Posted On: 2022-03-06 14:56:26
In our last blog "Human activities affecting the environment" we discussed all the actions that are changing the climate drastically. Our climate, planet, lives, and tomorrow as well-civilized humans are all at risk. Human activities have caused hundreds of more extinctions of plants and animals in the last two centuries than the extinctions that occur naturally. Climate solutions can help in preventing these problems, creating a more equitable world and bringing the worst-off closer to a low-carbon future.
Healing the planet starts with your home, in your kitchen, and in your garage. We are not alone. People, communities, cities, businesses, schools, faith groups and other communities are taking action.
The core to all climate change solutions is reducing greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, which must get to zero as soon as possible.
Because both forests and seas play vitally crucial roles in controlling our climate, increasing the natural ability of forests and oceans to soak carbon dioxide can also help stop global warming.
We can control our own contribution to climate change while also saving money. Here are a dozen easy, effective ways each one of us can make a difference:
Speak up!
As per the UN (Act Now)- Climate action is a task for all of us. And it concerns all of us. No one can do it all alone – but we can do it together. Speaking up is one way to multiply your impact and create change on a much bigger scale. Appeal to leaders. Encourage businesses to race for zero. Get family, friends and colleagues on board. Let your voice be heard in the public debate.
Join the ActNow campaign initiated by the UN and speak up for climate action today! To contribute to the global count of individual actions, download the mobile app and log the “Speak Up” action each time you use your voice to drive bigger change. This initiative has given a platform for people to speak up for these changes that will negatively impact us.
Here are a few ways you can speak up and make a difference:
Use your voice, use your vote to push for credible climate action.
Ask your city officials to set net-zero targets and join the Race to Zero or C40.
Explore options of participating in this climate change by clicking the link mentioned below: https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/climate-action/act-now
Power your home with renewable energy
An organization that adapts to renewable energy options and is certified by Green-e Energy, choose that organization that generates at least half its power from wind or solar. With these changes, you will start to help the climate change from your home itself. Using more renewable energy means utilising less electricity generated by burning fossil fuels that are not renewable, which emit harmful GHGs. Improve your home's resiliency during power outages by switching to renewable energy resources. When storm-related power outages occur, a home with photovoltaic (PV) panels can generate its electricity.
But more than a billion people still lack access to energy – and these are the people most at risk from the climate emergency!!
Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from the production, use and end-of-life of a product or service. It includes carbon dioxide, the gas most typically emitted by humans, and others, including methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming.
Reducing carbon footprints can help us live a healthier lifestyle, as well as save money and climate. Whether it's cleaner air, a healthier diet, or reduced energy bills, these benefits of reducing your carbon footprint also mean you're doing your bit to combat climate change and maintain biodiversity. By doing this we are ensuring a better world for generations yet to come
Reduce plastic
Plastic is made from oil, and the process of extracting, refining and burning oil into plastic (or even polyester, for clothing) is surprisingly carbon-intense. this process requires a large amount of energy to produce plastics. It doesn’t break down quickly in nature so a lot of plastic is burned, which affects the environment through carbon emissions and other types of airborne pollution.
The market for plastic is rising so fast that creating and disposing of plastics will account for 17% of the global carbon allotment by 2050.
Therefore we need to reduce the use of plastic and start recycling it.
Recycling plastic trash when dropping plastic into a bin for recycling we all assume that it will be processed and used to make new materials, thus decreasing the demand for more new plastic.
While it is likely to be impossible to eliminate plastic completely from our lives, there are steps that can be taken to help reduce the amount which we are using.
Plant trees
Restoration of tropical forests, both sedentary and intended, is now a trend. As forest ecosystems come back to life, trees, soil, leaf litter, and other vegetation absorb and contain carbon, taking it out of the global-warming cycle.
Every year approximately 12 million hectares of forest are destroyed and this deforestation, together with agriculture and other land-use changes, is responsible for roughly 25 % of GHGs emissions. We can all play a part in reversing this trend by planting trees, either individually or as part of a collective. For example, the Plant-for-the-Planet initiative allows people to sponsor tree planting around the world.
