Climate change has come to stay, and the facts of its reality are staring us in the face every day. With the increasing amounts of droughts, hurricanes, and varying temperature degrees, it’s certainly not a reality that we can’t ignore anymore. Everyone must act against climate change because our daily choices will affect the way we’ll live in the coming years.
The natural phenomenon called climate change is a product of large doses of carbon from different natural and human activities on earth. These carbon gas emissions set up a heat cloud that warms the planet at a terrifying pace. While the industrial sector significantly contributes to the amount of carbon that enters the atmosphere, individuals have an undeniable role in these carbon dioxide contributions.
With over 7.7 billion people in the world today, every person, regardless of demography, occupation, or personal preference, has to be more conscious of the emissions they produce and take steps to reduce them. Reducing individual carbon contributions can help prevent climate change and benefit the environment. These deliberate efforts could be as simple as playing live casino games rather than driving to a physical gaming house or sending emails in your workspace rather than using papers.
So, it doesn’t matter where you live, work, or your religious or racial affiliations, you can do little things to help prevent climate change. Following are five deliberate actions you can take to prevent climate change today.
1. Replace the Lights
Replacing CFL bulbs with LED bulbs can significantly help reduce climate change because of the amount of electricity it will save. Moreover, not only do LED lights contribute to reduced carbon emission because they consume less power, but they’re also cheaper and save you the money you’d pay for electricity bills.
Here’s how this happens. The Globally electricity supply heavily relies on coal. But you’d consume less coal with LED bulbs because a LED bulb consumes at least 70% less energy than a conventional bulb. Additionally, LED bulbs last longer than CFL bulbs, implying that industries will produce less, eventually reducing carbon emission rates.
2. Take Public Transportation
While going out in your vehicle is convenient, using private transport significantly contributes to global carbon emissions. Fewer private vehicles reduce congestion on the roads, which eventually results in lower carbon emissions.
Meanwhile, leaving the car behind and taking public transport also helps to cut down greenhouse gas emissions. That’s because motor vehicles emit potentially harmful gases, from carbon dioxide to methane, HFCs, and carbon monoxide. Moreover, apart from using public transportation instead of private, you could take a walk when possible.
Using public transportation or walking can help cut down these emissions by almost 50% and, in turn, take a strong stance against climate change.
3. Use Energy-Efficient Appliances
Technology usage globally has been increasing more than ever, with more appliances, toys, and computers filtering into the market. Meanwhile, daily electric appliances like refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, and other electrical appliances significantly contribute to electricity consumption. These appliances put significant pressure on your electrical system and significantly deplete energy resources.
Moreover, the energy that runs these appliances significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, as they run from fossil-fuel electricity sources. Here’s how using energy-efficient appliances can help eventually reduce your carbon footprint. Consider investing in appliances with the highest energy-efficient ratings. Moreover, purchase equipment based on your home’s or office’s needs.
For example, if a 1.5-ton cooling system is enough for your home, avoid purchasing a 2-ton system. Although energy-efficient appliances may have significantly higher upfront expenses, they will eventually lead to reduced expenditure on your electricity bill. That way, you’ll spend less in the long-term and contribute to a greener planet.
4. Plant a Tree
As the world intends to create a greener planet, planting trees might be one of the best ways to fight climate change. When carbon dioxide gets into the atmosphere, it stays in the atmosphere for a long while. Reducing our gaseous emissions, although highly important, would not help much if there is no means of removing the carbon dioxide in the air. One of the most straightforward ways of doing that is planting trees.
Here’s how this works in eventually reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Trees use carbon dioxide and release oxygen. That means that the more trees in the world, the more carbon dioxide they can remove from the atmosphere. Additionally, the lower the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, the slower the heating rate on the planet.
Individual deliberate actions against climate change don’t have to be extensive or time-consuming. Little changes in different ways can eventually lead to a big difference in the world’s climate conditions. If everyone planted at least one tree, the environmental cost of our greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced.
5. Reduce Your Plastic Waste
Industries use fossil fuels in making plastics. Not only do industries process a significant amount of fossil fuel into the production of plastics, but they also burn another significant amount in fueling the process.
Moreover, over 90% of plastics don’t get recycled, meaning plastics clutter landfills and waste dumps globally. Millions of plastics end up in the world’s oceans and other bodies of water. These inevitably harm the environment and human health.
Industries have over 8 billion metric tons of plastics, and most end up as waste. Meanwhile, global demand for plastics has continued to increase. Throwaway plastics, including disposable plastic cutlery, straws, and other containers, significantly contribute to the global plastic demands.
Since plastics take over 350 years to degrade, all plastics produced are sitting in the world’s landfills and water. Reducing our plastic use is one of the best individual actions you can take to help the world.
The Bottom Line
As shown in this post, individual actions impact the natural environment. These individual actions don’t have to be complex highly-scientific actions – they involve little everyday changes to the way we live, cooperatively impacting the environment.
If everyone partook in the above activities, our collective actions can significantly improve the present climate conditions and make the world a better place for us all.
Author: Amaury Abreu
