Here is a list I have formed:
-Regulate Polluting Industries
-Switch to Esim
-Buy used
-Install geothermal heat pump systems
-Install smart thermostats
-Build more apartments
-Use shampoo/conditioner bars
-Put carbon labels on products
-Buy stuff at the local store
-Eat plant based
-Prioritize transit over cars
-Switch to Ecosia
-Recycle
-Give homemade gifts
-Compost
-Be organized
-Avoid synthetic cloths
-Switch to green burials
-Buy reputable carbon credits
-Mandate microfibre filters for washing machines
-Install Linux on new/old computers
-Switch to Electric car (second to public transit in funding)
-Shut down all oil operations
-Pickup litter
-Ride your bicycle instead of the car
-Adopt kids and companions instead
-Build more green spaces
-Convert animal agriculture land to wild lands
-Support repairability
-Ban private jets/yachts
-Start your own garden
-Use older cars for more than 12 years
-Keep phone for longer than 5.5 years (easy to do with fairphone,iphone, pixel, samsung or android phone with unlockable bootloader)
-Switch to renewable and nuclear techologies
-Halt all new road developments and just maintain them until transit is good enough
-Do everything to prevent and end wars
-Tax the rich and use the money for climate initiatives
-Ban all fossil fuel ads
-More widespread use of contactless payments
-Switch to bidets to save trees
-Switch to super slippery toilets to save water
-Mandate all stoves to be electric
-Build robust high sped rail network and ban flights under 4 hours.
-Require much longer warranties on consumer goods
-Require all software to become open source after the company stops developing the code
-Patents expire after 4 years
-Ban cryptominning
-Reduce concrete in constructions projects and opt for bamboo/wood construction
-Require all office work to be done from home for as much as possible
-Ban discrimination and promote affirmative action so that there isn’t lost potential or innovation from disadvantaged groups
-Improve insulation in older buildings
-Shop at refillable container stores
-Buy Fairphones as they’re the most repairable and have to 8-10 years of software support
-Buy Framework laptops as they’re user repairable upgrade-able
-Use reusable diapers for your infant/toddler
-Buy goods within your continent to avoid cargo ship bunker fuel
-Use refillable for everywhere you go
-Increase energy efficient standards with new houses with solar panels mandatory
-Increase grid interconnections
-Support political parties with green policies
-Boycott fossil fuel banks and switch to green credit unions
-Demand that your investment/retirement program switches to green projects
-Force companies to mine minerals from e-waste instead
-Give up half of the planet to nature
-Establish support networks for people who are using older gadgets/cars/clothing to encourage solutions to make goods last longer
-Create a program to recycle old clothing
-Switch to electronic documents
-Mandate higher build quality of manufactured goods
-Encourage the use of hatchbacks and sedans
-Ban oversized vehicles
-Require that water pipes have pressure management and active leak detection
-Implement waste-to-energy conversions for waste management systems (stopgap solution)
-Design cities as more walkable
-Track your government’s climate policy by visiting https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/
I will add more to list as more ideas are thought of.
Carbon credits are bullshit. Like, what are you actually paying for? No one is taking the carbon in the atmosphere and stuffing it into little jars.
If it’s a tree planting initiative, that’s a great idea, but a lengthy process, and the moment that tree gets cut down to make room for something else, or if there’s a forest fire, the effort is undone.
Honestly, carbon credits are mostly a feel-good measure to make people feel better about consumption from a particular source. It’s a fantastic way for a company to market themselves as caring for the environment while simultaneously destroying it - companies only care about profit, and will happily burn the planet if it makes them money.
If you truly want to make a difference, consume as little as you can get away with.
I did some research into the matter a few months back. Before, I held the same prejudices and have only heard carbon credits were a way for companies to keep polluting without consequences. While it is true that carbon credits get misused for that, doesnt mean all carbon credits are like that.
There are a lot of projects that get monitored appropriately and prove their actual impact. There are principles like additionality, permanence, singularity by which you can judge if a given project is actually beneficial.
Tree planting initiatives for example dont satisfy the permanence principle and are therefore not considered effective for carbon compensation.
Your last sentence definitely holds true, but not all emissions are evitable, like I need to live in a home with heating, some people need to drive to work. People in developing countries cant even afford to think about reducing their emissions. Additional measures for reducing emissions are definitely necessary. Unfortunately the current regulations for those are too vulnerable to exploitation.
I can definitely believe that there are carbon credit projects that are beneficial in the long-term, hell I don’t even write off reforestation completely (although I know that it’s a lot more complicated than chucking some saplings in the ground and calling it a day), but the question is how much of the carbon credit programmes are actually beneficial? This article by The Guardian suggests that the majority of the top 50 programmes aren’t.
A bit off topic, but this one kind of strikes a note on a npersonal level with me. I personally think we should punish companies that don’t offer WFH where it makes sense.
My roomie for example is a truck driver. It would be impossible for him to work from home. I’m a software developer, and I do work from home, but a lot of companies in my industry are pushing for a return to office, and even removing the option to work from home altogether. We all saw the immediate effects the covid restrictions had on the environment. I know it’s not feasible for everyone to work from home, but not letting people work from home, when their job could be done remotely, ought be a finable offense.
The thing is, there is no accountability for corporations. They are free to do more or less as they please, and when they do get caught with egg on their face, the fines are usually just a light slap on the wrist. Conversely, if a private individual attempted the same things, they’d get hit with legal fees and fines that’d take them into bankruptcy.
We’ll never see a change until there’s some sort of equality between the two.
Yeah definitely, but the number of people working from home rose immensely thanks to covid, before it was more or less unthinkable. I think in the next few years there will be some major changes regarding work conditions, lets hope for the best.
Anyway, final thought on carbon credits: I didnt mean to imply that the majority or even the average program behind carbon credits is beneficial, and I dont think it is relevant for the point from my first comment. OPs suggestion was buying carbon credits for additional impact, and as long as you do that correctly (i.e. buying those that are beneficial) it helps and is not greenwashing.
If we start replacing fines with Capital punishment for the C-Suite and board of directors, we would get more progress. White color crimes affect more victims, and they have more robust evidence then most murders so wrongful convictions will be lower also.