There are a lot of sad things happening around the world, and unfortunately, they are usually what make the news and get lots of publicity as opposed to the good changes and actions happening. This can lead to hopeless or anxious feelings about climate change that cause some people to stop trying to fight climate change. It is important to be aware of the good and innovative things happening in the world as well as the bad.

I agree! I think that if people were more informed about the good changes that others are making to help fight climate change, then they would be more motivated to help make changes to improve as well! I think that instead of promoting the tragic news to make people feel hopeless and doomed (although it's still good for awareness), we should promote more news about positivity to motivate others into willingly helping improve the state of the world. Positive news could be more inspiring and help lead someone into wanting to do what others are doing to make the world a better place for everyone to live in and to inform them of the small changes they can do to make a big difference. Sad/tragic news on the other hand could make someone feel like it's too late to make a change or the problems are too big to be able to do something about it (which is completely untrue)

I agree with this, I think it is very important to focus on what we can do and change instead of what we are doing wrong all the time. Though it is important for people to know the severity of whats happening right now I think we could educate people on whats happening in a less scary way. Educating people and especially kids in a way that makes them feel like they can do their part is vital so people actually start making change instead of being scared of how much they need to change their lives in order to save the whole world. I think a great way to educate everyone is start with small things like how to recycle properly and to advertise clean ups that you could sign up with your friends or family.

Doing things as simple as composting, turning off lights when you're not home, recycling, taking quicker showers, and carpooling or riding a bike or walking can help the environment. these are all easy and not very time-consuming lifestyle choices that you can make that can help save our earth. Obviously, there are larger problems than plastic straws in the world but every little thing can help.

Dear BigCmanCrago, i agree that we must make these small changes in our own lifestyles, and even though it may not seem like it's making a big deference, if everyone does it, it will.  I know this to be true because I used to use the opposite argument, that if i buy and throw away just one or two recyclable bottles, its not that big a deal. If I take 30 minute showers just this week, it wont really matter. Yet its when everyone in the world thinks like this that we have a problem. We must shift our our mindsets together to start thinking about the little things, and thinking about our future.

I think osker makes a very good point. It can be easy to forget about the other eight billion people we share a planet with, often using the excuse “what difference can one person make?”. And sure, one person who chooses not to recycle couldn’t have less of an impact, but when hundreds, thousands, millions of people decide that its no longer their responsibility, well you can imagine the problems that would come with that. It is imperative that we do not keep a solitary mindset, as climate change is not a battle we are fighting alone.

I agree that these small actions make the environment around us a better place, but what will these actions do for our planet in the long run if not promoted? What is the point of putting ourselves through more work to act sustainably if it only benefits our egos? I understand that taking actions like carpooling and taking short showers takes away from our carbon emission, but these actions will not have a large impact on our planet if there are very few making an effort. This is why I believe that we, as students, must find ways to promote our healthy lifestyles as much as possible. Although much debated, one citizen acting sustainably and keeping it to themselves will not have an impact on climate change or global warming. If change is desired, we should be actively looking for ways to promote our healthy and sustainable ideas to many others.

I agree that every little think thing helps and just by taking a 10 min shower instead of 20 can be helpful, but also just by decreasing your meat eating by one meal can help so much more than you think. For example a McDonalds Big Mac cause around 2.35kg of CO2 where an impossible burger (which is a type of veggie burger) produces 0.75kg of CO2. So yes every little thing helps, but it’s is also good to think about the bigger things like becoming vegan and things like that.

In class, we talked a lot about our environmental footprints, which I didn't even know about before. I also learned that the United States is in a concerning ecological deficit which may be scary on the surface, but there are many people working to make a change.

The major thing that I've learned throughout all of my research is how many people genuinely want to make a positive change and help our Planet. This entire sustainability idea means a lot to me, and it makes me hopeful knowing that so many want to and are trying to help

#climatechange is gonna save the planet everyone!

Except its not. It may, on the rare occasion, educate others and encourage them to take action, but the post itself is not enough. We like and follow, but do we take the time to learn about the topic and what needs to be done in to help. Social media is helping us convince ourselves that we are “doing our part”, and I think that many of us struggle to find reassurance, scared that we too are a part of the problem. But we soon become so enveloped in this fear are that we neglect our duties of a citizen of planet earth. It is important that as we move forward with climate change that we remember that a repost is not a solution, it is simply a bandaid stuck on top of a problem that has become to real.

