or petitioning/protesting for more wind turbines to be built. You can also try to use mass transit if it’s easily available to you. You can even help by supporting environmentally friendly businesses or businesses that are interested in reducing their carbon footprint.
Vote for representatives that have been vocal about their desire to help end climate change and that you are sure will mostly represent your interests on the topic. If they don’t live up to their expectations, write to them, protest where they’re sure to see you, or use the internet or social media to get their attention. You can also buy an electric car. Tesla, Nissan, and Chevrolet all have electric cars.
They can be expensive, the lowest price is $29,000, but worthwhile to become one less person to contribute to pollution. Eating less meat and dairy will also decrease the effects of climate change. The meat and dairy industries are one of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters and if they produced less, the carbon footprint would decrease greatly. Ideally, this would happen if millions of people stopped consuming meat and dairy, but it’s a start if you and your family or friends stopped. There are many ways you can help fight climate change as just one person, the only matter is which to choose!
