The following post is my contribution to this year’s Blog Action Day. It should have been published last Thursday while I was away but the pre-scheduled publishing I set up didn’t work!
Helpless?
If you Google the phrase “climate change”, you will get 48,000,000 hits. If you read the news over a few months, you’ll get what feel like as many different opinions: the climate is changing; no it isn’t, the planet goes through cyclical changes naturally; mankind is the cause of climate change; or not; climate change has already happened; no it hasn’t; it will be irreversible in six months, six years, 60 years, never; it’s already irreversible; it’s a problem, but science will come up with a solution, it always does.
This sort of confusion, and a certain amount of sensationalism, turns us off. It frightens us, it makes us feel helpless.
But I think we’d have to be irrationally trusting to conclude there’s nothing to worry about. We’re holding our future up to ransom.
The climate is changing
Here’s what a recent Save the Children report has to say:
The consensus on climate change is clear: it is already happening and is likely to lead to an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. It will be people in the poorest countries, especially children in those countries, who will bear the brunt of these disasters, despite having played no role in causing climate change. The resulting impact on children is likely to be dramatic.
- Malaria, currently responsible for the death of around 800,000 children under five years old in Africa each year, is set to increase.
- The number of children dying each year due to the effects of malnutrition – currently 3.5 million – is likely to increase.
- As a result of slow-onset or recurrent natural disasters, parents may feel compelled to withdraw their children from school or send them out to work.
What we can do
So what can we do? Here’s one suggestion, from the World Wildlife Fund:
We can change the way we think, and we can change the way we act. Small changes made by enough people become cumulative and are incredibly powerful.
Why not start by calculating your carbon footprint. There are lots of sites where you can do this. Here’s one.
What else can we do? Here are some concrete suggestions. They’re not new, you’ve probably heard them before. How about picking three to begin with?
- Turn off the light when you leave a room
- In winter, turn the central heating thermostat down a couple of degrees and keep warm by wearing jumpers
- Don’t leave the water running while you clean your teeth
- Don’t leave any electrical device on standby, switch it off
- Cut back on meat and dairy
- Even if you only have a window box, grow a few herbs and vegetables
- Boil only enough water for what you need
- Holiday locally and/or travel by train, fly as little as possible
Then there’s the vexed and serious question of the car. If you must run a car (I do, at the moment), there are many things you can do to mitigate the effect at least in part: plan carefully so you don’t make unnecessary journeys, keep the tyre pressure correct, drive more sedately.
Friends of the Earth have an excellent guide to practical steps we can all take, including lots of information for the driver. You can download their 50 Top Tips here.
Political action
So there are personal habits we can change. But political impact is important as well. Why not choose one of the major environmental charities and join them. Support them financially and if you can, get involved with a local group as well and actually do stuff. Write to your Member of Parliament or Congressional representative. Write to newspapers. If you’re an employee, ask your company what their policies and practices are on environmental issues.
Becoming an activist is not that difficult, and even sounds rather glamorous, n’est pas? You can download a guide here.
It’s tough but not impossible – yet
Writing this post and researching the links has been easy. Taking action is tough. But let me repeat what I said above:
Small changes made by enough people become cumulative and are incredibly powerful.
If you’ve written a Blog Action Day post, do leave me a note in the comments.
Image by asrainman
Elsewhere:
Here are some useful links:
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I had an unofficial Blog Action Day post last Thursday. Unofficial because I did not want to give away certain information.
Dear Tess,
this is a mighty fine post, beautifully organized and researched!
I worked for a number of years as an administrator on a university environmental project and am an avid environmentalist. However I transformed the Environmental Blog Action into Feminist Theology — as that’s where my energies are directed at this time, please see:
EMILY DICKINSON’S “SHEETS OF PLACE”
http://feministshepherd.blogspot.com/2009/10/emily-dickinsons-sheets-of-place.html
I will answer your reminder too and add more eco-theology to the blog as I go along. I would love to see environmentalism and calls for answers to global warming broadcast from every church pulpit, synagogue and temple in the land!
Emily Dickinson says:
“In the name of the Bee –
And of the Butterfly –
And of the Breeze — Amen!”
Barbara, I liked you unofficial post – succinct and helpful.
kigen, I love those last few words you quote from Dickinson, and I’m going to enjoy exploring The Feminist Shepherd in the days to come.
Wonderful informative post, Tess! Whether or not there is global warming becomes less the issue to me than making people conscious of how their actions impact the planet. This, to me, is the highest affect of all this talk and debate! People are actually making changes, buying energy efficient cars and appliances, turning off lights, conserving water….etc. It’s just wonderful that people are making these shifts. At the very least, Mother Earth will feel a bit better and who knows? Maybe we can really make her well again! Thanks for your lovely contribution! xo
Excellent post. Loved the tips re water and lights, etc. I work diligently on a half dozen of the ways to lower our carbon print but in our household there are TWO of us and one just doesn’t get it re the lights and the thermostat and the water – frustrating – but I just have to work a little harder:)
xoxo
Hi Tess, Great post with great suggestions. Not only do I wear jumpers around the house (it is so fun when I am reminded by words like “jumper” that you are way over there in Britain somewhere), I also wear gloves! I look like Bob Cratchitt in A Christmas Carol. Your post is so timely as my family and I just returned from an Earth Stewardship Ministry team meeting at our church this evening. We do all sorts of projects that help people save energy, save money and save the planet! I so agree with Kigen, this is a moral and religious issue. Here is another poem:
Watching a Documentary About Polar Bears Trying to Survive on the Melting Ice Floes
That God had a plan I do not doubt.
But what if His plan was, that we would do better?
Sunrise Sis, I know what you mean about the frustrations of getting people to turn off/turn down. Remember when our parents said, “Your running up the light bill!”? Now I say, “You’re burning up the planet!”
@diantha: yes, I veer between pessimism and cautious optimism when I see some of the changes people are making – often people I wouldn’t expect to change.
@SS: thank you, and good luck with the other resident of your home!
@Rebecca (or should I say Bob) I love this thought about God’s plan, and it fits well with the whole concept of free will. I giggled at the “jumper” comment – what do you guys call them then, sweaters?