Planting trees will protect endangered animal species around the world, help in regulating climate change, provide fresh air and control the levels of humidity. Do your bit in the battle against climate change and even protect the quality of soil and air around the world. Plant a tree now at https://onetreeplanted.org/products/india
Refrigerant Management
Refrigerants persist to affect climate change. Huge volumes of CFCs and HCFCs remain in circulation, including their possibility for ozone damage. Their replacement chemicals, primarily hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), have a minimal harmful effect on the ozone layer, but their capacity to warm the atmosphere is 1,000 to 9,000 times greater than that of carbon dioxide, depending on their precise chemical composition.
The process of phasing out HFCs will evolve over many years, and they will persist in kitchens and condensing units in the meantime. According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 700 million air conditioning units will have come online worldwide by 2030.
Refrigerants currently cause emissions throughout their life cycles, but 90 percent of emissions happen at disposal. After being carefully removed and stored, refrigerants can be purified for reuse or transformed into other chemicals that do not cause warming.
Reduced Food Waste
One-third of all food produced is either lost or wasted. According to UNEP’s Food Waste Index Report 2021, people globally waste 1 billion tonnes of food every year, which accounts for around 8-10 percent of GHGs emissions. Buy what you need, avoid wasting. Take benefit of every edible part of the foods you purchase. Measure portion sizes of rice and other staples before cooking them, store food correctly (use your freezer if you have one), be creative with leftovers, share extras with your friends and neighbours and contribute to local food sharers, Do Not let it go to WASTE! Make compost out of inedible remnants and use it to fertilize your garden. Composting is one of the best options for managing organic waste while also reducing environmental impacts. This will also contribute to promoting positive change in the environment.
Drive a fuel-efficient vehicle
Save fuel and money by driving gas-smart cars, such as hybrids and fully electric vehicles. And once all cars and light trucks meet 2025’s clean car standards, which means averaging 54.5 miles per gallon, they’ll be pillars in travelling without causing climate change.
Transport accounts for around a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions and across the world, many governments are enforcing policies to decarbonize travel. You can start with some changes in your life:
Leave your car at home and walk or cycle whenever possible.
If the distances are too great, choose public transport, preferably electric options.
If you must drive, offer to carpool with others so that fewer cars are on the road.
Get ahead of the curve and buy an electric car.
Reduce the number of long-haul flights you take.
Unplug electronic devices when they aren't in use
Just because a device or appliance appears to be off doesn’t mean it’s not drawing power. . Things like your cable box, laptop, and even your speakers may use almost as much power when they are off but plugged in as when they are on. Group appliances on power strips so you can turn them off at the same time, especially if you’re going on vacation.
Turn them off every night and when they are not in active use. It means making a habit of unplugging appliances to save energy and not leaving them in standby mode.
Family Planning
Family planning is about deciding how many children you choose to have and when you want to have them. Limiting the number of children in a family means more resources for each child and more time for the parents to dedicate to each child.
Challenges to expanding access to family planning range from the basic supply of affordable and culturally appropriate contraception to education about sex and reproduction; from faraway health centres to hostile attitudes of medical providers; from social and religious norms to sexual partners’ opposition to using birth control.
Access to family planning reduces maternal and child mortality and produces better health outcomes, but it also strengthens climate change-affect communities' ability to adapt. With fewer unintended pregnancies, slower population growth reduces pressure on climate-sensitive resources.
Time for action
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, and to feel that climate change is too big to solve. But we already have the answers, now it is a question of making them happen. We need a transformation, one driven by communities and the frontline entities and organisations that serve and understand them. We know these innovators have the skills and tools to push things forward. We’ve seen it happen. But real progress will only come with the backing of committed investors and funders, informed policymakers, and support charities and NGOs.
We as individuals can also play a part by making better choices about where they get their energy, how they travel, and what food they eat. But the best way for anyone to help stop climate change is to take collective action
Author : Lubdha Dhanopia
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