You're 100% correct. We often use social media as a mask and a tool to at like people we're not. In this particular case instead of acting like someone, were acting like were doing something that were not.

I've been thinking about this for some time now. I mean, boosting a video and then just continuing doing what you've been doing won't magically make climate change disappear. It may help raise awareness, but not everyone is willing to try and help.

Oil & fossil fuels are some of the biggest contributors to pollution and our global ecological footprint, so why don’t we stop using them? There is no true answer because there are too many unknown variables. Although I am confident in the belief that through innovation we can find an alternative what if we don’t, can we really continue to rely on oil & fossil fuels until we pollute the earth beyond repair? What would we be able to do without our main source of energy? Oil fuels every industry within our lives, transportation (which already affects every other industry), medicine, the production of electricity, etc. Without oil, we would essentially be back to the days when electricity wasn’t a thing. So my question is, what is the answer, what if we never find another way to harvest enough energy from resources besides fossil fuels?
    Personally, I think that right now we should focus on innovation so that we can solve these problems, however, if we were to assume that we can’t or we are incapable of doing so I think that we should begin to slow down oil production and begin to rely on more environmentally friendly resources until we can become stable off of just these resources.

I think that us cutting off oil wouldn't be possible, because the use of cars every day, machines in factories, heating in buildings are a few things we can't live without. People with gas cars might not be able to afford electric cars, people using machines in factories are needed for jobs, and heating in buildings / houses are needed so people don't freeze. Therefor we need oil in our every days life to life and survive.

I agree with everything you've stated thus far; I would like to add that if we can lessen our oil use while focusing on innovation, we will have more time to find a solution. By driving less and cutting back on unused heating, we can help preserve our environment for longer.

This statement from jaydo is agreeable; If we use cars every day that our oil powered it might not slow down. However there could be possible solutions. car company's could slowly change all there cars to electric then all the old gas powered cars need to be exchanged so they will by the new electric car.

Probably not cause we need oil much more than most people think.

I totally agree what with what you all are saying, like it's highly unlikely that we can completely cut off oil, but through innovation we can use other materials alongside it to cut it's consumption.

I agree with you. I think it would be extremely difficult to stop using oil all together. The sad fact is that some people just don't care. I think the best case scenario is that instead of cutting off oil use entirely we start to ween off it. Everyone can start doing their part by using less oil and fossil fuels, and slowly but surely we one day can stop altogether.

I agree with all of you that it would be hard to cut off oil because you use it to charge cars or the factory's. I think that we could use less oil by using eletric cars or have more eco friendly factory's.

I agree with sopwin, it would be easier to start to gradually lessen the use of oil then to cut it off entirely, but I also agree that with innovation, we could stop using oil gradually. It is really hard to make people care, and I really want to help with oil reduction in the world! I know this isn't my post, but I'm really curious: Do any of you all have ideas on how we could make people more notified about climate change?

Climate change disproportionately effects marginalized communities particularly within the black community  “ Black or African Americans are 40% more likely than non-Black Americans and non-African Americans to currently live in areas with the highest projected increases in mortality rates due to climate-driven changes in extreme temperatures.” -EPA When we are talking about the effects of Climate change we need to talk about who it is effecting the most, and sadly it will often not be the people that have cause the most environmental harm. In order to make real social change we need to make environmental change as well, to neglect climate change as an issue will effect minorities disproportionately so if you are about social change you must work on  environmental change as well.

I think that this is very valuable information. I didn't know this before but I do now, and very much agree with you. We should be taught about this and i'm glad you're bringing this to the attention me and many others.

