3 Top Actions You Can Take for Conservation and the Planet

Individual Action Matters

“There is no question that individual behavior change is an important tool in the arsenal to stop the climate crisis,” said Brookings Senior Fellow Dana Fisher. Analysis by Project Drawdown even quantified the impact, finding that individual and household actions can result in as much as 30 percent of the emissions reductions needed to avoid dangerous climate change.

Moreover, researchers at the University of Bath in the UK added, small actions you take every day can improve your environment, health and wallet. The most difficult part is knowing which changes you can make will actually make a difference.

What to Do

The key question, then, is what you can do that will have the greatest impact. While there are hundreds of actions that can help, there is a general consensus among researchers and other experts that 3 things individuals do will have the biggest effect:

• 1) Eat a plant rich diet and waste less of it.
• 2) Drive and fly less.
• 3) Use less energy.

One is changing how you eat and store food. Eating a plant-rich diet and reducing the amount of food you waste has the greatest impact, researchers at Project Drawdown opined. Along with reducing carbon and methane emissions, cutting meat consumption signals to your grocery store and food producers that consumers want less high-emitting meat and dairy production. About 30 percent of food worldwide is wasted or lost, so reducing the food you waste results in lower methane emissions from landfill and fewer forests being chopped down for land to grow wasted food. University of Leeds researchers similarly said that although a totally vegan diet is most effective, simply switching from beef or lamb to chicken creates sizeable savings. You can also serve smaller portions of meat and more vegetables or try “Meatless Monday” once a week. To reduce waste, buy and cook the right size meals, check the refrigerator regularly to make sure you use food before it spoils, and freeze leftovers.

Another is driving and flying less. The latest IPCC report highlighted that the most effective things to avoid involve transport, University of Leeds researchers noted. Living without a car reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about 2 tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions per person per year, while avoiding a single long distance roundtrip flight cuts emissions by about 1.9 tons. WWF suggested cycling or walking whenever possible, using an electric bike or scooter, taking public transport, and ride-sharing instead of driving your own car. And 56 percent of experts in a survey by The Guardian said reducing flying, cutting back on gas- or diesel-powered transport in favor of electric and taking public transport is most effective.

The third is reducing energy usage, especially in your home. Project Drawdown said generating electricity from coal and natural gas produces about 20-25 percent of the world’s GHG emissions. “It’s absolutely imperative to reduce energy usage,” Project Drawdown’s Crystal Chissell told NBC. WWF said that since energy is primarily generated by burning fossil fuels, the most important things to do are to reducing energy consumption and switching to renewable energy. And Leeds researchers suggested improving carbon efficiency at home by adding insulation, using heat pumps, or installing solar panels. You can also turn the air conditioning or heating temperature lower, turn off lights and electronic devices, air dry your clothes and buy energy-efficient appliances.

Magnify your Impact.

While individual actions are important, sharing what you do and voting magnify your personal impact. “Think of your social network as your conservation superpower,” Yale Climate Connections suggested. “We all have friends and family who trust us. If you can encourage just one other person to change their behavior, this can double your environmental impact.” The Guardian found in its survey that 76 percent of experts said the most effective action is voting for politicians who pledge strong climate measures, where fair elections take place.

Clean energy advocate Aliya Haq similarly told the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that even though “change only happens when individuals take action, “ the single biggest way to make an impact on global climate change is to “talk to your friends and family, and make sure your representatives are making good decisions.”

The positive impact of your actions may be even greater than you imagine. Behavioral scientists at Rare analyzed the impact of 7 personal choices on climate change: switching to an EV, reducing air travel, eating a plant-rich diet, offsetting carbon, reducing food waste, tending carbon-sequestering soil and purchasing green energy. If 10 percent of people in each category adopted a reduction behavior, total US greenhouse gas emissions would decrease by 8 percent, which would shrink the gap between what was promised in the Paris Agreement and where it is now by 80 percent.

Individual actions to reduce climate change clearly do matter, and doing your part to reduce GHG emissions can indeed help save the planet.

First Published in Living in Singapore Magazine, https://issuu.com/singaporeame..., page 36