Talking about climate change #13

Actions speak louder than words (7 minute read)

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Incentives, tools, rules:

things don't happen by themselves...

Andy Reisinger

This month’s climate change poetry is by climate scientist Dr Andy Reisinger. He summarised one of the reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in just 29 haiku. The full series of haiku can be found here.

The power of a poem: Kiwi scientist boils down IPCC climate change report in haiku | Stuff.co.nz

It’s a new year, and I’ve been thinking about goals and resolutions for 2023. Not for the first time, I have a goal to live a life which is better for the environment. I’ve got a number of ideas, but I could do with some more inspiration. So, this month I have collected resources about actions to take as individuals to help fight climate change.

But first, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. What is the point of my buying a second-hand cellphone and taking the overnight bus from Wellington to Auckland when coal use is still expanding, especially in China? But it’s not just China that is the problem. New Zealand’s use of coal for electricity generation is increasing too. And what about the super-rich and their private jets? And cryptocurrency?

I could go on, but I won’t, because it’s just too depressing. It’s hard to maintain a belief in personal action when there’s so much happening that is taking the world in the wrong direction. We need governments to implement sensible, evidence-based policies. We need industries to make meaningful changes. We need countries to keep to their commitments. Why bother with our tiny individual actions?

I’ve given a lot of thought to this issue, and I’ve come to the conclusion that while individual actions alone won’t solve the problem, we won’t solve the problem without them either. Our individual actions are the most compelling way that we can show politicians, industries and other people that climate change matters to us. After all, actions speak louder than words.

For the same reason, I consider it essential that New Zealand as a country takes action, even though our contribution to the problem is small overall. If we do not act, how can we expect countries like India and Nigeria, where so many people lack basic resources like clean fuel to cook food, to do so?

So, here are resources to help you if you have a new year’s resolution to lower your individual contribution to climate change, and tell our leaders that climate change is important to you.

Sunrise over Lake Angelus (image credit: Melanie Newfield)

Take better care of food

Food waste is a double blow to our climate. There’s the waste of resources from growing food which doesn’t get eaten, then there’s methane generated if wasted food ends up in a landfill. On the other hand, eliminating wasted food, as much as we can, is a win-win solution. It’s good for the climate and it saves you money.

Here are some easy tips from Love Food Hate Waste. You’ll find other ideas on their website too. I’ve shared information on reducing food waste before, but here is one of the best sites.

Love Food Hate Waste 10 tips  (4 minute read)

There’s also some good information from the US Environmental Protection Agency. If you want more information, there’s a toolkit which can be used by individuals or communities. The toolkit includes a number of fact sheets, such as guides on how to store different foods.

Preventing Wasted Food At Home | US EPA (6 minute read)

Some food waste is unavoidable, but one great way to keep it out of landfill is to have compost or a worm farm. Worm farms are particularly good, because if you are using food waste in compost, you also need to add other sorts of material to produce decent compost. Worm farming is much easier.

Here’s a basic guide to worm farming from Love Food Hate Waste. They suggest the “hungry bin” worm farm, and I can say that of all the different worm farms I’ve used, I like this one the best too.

Love Food Hate Waste worm farming (5 minute read)

Eat less meat and dairy

I’ve previously given links to a couple of good articles on eating less meat, so I won’t repeat them here. Here’s another good overview, with links to recipes.

How to Eat Less Meat: An Encouraging Guide (simplyrecipes.com) (5 minute read)

Although meat gets most of the attention, as a source of protein, dairy products are actually worse for the climate than pork and chicken. For this reason, I’m also trying to reduce my dairy consumption although I admit I’m finding this harder than reducing meat. For ideas, here’s a great selection of recipes from the BBC that I’ve been checking out for ideas.

Vegan recipes - BBC Food

Save power at home

I’ve just arrived back from holiday with a lot of washing to do and days of rainy weather, so my attempt to use my clothes dryer less has been a failure so far. But I know that I could definitely do a much better job of saving electricity. And using less electricity is another win-win change, saving money too.

Although this guide is for Britain not New Zealand, it gives some useful tips – I know I sometimes forget some of these.

Quick tips to save energy at home - Energy Saving Trust (4 minute read)

Here are some more suggestions, these from New Zealand.

Energy saving mode: How to cut your power bill this winter - NZ Herald (5 minute read)

Reduce transport emissions

Driving less and flying less are the obvious actions to reduce emissions from transport. But there’s something else that’s worth a look – driving more efficiently. Switching off the air conditioning when you don’t need it and ensuring your tyres are correctly inflated are two suggestions from the articles I’ve linked to below. They aren’t large changes, but they’ll also save money, so are well worth it.

Get the most from your car with these top 12 'hypermiling' tips | Ethical and green living | The Guardian (3 minute read)

For ideas and inspiration on flying less, the following article speaks with people who have reduced their flying. It’s from New Zealand too, which is important, as we simply don’t have the inter-city transport options available in Europe.

More and more people are giving up flying to save the environment | The Spinoff (7 minute read)

Buy less “stuff”

I’ll be quite honest here – this one is confronting for me because I know I’m guilty of buying and accumulating things that I don’t need. But everything has a cost, both for my wallet and for the planet. The following article makes the case for buying less and offers some useful suggestions.

How to stop buying stuff and spend less money this holiday season - Vox (8 minute read)

Looking for more ideas?

I’ve found two websites that are worth a closer look, because they are full of useful suggestions. While some suggestions might not work for you, and I don’t necessarily agree with everything they suggest, I think that most people will find something useful in them.

The first is the Gen Less website, from New Zealand’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

For everyone | Gen Less

The second comes from an environmental group called 52 climate actions.

Home | 52 Climate Actions

If you want to understand more about the impact of changing what we do, this report, from the environmental group Rare, is well worth a look. It talks about 30 areas where behaviour change can make a difference to the climate. This doesn’t mean that all 30 apply to everyone, but the report has some great insights. It’s a fairly long read, at 50 pages long, but you can dip into it for ideas.

2018-CCNBC-Report.pdf (rare.org) (50 page report)

If you are looking for regular reminders, here are a couple of solution-focused climate change newsletters. I’ve shared them before, but they are worth sharing again. The first, Climate Club, has a New Zealand focus, while Save Our Happy Place is a US-based newsletter.

Climate Club | Jenny Sahng | Substack

Save Our Happy Place | Lindsay Nunez | Substack

I’d love to hear what you are doing

One of the reasons we should talk about our personal actions is that they can inspire others to act too. I’d love to know what you are doing to reduce your impact on the planet. Let me know in the comments section below.

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