We are almost all invested in solving the climate crisis, with many on the sidelines who want to contribute, but need to know how. There are so, so many ways to fight back, from seemingly insignificant decisions to full frontal engagement with politicians, shareholders and CEOs. I am hopeful for many reasons, but that is not this diary’s focus. The main objectives are putting/keeping the climate emergency front and center, where it belongs, and offer ways for YOU to engage and use your unique talents to stop the damage. Healing the earth’s environment and stopping the extinctions are, in my opinion, the most important things we can do.
I am not an expert on this topic, just very enthusiastic about the topic which I feel needs a lot more attention, and more paid to the solutions.
The climate crisis is (IMO) by far the most pressing problem we face — on Daily Kos, on all media, on our entire planet. Our planet. It belongs to all of us — at least everyone born on it. It does not just belong to the tiny percentage causing most of the harm. We are the stewards of our amazing earth and we must focus on stopping human–caused climate change! Climate change might be the result of many factors, but humans have probably caused the vast majority in the past 150 years, and continue to speed it up. Does that mean we must all go back to pre-industrial lives of harder labor and less automation? Absolutely not! But it does mean that we all need to be working toward this goal, or face consequences beyond most of our imaginations.
We have the responsibility — we have the ability to respond. The wooly mammoths couldn’t escape extinction from climate change 4000 years ago, because they lacked the ability to respond. We need help to stop climate change. We need you; you need us; nobody will accomplish much by themselves. That’s OK, because we can literally move mountains when we all cooperate. The crisis we are facing will continue to worsen — likely for decades — but you can slow it down — until we have more and better solutions, or at least to increase our time on this planet. The solutions are heavily weighted on participation and coordination — globally to very localized. Solutions continue to show up, including breakthroughs in biology, medicine, chemistry, and technological accomplishments. We need to do our part and implement them.
Daily Kos does have a number of people publishing excellent articles about the effects of climate change, including Pakalolo, Meteor Blades and FishOutOfWater. Hats off to all of the climate authors — they are tireless in their coverage. There are also diaries published about solutions, but typically get less visibility, recently highlighted by the diary On “Daily Kos, the best response is people power” But not so much DK’s environmental response :-( by mikeymikey. One recent example and an excellent resource for “what can I do to help?” is We Get The Future We Create: Saturdays GNR by GoodNewsRoundup. I love this sentence near the top:
Good news doesn’t come without hard work. It doesn’t come without effort.
So true! This diary by Gardening Toad, who focuses on local environment and especially permaculture, has a short but powerful sentence summarizing a focus of this diary:
We have the solutions to society’s problems, but we have to implement them.
(emphasis theirs)
Luckily there are an AMAZING number of ways you can save our planet’s environment! So many organizations — new and established — are joining forces on the struggle of a lifetime — the fight of the millennia!! The lists of things we can do is constantly expanding. Here are some of the ones that stood out to me:
What can I do?
- Shop at Freecycle, Craigslist (change to your city), and others instead of buying new
- Recycle, fix, or hire someone to help fix items before buying
- Reduce consumption — waste is another big opportunity to stop climate change. Food is a great example. If we can stop buying and throwing away food, that is huge. That wasted food was likely produce with petroleum, herbicides, and insecticides. Please help to stop wasting our precious food!
- Shop local
- Buy organic
- Buy clothes made with natural fibers instead of synthetic (often plastic)
- Wear your clothes longer — you can wear older clothes at home
- Recycle old textiles if you don’t use them
- Grow food and help feed people
- Advocate, write letters, start petitions
- Run for something
- Vote for anyone supporting environmental solutions over those who don’t
- Join a group researching ways to fight our climate crisis
- Donate to goodwill, shelters, etc…
- Install solar or join a local community solar project
- Fly less (or not at all!)
- Vacation locally
- Drive less, plan multiple trips ahead
- From the White House” Climate corps: “In its first year, the American Climate Corps will put more than 20,000 young people on career pathways in the growing fields of clean energy, conservation and climate resilience.”
- Vox reports on 11 of the most high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based organizations you can contribute directly to, many which you might not have heard of before.
- Charity Watch also has a section on Environment & Climate Change Charities
- Permaculture and regenerative life — thanks again Gardening Toad!
- Plant perennial edible native plants (fruits, berries, seeds, nuts)
- Plant some non-native food source plants too, but be careful with invasive species! With climate change our plant hardiness zones are changing
- Get involved in community gardens
- Stop caring for your lawn and grow some food, like a victory orchard or garden
- Learn to create things from leftover materials — textiles, wood, metals, etc…
- Buy ugly veggies
- Join a fruit tree harvest group like Village Harvest or the Portland Fruit Tree Project
- Be a gleaner
- Eat MORE whole grains, fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes
- Consume MORE locally grown/produced foods and beverages
- Eat LESS meat, processed foods, BOTTLED WATER (this topic could make for a good diary by itself), individually packaged (especially plastic) foods, imported, long-haul trucked, shipped, or air freighted foods
- Build a greenhouse for a couple hundred bucks by using free on Craigslist (boards, windows, etc… and make a custom greenhouse for your space)
- Plant garden cover crops like fava beans for green mulch in the spring
- Cover garden beds with mulch instead of weeding (and NEVER plastic)
- Compost your weeds instead of giving them to the city
- Use the internet for what it is best at: sharing ideas, skills, knowledge all around the world. In real time even! Maybe learn a useful skill like cooking, welding, gardening, carpentry, etc… (I fixed our flat-screen TV twice by pulling the mother board and baking it in the oven)
- Make a list of your climate action goals and stick it where you will see it!
Absolutely everything you do probably has an impact on our environment — good or bad. Even seemingly insignificant things like popping your own popcorn (organic if you can) vs. using a microwave to cook processed plastic wrapped popcorn.
Excellent ways to be the solution are also available at a large number of websites including Project Drawdown, who boast an amazing list of solutions! I love the opening of the “Get Involved” page:
The most important climate solution is YOU.
Obviously I agree. There are also excellent resources right here for good news and breakthroughs, including Green Revolution, Climate/Environment, Kosowatt, EV Revolution and Climate Hawks (likely more as well). Back in September Help Kos have his "Come to Mother Earth" moment regarding the Climate Crisis graced the site with some wise words on the Climate Change topic, ending with:
It’s way past time. So let’s buckle down and do what has got to be done.
Excellent end to this diary also. We can do this.
