Are You Doing Enough To Fight Climate Change On Earth Day (& Every Day)?

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On this Earth Day 2019, people in the US say that they’re taking environmentally-friendly actions, yet 44% believe their actions are too small to fight climate change. And 32% don’t feel knowledgeable about the actions they can take.

These and other results from a recent survey of 2,000 individuals in the US from March 22-29, 2019 determined that 82% do realize that carbon emissions play a major role in climate change — unfortunately, only 55% believe they’re doing enough on the individual level to stop it.

According to the 6th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in October, 2018, titled “Global Warming of 1.5 ºC,” we only have 12 years before climate change becomes catastrophic. That report chronicles how weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, weather events are becoming more extreme, and greenhouse gas emissions are now at their highest levels in history.

Climate change will soon reach a catastrophic tipping point. Without action, the world’s average surface temperature is likely to surpass 3 degrees centigrade this century.

Yet the 12 years that the UN cites for absolute action to circumvent this climate crisis is 20 years less than the average person believes, according to the new survey commissioned by Cool Effect and conducted by OnePoll. The survey examined US attitudes toward climate change, the actions they’re taking, and their thoughts regarding the future. The results indicate that we need to significantly increase awareness of our everyday carbon footprints if we’re to make more than slight incremental changes to offset carbon emissions.

In light of the IPCC report, over a third of survey respondents feel encouraged about our ability to make a change and 32% plan to step it up for Earth Day, with plans to be more environmentally friendly on the holiday than they typically are. But one day is not enough. To make a difference in the fight against climate change, 60% of the respondents also believe that people need to think about climate change in every aspect of their lives.

The Good News: Most US Citizens Say They’re Knowledgeable about Climate Change

The proportion of Americans who are very worried about global warming has more than tripled since its lowest point in 2011, according to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Increasing numbers of people in the US say they have personally experienced global warming and that the issue is individually important to them.

The findings from Cool Effect’s recent survey concur, and that’s good news.

• 82% believe carbon emissions are important in affecting climate change.
• 60% believe people need to think about climate change in every aspect of their lives.
• 76% report feeling knowledgeable about climate change.
• 26% don’t believe they have the main responsibility when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.

Climate change itself may be driving this dramatic shift in climate change acknowledgment. Nearly half of those in the US say that the science supporting climate change is “more convincing” now than it was 5 years ago, an AP poll found. The vast majority cited “recent extreme weather events”—such as hurricanes, droughts, and heat waves—as especially persuasive.

In small, intimate social circles, empathetic people bemoan climate inaction that might produce horror scenarios — annual deadly heat waves and widespread famine, tens of millions of climate refugees, global coastal flooding, and disasters that will cost double the world’s present-day wealth. Well-meaning people have begun to think about climate change and say they are attempting to limit their carbon footprints.

• 37% put recycling at the top of their environmental response list.
• 31% plant trees.
• 29% use eco-friendly household products.
• 55% turn off the lights.
• 47% have installed LED light bulbs.
• 44% who use reusable bags.
• 42% minimize their electricity consumption,.
• 39% choose reusable water bottles.
• 34% shop locally or buy local produce.

These are nice small steps, but they’re not enough.

You see, human beings have evolved to focus on immediate threats. We have a tough time dealing with risks that have time lags of decades or even centuries. So our daily decisions that impact carbon emissions are part of a greater equation of culturally transmitted habits, and those patterns of behavior are really hard to change so they become engrained ways of being.

When we think about carbon emissions and our own individual choices, a sort of climate NIMBYism prevails.  Many of us need to slow down, be metacognitive, and consider how we need to significantly change our everyday habits that contribute to carbon emissions.

The Cool Effect survey bears out this discontinuity between climate change acknowledgment and daily behaviors to reduce carbon emission.

• 57%% of respondents do not currently purchase electricity from renewable energy, draw energy from solar panels, or drive an electric car.
• Less than 25% currently reduce their consumption of red meat or use public transport.
• 27% have no idea how many emissions they produce each year.

Earlier this year, I wrote 2 articles about eco-living: New Year’s Resolution, Part I — Eco-Living Advocacy For The Planet and New Year’s Resolution, Part II — Energy Advocacy For The Planet. Those articles offer several approaches to making personal, positive change toward reducing carbon emissions.

So, too, does Edmonton’s Change Habits for Climate Guide. It outlines a variety of ways to help you live a more sustainable lifestyle. Every action makes a difference, but to show you just how impactful your actions are, they developed a spectrum. It features over 30 actions that are rated from lowest to highest impact in reducing our total greenhouse gas emissions. Find the impact ratings of the actions you’re already taking and which ones you can start now to take your efforts to the next level.

“Making daily eco-conscious choices is a step in the right direction, but our actions to reduce carbon need to be more significant: recycling is not enough,” says Marisa de Belloy, CEO of the non-profit Cool Effect. She recommends switching to renewable energy and supporting organizations around the world that are verifiably and measurably reducing carbon emissions are important. Other actions, she outlines, “include efforts like a US-based grassland protection in the Great Plains or a clean cookstove initiative in Honduras that have been scientifically proven to reduce harmful carbon emissions.”

Humans don’t like change and especially dislike instability. The Nature Conservancy reminds us that climate change threatens to disrupt our communities in drastic ways. Sometimes it’s just easier to avoid things that are scary, especially in a social setting. No one likes to be the bearer of bad news.

But talking about climate change through science-based solutions does matter. Having the right facts is essential to good decision-making in combination with acknowledgment of emotional responses. People generally respond best in life to what they feel is right in addition to what they know is right.

“The threats of climate change are very real, but we are also confident that with enough cumulative action, the average American can significantly reduce their carbon footprint. While 31% of people said a barrier to fight climate change was that it is too expensive, and 27% didn’t know how many emissions they produce each year, the solutions and education is out there,” said de Belloy.

Final Thoughts

In a comment provided exclusively for CleanTechnica, Jodi Manning, director of marketing at Cool Effect, uses internal practices at her company as an example of ways businesses can reduce carbon.

“At Cool Effect, transparency is essential to what we do – whether an individual supports one of our carbon reduction projects on a small scale, or a business works with us to achieve their larger sustainability goals, you will know exactly where the money is going and to what efforts to curb carbon emissions. It is important that others follow that same model of transparency when it comes to climate change. Be open and honest about what you are already doing, where the gaps and challenges are, and what your future goals are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Individual, business, and political action on climate change can take many forms from harnessing social and political support to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, to actions that have the purpose of making transparent the ethical and moral aspects of climate justice, especially with regard to the anticipated unequal impacts of climate change adaptation. When we begin to live carbon reduction in our own daily lives, the abstraction of climate action becomes real and helps us to contribute to larger climate movements.

Let’s use Earth Day to commit to lifestyles that are healthy for ourselves and the future of the planet, shall we?

Graphics courtesy of Cool Effect

Copyright free images via Pixabay