ecollective’s How to make the Changes to your Life that will Reduce your Carbon Footprint

Our founder, Charlie, ponders how you can take global climate solution theory and apply it to your life.
I’ve just finished reading a pretty smart book. It was called Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.
(Drawdown is the point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to decline, thereby stopping catastrophic climate change.)
It’s written by a group of big hitters who have come up with a set of “realistic and bold” solutions that, according to them, will help the world reach “drawdown” by mid-century.

I think they could be onto something.

They rank possible solutions to the climate crisis by the amount of greenhouse gases they’ll save, plus the viability and effectiveness within their ecological, economic, political climates. For example, a top solution is reducing food waste. Roughly one-third of the world’s food is never eaten. By reducing loss and waste, we can reduce the need for land and resources used to produce food, as well as the greenhouse gases released in the process. It also has added benefits for water, biodiversity and the economy.

If I was voted in as PM, this is where I would start. I think we can all take this thinking and apply it to our daily lives.

For example, these will all reduce your carbon footprint:

  • Exchange your car for an electric car

  • Take the train to your holidays instead of flying

  • Eat way less meat and way more vegetables

  • Spend less on new clothes

  • Cycle to work, rather than driving

  • Swap to a renewable energy provider

But it could be that you love cheese and losing one of your life’s joys would make you miserable. So for you, it would be better to commit to cycling to work, as it’s something you’re actually going to do.

We all have to make tough decisions, let’s prioritise the changes that lower our footprint and increase our quality of life.

Feel free to share your ranking with me, and I’ll share mine too.

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