Personal Action

The world takes 100 billion tons of materials from the earth every year, and 93 percent of it ends up in the trash one way or another. How can we treat everything that passes through our hands as precious and valuable – and do everything we can to both limit the flow and honor what flows. David Radcliff, New Community Project, April 10, 2023.

There are some things that we can do as individuals to reduce climate change. We will start with the largest problem and work down. NY Times published a quiz to help determine how best to shrink your carbon footprint. (But see below about 'carbon footprint'.)

From Katharine Hayhoe:

Climate action in 3 steps:

1. Reduce everything we can, as much as we can, first.

2. Offset the rest (which is impossible to do if we don't reduce everything we can first).

3. Build resilience to the impacts we can no longer avoid.

Why? Because the only other choice is suffering.

Here are some specific tips. And tips from Columbia University.

Transportation

You control your own transportation, and that is a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. By far the best way to reduce transport emission is to walk, bicycle, or simply stay home.

Stop flying -- especially small private planes.

Buy an electric vehicle now or wait? Here’s how to decide, Washington Post, April 11, 2023. Considering An EV Purchase? Think Like A Fleet Manager, Forbes, Apr 19, 2023.

Buying an electric vehicle (EV) will help, but that incurs emissions during production. If you live in an area with considerable solar power (e.g. Taos) and can charge your vehicle when the sun is shining, then an EV will help. But Scoring The World’s Automakers On Their EV Supply Chains to see which manufacturing is better. First, you’ve got to drive a long way before you overcome your EV’s embedded carbon debt.

Pickup trucks are very popular, and the bigger, the better. But Just How Good for the Planet Is That Big Electric Pickup Truck?, NY Times, Feb. 18, 2023.

Global Emissions

Vehicle-to-Home diagram

New Car

What's the carbon footprint of ... a new car?, The Guardian, Sep 20, 2010.

Diet

As individuals, the simplest way to affect the climate is to stop eating red meat and dairy. Beef and dairy are very inefficient uses of land and water.

Which food is better for the planet? Washington Post, Feb 1, 2023. Consider the environmental footprints of some common dietary staples, including meat, fish, dairy and eggs and crops.

The Mediterranean Diet Really Is That Good for You. Here’s Why. NY Times, Jan. 7, 2023

Going vegan can dramatically cut the carbon footprint of your diet, The Economist, Apr 11th 2023.

Climate-friendly, delicious foods:

Is Tofu Good for You?, NY Times, April 7, 2023

Home Heating

Ways to make your home more energy efficient, NY Times, Feb 16, 2023

5 Ways to Save in 2023 with Home Energy Tax Credits, Dept of Energy, Feb 3, 2023.

Home heating fuel varies by location, Washington Post, March 6, 2023. Taos is largely natural gas, with Carson dominated by wood.

Offsets

Carbon offsets may be useful. But planting trees will take 50-100 years to reduce any greenhouse gasses. Capping abandoned oil and gas wells has much more immediate effect.

Airlines want you to buy carbon offsets. Experts say they’re a ‘scam.’ Washington Post, April 17, 2023

Carbon Footprint

The Carbon Footprint Sham, a concept invented by British Petroleum (BP) in 2004, to push responsibility for global warming onto individuals. Big oil coined ‘carbon footprints’ to blame us for their greed, The Guardian, Aug 23, 2021.

Your personal 'carbon footprint' is a scam meant to transfer corporate responsibility to the individual, Nov 14, 2021.

Cooking

There has recently (January 2023) been a big fuss over gas cook stoves. Cooking uses very little energy, relative to our other activities. But gas stoves are a way to start talking about the climate crisis. The pipeline from gas (or oil) well to your stove is the much bigger problem. Methane (the principal component of natural gas) is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than in carbon dioxide — which is produced when gas is burned. The pipelines stretch many miles between your stove and the well, and this is not monitored for gas leaks, which are plenty.

I have not removed my stove, but most of my cooking is now on an induction ‘hot’ plate. This plugs into an ordinary power socket. I can control the heat or temperature much more easily than on the gas stove. It has a timer which will turn off the heat after a set time. I had to buy this small saucepan because my old pan was not magnetic, but my cast iron Dutch oven and fry pans and omelet pan and wok work great. I can leave a spoon in the pot while cooking, and the handle does not get hot because there is no waste heat around the sides of the saucepan.

You don’t need to trust me. Trust a number of professional chefs about induction stoves.

Induction Cooktop Buying Guide, Forbes, March 9, 2022.

Couter-top

Induction Cooker

Shopping

Simply buy less stuff. Frequent thrift shops for purchases and contribute stuff to them.

Banking

Banks use your money to invest in business activity. Some banks fund projects that damage the environment. You can move your money, though the process might be painful. Or you might protest banking activity. 3/21/23 Bank Protest is Gathering Momentum By the Hour.

Citibank tries to fool some nuns, who are not fooled, Bill McKibben, APR 11, 2023.

Electric Supply

If you have the money and can find a vendor, and have a house with the correct orientation and roof, you can put solar panels on the roof. My experience with a solar panel installer has not been stellar, but they are not yet installed, either.

But for others: How to run your house on clean electricity, no solar panels required. What Is Community Solar?, Inside Climate News, February 23, 2023. Electric vehicles can now power your home for three days, Washington Post, Feb 17, 2023.

We in Taos are fortunate to have lots of sunshine and a forward-thinking electric utility. In other parts of the country getting solar and wind power to users is a problem. The U.S. Has Billions for Wind and Solar Projects. Good Luck Plugging Them In, NY Times, Feb. 23, 2023.

See Power Sources page on this website.

Summary

One Part of the Solution: So what might we do if we took our role in harming and healing the climate seriously? Seeing the photos of Greenland from the previous page, someone asked “what are some things we can do in our own homes to help the climate?”

In no particular order we suggested: drive our cars as little as possible (1 mile = 1 pound of CO2); eat lower on the food chain (going vegetarian can save 1.5 tons of greenhouse gases per year); adjust the thermostat and use sweaters and lap blankets in the winter and nighttime cooling in the summer; install solar panels if this is feasible for your home; set your hot water heater at only as warm as you really need it; plant trees (when a tree matures the shade provides as much cooling as two window air-conditioning units); in general, consume less stuff, because energy goes into everything that we purchase; really work at reducing food waste (if food waste was a nation, it would be the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases); hang onto clothing as long as possible, as that industry is responsible for 6% of our greenhouse gases; wash clothes in cooler water and air dry them (90 percent CO2 savings); alert others around us to what’s happening, letting them know what you are doing personally, and how we need to change the system to allow for more climate-friendly behavior, like getting our communities to put in bike lanes, setting community goals for carbon emissions, and incentivizing good behavior (handy recharging stations, deposits on aluminum cans, BYOB [bring your- own-shopping-bag] discounts); tell politicians you care about this issue and ask them what they are doing about it. Those are a few ideas…do we dare?

from New Community Project, April 15, 2023

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