The Amazon is burning. Bahamian islands are underwater. What can I do? A great start is to donate to on the ground organizations like Headknowles. Next, if you’re in a privileged enough situation to sit down and think about your business-as-usual routine, consider the following:

Here’s a non-comprehensive list of consumption behaviors you can change (today, tomorrow, whenever you’re ready) to have less of an impact on Pachamama. That’s not to say buying organic and local produce, reducing meat consumption, and avoiding air travel when possible aren’t also meaningful actions, they are. I would like to focus on some of the more hidden costs here. And I promise you there will be no discussion of what material a straw should or should not be made from.

1. Ditch next day delivery. You know the company I’m talking about. Alongside atrocious workplace environments for workers in warehouses and delivery, the logistics of same day delivery undercut the fuel efficiency gains from delivering many packages in the same area around the same time. While it’s hard to pin down environmental impact from e-commerce, it is clear that with large delivery trucks delivering many packages, overall emissions decrease compared to individual drivers visiting the store. This environmental advantage declines the quicker deliveries are made to smaller amounts of customers. So next time you’re about to hit next day, think about if you really need that ladle tomorrow.
2. Switch from a too-big-to-fail bank to a credit union. Which industry makes a killing off fossil fuels other than oil and gas itself? Investment banking, which utilizes consumer banking deposits to conduct it’s trading (to a certain point), relies on the continued burning of fossil fuels through many sectors of industrial society to feed the machine. Why place your money in a bank to fund annually increasing investment in fossil fuel financing when a local credit union can loan that money to a business in your neighborhood? For example, Vancity, a large member-owned credit union in Vancouver, has made a commitment to 50% of its entire loan book impact-focused — affordable housing, non-profits, green business, social entrepreneurs and financial inclusion. Not only is the investment strategy better for your community, many credit unions waive ATM fees and have no monthly fee for a chequing account.
3. Thrift away, my trend-setting friend. From the fertilizers to the land to the water needed to grow cotton all the way down to the dyeing, washing and rinsing, denim manufacture is a heavy water user. It’s not only denim that has a large water footprint. Areas where the majority of the world’s textiles are produced, are also those which experience periods of water stress each year. When you have a few minutes, go down to that second hand store and see what they’ve got. Maybe like Macklemore, you will feel like you are having an experience that is “outside of the box” and you will decide to write a song about it.
4. Choose Green Power with your utility provider. You wouldn’t know it amid the meaningless cacophony over this, but over 850 utilities across the US (and all utilities in Canada, granted this is the default for many [hydro]) provide a way to choose green power like solar or wind. When you opt in, the utility either generates power from renewable sources or buys renewable energy credits. RECs are traded across the US so purchasing these either through your utility or through a provider, you’re supporting clean energy development in solar in North Carolina, for example.

And most importantly, get engaged! Pressure your local, state/provincial, and national representatives to support financial incentives to spur clean energy and to end fossil fuel subsidies. I hope it’s clear that this list is an not exercise in letting global corporations off the hook. We know the largest multinationals contribute to the bulk of emissions. There’s going to be a long battle ahead. But what do we have to lose, other than everything?

[If anybody else has suggestions to being less of POS consumer, please let me know!]