A few weeks ago, I published this article about three misdirected eco-friendly trends. Immediately after it was published, I began to worry that people reading the article might lose enthusiasm for trying to help the environment. Yes, organic food, paper bags, and wood-burning stoves may not be as eco-friendly as they seem, but in no way does that mean we should stop trying to make our lives greener. The Earth warms, the ice melts, the species disappear, and many of the impacts we humans have made on our home are irreversible. But hanging our heads in shame gets us nowhere. We should never stop trying to reduce our impact and save what's left.
So I made a new list: positive, for the new year. Here are three of the many good things that people are doing to save the environment.
1. Eating less meat
As delicious as they may be, animal-based food products are generally no friend to mother Earth. Organic, local, grass-fed, massaged or rare breed, it doesn't matter. It also doesn't matter what you think about the food chain. There is no escaping that meat (unless from insects, pests, or the lab) is terrible for the environment. However, if you can't bring yourself to give up tasty murder, even reducing the amount you eat helps enormously. Let's do away with the labels of vegetarianism and veganism and all their connotations: meat is simply part of a huge food group. Replace meat with high-protein plant products and you will help the environment. Unfortunately, meat consumption per person is increasing throughout the world, but the reduction revolution refuses to die. As the western world begins to accept the idea of semi-vegetarianism, and initiatives such as Meatless Mondays develop, hopefully global meat consumption will eventually decline.
2. Cutting down on transport emissions
It sounds vague, but that is only because there are many ways in which you can cut your transport emissions to drastically reduce your carbon footprint. In this review, researchers found unsurprisingly that going car-free removes a good few toes from your carbon footprint. About 2.4 tonnes per year is a hefty amount to save, and can be done through walking, biking, or taking public transport. However, if you need to rely on a car for transport, buy a more efficient car to reduce your carbon footprint by over a tonne per year. However, as a society, getting rid of car-based transport altogether increases the incentive for high-density housing, which is better for the planet in terms of emissions and energy use. Many people these days are thinking of alternatives to using a car to get around; of course, they save money on fuel, too.
3. Having fewer children
If you really want to do your bit for the environment, this is the big one. Every other possible thing that you personally can do to help the environment pales in comparison to not having children (although it does depend on where you live). That is, of course, assuming your child doesn't end up discovering the secret to cold fusion or perpetual motion. After your days of driving or jetting around the world while eating well-travelled food are over, your children will continue guzzling resources and belching out greenhouse gases, adding 9,441 metric tonnes per child to your carbon footprint. Children are the carbon footprint that keeps on giving. Having one fewer child can save you 58.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year - over 12 times as much as an average passenger car emits.
Although the human race has a long way to go to become sustainable, plenty of people are doing their bit for the environment. New initiatives to cut carbon must be tried, and many lifestyle choices are available that reduce individual carbon footprints. The three listed here are not even scraping the surface of what is possible. I only put three because these days, people are accustomed to reading snappy lists.
Good luck, and don't be afraid to try new things!
So I made a new list: positive, for the new year. Here are three of the many good things that people are doing to save the environment.
1. Eating less meat
As delicious as they may be, animal-based food products are generally no friend to mother Earth. Organic, local, grass-fed, massaged or rare breed, it doesn't matter. It also doesn't matter what you think about the food chain. There is no escaping that meat (unless from insects, pests, or the lab) is terrible for the environment. However, if you can't bring yourself to give up tasty murder, even reducing the amount you eat helps enormously. Let's do away with the labels of vegetarianism and veganism and all their connotations: meat is simply part of a huge food group. Replace meat with high-protein plant products and you will help the environment. Unfortunately, meat consumption per person is increasing throughout the world, but the reduction revolution refuses to die. As the western world begins to accept the idea of semi-vegetarianism, and initiatives such as Meatless Mondays develop, hopefully global meat consumption will eventually decline.
2. Cutting down on transport emissions
It sounds vague, but that is only because there are many ways in which you can cut your transport emissions to drastically reduce your carbon footprint. In this review, researchers found unsurprisingly that going car-free removes a good few toes from your carbon footprint. About 2.4 tonnes per year is a hefty amount to save, and can be done through walking, biking, or taking public transport. However, if you need to rely on a car for transport, buy a more efficient car to reduce your carbon footprint by over a tonne per year. However, as a society, getting rid of car-based transport altogether increases the incentive for high-density housing, which is better for the planet in terms of emissions and energy use. Many people these days are thinking of alternatives to using a car to get around; of course, they save money on fuel, too.
3. Having fewer children
If you really want to do your bit for the environment, this is the big one. Every other possible thing that you personally can do to help the environment pales in comparison to not having children (although it does depend on where you live). That is, of course, assuming your child doesn't end up discovering the secret to cold fusion or perpetual motion. After your days of driving or jetting around the world while eating well-travelled food are over, your children will continue guzzling resources and belching out greenhouse gases, adding 9,441 metric tonnes per child to your carbon footprint. Children are the carbon footprint that keeps on giving. Having one fewer child can save you 58.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year - over 12 times as much as an average passenger car emits.
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| Their footprint may be tiny...but it makes yours a whole lot bigger. |
Although the human race has a long way to go to become sustainable, plenty of people are doing their bit for the environment. New initiatives to cut carbon must be tried, and many lifestyle choices are available that reduce individual carbon footprints. The three listed here are not even scraping the surface of what is possible. I only put three because these days, people are accustomed to reading snappy lists.
Good luck, and don't be afraid to try new things!
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