Nuclear energy has an almost net zero impact on the environment in a way most other alternatives to natural gas and oil do not. Reactors generate power through fission, which is the name for the process of splitting uranium atoms and using the resulting heat to create steam. The steam spins a turbine that generates electricity. According to the US Nuclear Energy Institute, through nuclear power the United States avoided 471 million metric tons of harmful emissions. Nuclear energy also is a very land-efficient way of producing power; a 1,000 megawatt facility requires less than one square mile of land to operate, opposed to wind farms which reportedly require 360 times more space. This almost insignificant footprint is just another reason why more reactors are being built in higher populated areas, this is just a short list of reasons why I believe further investment in nuclear power can only lead to the benefit and meet humanity’s growing needs for further power sources.

https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/fiss … difference
https://www.nei.org/resources/statistic … r-industry
https://www.nei.org/news/2015/land-need … ear-plants

I agree that it is a good, clean energy source. I think that some of the reasons for it not being as widespread are that it can be expensive and dangerous. Reactors can have meltdowns and cause widespread damage. I think that it can be a viable option to have, but should not be our main or only source of energy.
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/nuclear-power-101

Major company’s such as Zara, Starbucks, Coca Cola etc. claim to be more environmentally friendly than they in fact are. In order to avoid facing repercussions for their negligence. This creates a false narrative that they are not causing as much damage to the environment as originally thought. Even in my community we see green washing within what our schools invest in for scholarship money. So a small group of students including myself have started a discussion about divestment, and making sure the company’s we invest in are environmentally friendly. In order to enact true change we need to know what we are dealing with first, and Green washing is preventing that.

Greenwashing is a huge issue, especially for big companies who want to flaunt being environmentally friendly so people will be more willing to buy from them. The Federal Trade Commision website has a great guide for criteria for consumers who are looking to buy from a genuinely green company. It also makes it easy for companies to understand what practices they need to change in order to be more friendly to the planet. If anyone is interested in this info, it can be found at: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/ … een-guides

I totally agree with this. I think its so sad how companies such as the ones you mentioned above are lying to people. It also sucks that people think they are doing good by supporting those brands that are claiming to be green but instead of helping make the CO2 levels better, its just getting worse. I am glad that there has been something created that lets people know what companies really are green. Even though websites like this exist, so many people still do not realize that they are being lied to and may go on forever buying from these brands. I hope that your websites as well as others can continue to have awareness being spread about them so that as many people as possible can help limit their CO2 levels.

Over the past semester, I have learned a lot about what contributes to global warming. I learned what greenhouse gases actually are and what the greenhouse effect is. Most importantly I learned how this all connects back to me. During this assignment, I saw how each individual decision I make even if it is only choosing between a plastic or glass bottle makes an impact on our environment.

We don't all have the resources to do big things to save our planet, like spending money on electric cars, or buying expensive heating systems that use electricity instead of gas. And that is totally fine because there is so many more different ways we can help our planet, for example: recycling and composting, when you recycle it reduces the amount of garbage that would have been sent to the landfills. Or just putting your left over scraps in a bin thats only for compostable things, that reduces so much waste that we would mix with garbage and put and put in our landfill. Other simple things we can do are: Talking to people about this topic, turning off lights when leaving rooms, taking more transit or carpooling, bringing reusable bags to the grocery store. And all those small things can help reduce the affect us humans have on the climate.

I completely agree. Nobody's forcing you to change your home's heating or invest in new cars, but so many easy things can reduce our carbon footprints. One example is taking shorter showers. Instead of taking your time and using the water for 20 minutes, you can easily reduce down to 10 minutes by going at a normal pace and using the water for a small amount of time. Another thing is powering down your laptop. If it goes into sleep mode, it's still using battery and it's technically still on. Constantly leaving it on can also cause it to have a shorter life. These are two examples of things that don't require you to spend money or make huge changes in your daily life. I think everybody needs to consider opportunities like this to lower our carbon footprints.

The average human will produce less carbon during their entire lifetime than a large company produces every day. The capitalistic society we live in is the cause of our pollution, the system needs to change if we want to keep our planet.

It may not be the system to change but how we run it. Government laws can be used to force companies to abide by strict protocols for emictions, waste, and the materials that products are made up of.

ddoust25, I don't think you realize how much our society relies on the large companies of the world, the computer you used to make that statement is in your hand because of large companies. if all large companies where abolished it would send the world into a spiral, there would be no easy fashion of transferring knowledge without internet, planes, cars or motorized boats all being produced by large companies. I agree that large companies are a large part of pollution but there are other waysto reduce help their environmental footprint then what you are suggesting. if you want the world to go back to the dark ages then by all means end capitalism.