The Misconception
A common misconception is that there are no actions individuals can take to tackle the climate crisis without significant negative impacts to our daily lives.
The climate crisis can often feel like such a massive, complicated problem that it quickly becomes overwhelming. It is true that stabilizing the climate will require fundamental and large-scale structural change, but that does not mean individual action is not a part of that work.
We can adopt climate-friendly practices as part of our own lifestyles, but we can also keep ourselves informed and hold politicians and institutions accountable.
Perhaps the most important individual actions are those that we partake in with other people. There are many people doing this work, and by finding ways to join them (such as volunteering with your local Sierra Club Chapter!), your impact can be even greater.
Individual actions do not have to be sacrifices; in fact, they may enrich your life. Becoming a part of the climate movement may help you realize your own power to make a difference.
Individual Impact on Big Scale Action
Collective action is key to change, and it is made up of many individual actions! Take for example any of the following ways you can impact the larger system:
Contacting your representatives to encourage them to support the change to clean energy. Advocate for your city or state to move to zero waste, and ASAP. Remember to think in an intersectional way to achieve both climate and social justice. What does contacting your reps look like?
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Call or email them
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Schedule an in-district meeting with them (as someone who represents you)
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Attend statewide meetings on budget discussions
Contacting your energy utility to push for company change. In the transition to renewable energy, encourage companies to support employees by training them to work in these new sectors of energy.
Focus on how to best use your consumer power as a vehicle to drive change. Invest in businesses that are focusing on making change. For example, you could switch to a credit card company that doesn’t invest in fossil fuels - research is your friend!
Run for local office and be the change you want to see.
Make public comments and / or give testimony at hearings. Many governmental agencies, like the Public Service Commission or the Department of Natural Resources, hold public comment periods and hearings on permits they’re considering. The goal of these meetings is to hear from you! You can use your voice to demand they make decisions that align with your values.
Share this information with your social circle to encourage them to join you in taking action. And check out this blog to learn more about how you, with your skills, interests, and connection to community, can make change.
Individual Impact in your own life
In addition to helping build collective power, taking action in your own life is a good way to stay focused on big scale change, a way to share your values with others, and a way to impact your community. Here are some examples:
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Vote
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Talk about climate change in social situations, and why reversing it is important to you
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Consider how climate change or pollution is related to your career and the decisions you make at work. Everything is connected!
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Plant trees, a vegetable garden, or a flower garden
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Get outside, see nature, take children with you
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Walk, bike, take the bus or the train!
The outcome we envision
One of the most important things we can do is be clear about what we’re working toward. Instead of just running from fossil fuels, what lifestyle are we running to?
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We look forward to energy efficient buildings and comfortable living spaces from low-energy design and weatherization upgrades. This means less money spent on utilities! Currently, the building sector contributes 40% of annual global CO2 emissions. Architects and builders are now implementing energy-saving materials, construction, and operations to stop carbon emissions as quickly as possible.
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We look forward to mass electrification to decarbonize community buildings and households. By replacing every gas cooktop, furnace, and hot water heater with electric-run devices, buildings throughout vast regions will be connected to reliable renewable energy grids. These smart-grids are more capable of meeting the demand of power use and redirecting it to areas of greater need as circumstances change. This reduces the threat of power outages and lowers the cost of electricity to a better extent than what our current grid systems provide. Fossil fuel giants are in trouble because the cost of extracting and refining coal and natural gas is rising while the demand for these standard forms of energy is decreasing. It is more costly to run a coal-fired power plant than ever before and that cost is transferred to customers. In contrast to what some say, it is possible to transition to mass electrification with 100% renewable energy more quickly if we choose to rather than holding onto increasingly expensive and less available power from fossil fuels.
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We look forward to more decentralization of energy ownership. Have you heard of individuals with roof-top solar systems who sell back energy to the utility company when their solar panels provide more than they need? This is called net metering. Net metering benefits individuals, small businesses, and communities from producing their own electrical energy or taking part in local shared solutions. It lowers the cost of electricity, improves access to renewables for all, and avoids electricity shut-offs. When energy production is decentralized, it becomes more efficient in response to daily and seasonal fluctuations in energy demand. This would also decrease our reliance on foreign fossil fuels while stimulating jobs and supporting our local economy.
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We look forward to reduced CO2 emissions and waste in landfills and waterways from environmentally conscious manufacturing, labeling, and distribution of goods. Carbon labeling refers to a new process coming on-board world-wide that estimates a product’s environmental impact from “cradle to grave”. This number describes the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere in the creation, transportation, use, and termination of a product. It is measured in grams or kilograms of carbon. Restaurants may provide carbon labels to menu items indicating the “carbon cost” of the meal. This labeling process still needs some refining and regulation as it becomes wide-spread but holds promise in shifting us to a greener economy. Carbon labeling guides consumers to choose products with a low carbon cost. It offers transparency similar to labeling that provides information about calories or sodium levels. This encourages consumers to support local sellers and natural-made ingredients.
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We look forward to improved health for life on the planet. The connection between global warming and illness or death from natural disasters, toxic air and water, and insect-borne infectious disease is well established. Scientists have warned us for decades about the influence of global warming on catastrophic weather extremes. Severe changes will occur if we continue to burn fossil fuels at the current rate and these changes are costly. The cost of medical treatment from toxins and infections, relocation from inhabitable areas, lost wages and productivity associated with disrupted lifestyles, and the burden on families from those with premature deaths are occuring now and expected to steadily increase.We must quickly put an end to harmful fossil fuel dependency and adopt renewable energy from solar, wind, and geothermal sources in bold response to our threatened planet.