A climate scientist’s five steps to minimizing your personal impact on this earth
As a climate scientist, I belong to a very depressed group. We tried, using logic, to express how climate change would damage the world around us such as cooking the Great Barrier Reef or melting the Thwaites glacier but we learnt that no one really cared. Then we tried to outline how much impact climate change would have on water resources or farming production or fish stocks or infectious diseases but again the warnings were modified by the desire to consume even more of basically everything even it meant a reduction in sustainability. So we scientists now watch in horror as we enter the era of Fads. Become a vegan, wear recycled clothes, eat a soya hamburger, skip school on Fridays, put a solar cell on your house, drive an electric car, sponsor a koala to live in the blackened bush and the world will be saved. Just DO something, as long as it does not affect the next skiing holiday or the lifestyle that is typical of the twenty first century for the privileged few. So what can be done that will actually make a difference?? Here I outline some informed suggestions.
Firstly, reduce ALL expenditure. Yep, you read it right. All items that are consumed, all services that are utilized, all utilities that operate use carbon based energy to some degree. Those organic vegetables you bought in the market were certainly grown using a diesel-powered tractor, transported by a diesel-powered truck and sold with refrigeration and lights from coal-powered electricity. Every single item of clothing, food, electronics, and transport has used carbon-based fuel somewhere along the way. The only way to reduce your carbon footprint is to reduce all expenditure. I am not referring here to buying the cheapest product as this may have been subsidized to compete against local products. There are many cases where buying a more expensive item is a good long-term investment that will save you money. Spend a little time to examine all your bills and make plans to reduce. Switch those lights off or even remove the extra bulbs.
The power usage graph is from my January power bill and shows what happens when you switch off power sockets, fans etc. No need for TVs in every room! Take a good hard look at your holiday plans. Do you really need to fly? If all individuals stop spending money on more and more ‘stuff’ the global difference in environmental impact would be amazing. If you want to make a difference then stop making coal and oil valuable through your consumerism, adopt an ascetic lifestyle and free your soul.
Secondly, remove redundancy from your life. If you cycle to work but sometimes use a car when it rains then this needs to change. Toughen up and learn to cycle, walk etc. in all conditions and times, and sell the car! Take away all those conveniences that help make life easy. Once you realize that the only choice you have is the right one then you do not need those extra backup items. This can extend to second fridges for drinks, extra clothes for special occasions and extra food in case of visitors. The quintessential difference in living in a developed economy verses a developing one is quickly observed by the number of redundant systems. Put up with being cold, hot, wet or hungry occasionally and notice the difference. Mmmm seems strangely familiar does it? Well this is how most of the world lives.
Thirdly, waste not, want not or as my Grandma used to say “Willful waste makes woeful want” as she recalled time spent in the depression years. I am regularly horrified to see people order food at a restaurant then return half back to kitchen because they over ordered. The wastage is extraordinary in today’s society. Just walk along the footpaths of wealthy suburbs to see couches/TVs/bicycles/[insert anything you like here] discarded for the local council to pick up. Clothes are the worst offenders by a long way. Second hand charity shops only sell those items that are close to pristine and the rest goes to rags or landfill. Buy wisely and take care to maximize the life of the item including food, food and transport items. Only throw out that clothing item when you really know that you are not able to use it and perhaps it has another destination. Buy natural fibers whenever possible.
Fourthly, devolve all interests in vulnerable investments. If you continue to place resources into industries that make money from unsustainable practices then you are just part of the problem. This can be very hard to find out but there are investments that do not compromise the future. This philosophy also extends to those places compromised by climate change. That delightful cottage on the oceanfront is going to be a money trap in the near future. The log cabin in the forest might be a wonderful escape until the forest fires tear the harmony apart. If buying a house then take steps to remove the dependencies on electricity and gas by insulating and following basic environmentally friendly architectural practices.
Fifth, educate the community around you. The mere fact that you are reading this and not a series of simplified tweets about a complex topic, such as this, shows you are both educated and caring. Extend this to the world around you for we are in the ‘same canoe’ and there is a selfish need to bring the mob along for the ride. Nevertheless, more than just removing the vocal opposition, there is the need to help the younger people develop sophisticated skills to deal with the mess we have created. They desperately need a diverse range of abilities and knowledge that will enable them to find a global space not filled with war and famine. At least they might come to the realization that technology will not save them and that magic carbon extractors operated by robots are simply science fiction.
Sadly, all of these suggestions are linked and codependent. Our actions educate our children and set up the very foundations for our future. We have to embrace a new way of living not just upgrade our appliances to 5 star rating. I hope the children who are embracing Greta’s message on Fridays are also giving up their consuming habits and excessive lifestyles. The temptation to slip into a massive lifelong Boxing day super-special shopping spree is very high but certainly false in terms of happiness. Don’t take my word for it. Instead, just visit a village in the Pacific Ocean islands and marvel at the warmth and happiness that explodes from the children and adults that share a close connection with family and environment. In many respects, the transition to a more sustainable future is just what we need.
