All of you have calculated your emissions and you have surely discovered the unexpectedly high impact of some of your behaviors (eating meat, flying to a sunny destination, etc.) on your total footprints.
Are there any behaviors that you are really willing to change or to improve for the sake of the environment? What challenges do you encounter or think you will encounter while trying to change these things? What help, support, and insights from others would make your life easier with these new behaviors?
Let's discuss these issues and make our pledges here!
Now It's Time for Action >
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Many people agree that climate change is dangerous and we all want to help change the world for the better. Before it’s too late, we need to act to relieve us from climate change. While it’s great that so many of us want to help, not everyone knows how to start. If everyone sacrificed one thing that contributes to climate change, we would be so much closer to fixing this problem. Some things I’m willing to do to help are taking shorter showers, walking or taking public transit more often, using my phone less, and eating less meat. I find that I take very long showers without even realizing it, and the hot water is constantly running. Some ways I can ensure that I take shorter showers are to set a timer for how long I should be in the shower, make a playlist of music to listen to that goes along with the time of my shower, and turning off my water between washes/my shower routines. For the last example, I may not cut down the amount of time I take in the shower, but I do cut down the amount of hot water I use by not leaving it running the whole time. I’m lucky to live clo se to my school, so walking to and from school will decrease the amount of times our car is used. If we take public transit, carpool, or walk, the car gets used less and less fuel is being used. Next, not using my phone frequently will help because the more I use my phone the more I must charge it, which uses a lot of power. Finally, consuming less meat in my diet is an action I’m willing to take. My family eats a lot of meat, and we have it almost daily. I just recently found out how bad this is for our environment. Cows for example, release tons of methane (a greenhouse gas) which then get trapped in the atmosphere and heat the earth. To raise the cows takes up a lot of land, and the way we get more land is deforestation. Eating less meat will be the hardest, but I am willing to cut down my meat consumption to better the world. It’s one thing to say that we want to change, and another to act on it. We should practice what we preach and try to help. At first these will be hard since I’m not used to doing them regularly; but if I keep trying, hopefully it will become a habit!
great, sarar! And thanks for the excellent suggestion about making a "shower" playlist so you know when your time is up in a nice way!