Like many, I’ve watched the coverage of the LA fires with fascinated horror.
Many of Australia’s cities are in a similar climactic zone, and it’s easy enough to imagine the scale of it happening here.
It’s just one more piece in the mountain of evidence that climate change is not only real, but reaching the point of no return.
So what can we do?
Aside from send money to fund California’s emergency response efforts.
What can we do to help save the environment?
The truth will sound harsh, because it is harsh.
And that is, you must reduce your impact on the environment.
You may hold the opinion that it’s not your responsibility to save the environment. That government and business should work on this.
But what serious effort have you seen a government or a business make to save the environment?
The problem is that governments and businesses are made up of people with competing interests.
Governments (in theory) must attempt to balance the interests of all its citizens in terms of access to jobs, healthcare, education and so on. That the average citizen will have its needs met.
Business, on the other hand, must return value to its shareholders. In which case, for example, an international board authorises the destruction of an irreplaceable indigenous heritage site for the sake of minerals within the soil. That they have paid a pittance to access.
Not to mention, that Government often subsidises Business to make changes without setting up benchmarks and milestones for the changes they’re expecting.
But ultimately, both government and business must answer to individual people. Enough individuals can vote governments in and out.
If enough individuals boycott a company, or a product, business are forced to change.
So what can we, as individuals, do to help save the environment?
1. Live in more sustainable homes
This will not be easy for those of us that don’t own our own homes.
If you’re lucky, owners will compete for your rental by making the house energy efficient with passive heating and cooling.
If you’re not, you’ll be forced to look at how you can heat and cool a home at your expense.
This may include things like installing sunblock curtains, planting deciduous trees, and closing off rooms you’re not using. Not to mention, choosing not to use energy vampire appliances, and using LED light globes,
Even for those who do own their homes, sustainability isn’t cheap; insulation, changing the size and position of windows, installing double glazed windows, solar panels, heat pumps, energy efficient appliances, lowering the thermostats, low flow shower heads, taps and toilets.
The list goes on and on, but that’s enough to start with.
2. Use public transport
This is another one that will bite, because some of us live in places that do no have adequate public transport. Or any at all.
Others are not willing to wait for public transport, or to walk the distance between their home and the bus stop or train station. Especially in the depths of winter or heights of summer.
It doesn’t help that in many instances, buses arrive after the trains have left, and the services are infrequent as well as stuffed to capacity.
But.
Public transport is cheaper than running a car.
Plus you don’t have to find or pay for parking.
Or stress about the traffic, being late for work or appointments, or getting stuck in stinky traffic jams.
Worrying about whether you’ll run out of book is generally the main thing to worry about.
3. Buy environmentally friendly products
This includes the chemicals you use to clean your house – you can do it just as well with vinegar and bicarb soda. It might take a little more effort, but you won’t be breathing the fumes in for the rest of the day.
Try to buy reusable and sustainable containers for food and liquid storage such as glass, steel, wood, bamboo.
Avoid plastics for straws, disposable plates and cutlery as well as individually wrapped products such as detergents, biscuits and cereal packs.
It’s also possible to buy zero-waste toiletries such as shampoo bars, and from stores like Lush and The Body Shop, products in refillable containers.
It’s also possible to buy wood and bamboo toothbrushes.
4. Change your clothing
Much modern clothing is made from synthetic fibres, or to put it another way, petroleum products. They are polluting to get out of the ground, to convert to fibres, to dispose of when you get sick of wearing them. When you put them in the washing machine, they shed tiny fibres that end up in oceans, and fish, and when you eat the fish, back in you again.
Not that natural fibres are without fault.
Wash them less frequently, and put them in the sun to dry.
Buy higher quality clothes, wear them more often, and sell or donate them when you’re tired of them. Buy second hand or vintage for an extra statement.
5. Eat more vegetables and less meat
Meat, dairy and eggs usually take place in high emissions farms. They require more land to grow, transportation to feed lots, and then again to abattoirs.
Just one meat free day a week can make a difference – try meat free Mondays.
You can also buy plant based milks, (e.g., soy, grain, nut or coconut). And these milks are made into cheese, yoghurt and ice cream.
Try farmers markers for local, seasonal produce. Buy ingredients such as flour, legumes and pastas in bulk.
You could even set up a small food garden in your yard. Make sure your off cuts and left overs go in a compost bin, and get reused to develop the soil in your garden. Or plant a tree.
Consider the wildlife, your kids and your pets, and don’t use pesticides and other chemicals in your garden. It’s possible to manage pests using other insects, crop rotation and companion planting.
6. Bonus – take better care of yourself
Andreas Chai theorises, among other things, achieving work-life balance, can help take care of the environment too.
Going home on time, or early, gives you time to take care of your mental health by stepping off your treadmill to take extra leisure time.
Which may help you think more clearly about what you can do to help save the environment.
For example, visiting the supermarket opposite the train station to buy fresh vegetables for your tea.
