{"id":78334,"date":"2023-01-23T12:11:35","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T16:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carilec.org\/?p=78334"},"modified":"2023-01-23T12:11:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T16:11:35","slug":"15-things-you-can-do-at-home-to-help-solve-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/15-things-you-can-do-at-home-to-help-solve-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Things You Can Do at Home to Help Solve Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Find out how your choices at home can help address the climate crisis.<\/h2>\n
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By <\/span><\/span>Margaret Badore<\/a>\u00a0|Updated January 20, 2023 | Fact checked by Hayley Bruning<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Dean Mitchell \/ Getty<\/p><\/div>\n

Although it can feel like an impossibly difficult problem, there are a lot of things you can do in and around your home to help solve the climate crisis. According to a report from the United Nations, households are associated with an estimated 65% of global greenhouse gas emissions.1<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0While these estimates can vary a lot depending on how you define different categories, it’s clear that our homes are one of the major driving factors behind climate change.<\/p>\n

Below, you\u2019ll find a range of different ways you can lower the emissions associated with your home, including ideas for homeowners and renters alike. These solutions range from fairly easy to quite difficult and expensive, and they\u2019re all backed by rigorous research.<\/p>\n

\"\" Switch Your Power to a Renewable and Carbon-Free Supplier<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In order to maintain a livable climate and avoid climate catastrophe, we need to transition away from burning fossil fuels like oil and methane as rapidly as possible.2<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0The good news is we have the carbon-free technology to make this happen, but we need way more of it.<\/p>\n

One of the easiest ways homeowners and renters can make the switch is to change your electricity to a renewable source, says Joel Rosenberg, an energy expert at the nonprofit\u00a0Rewiring America<\/a>. You can do this \u201ceither through your utility, which many utilities now offer, or through a community solar project or some other renewable energy supplier that is essentially transparent on your bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can start by calling your current utility or going on the company\u2019s website to see if they offer a renewable option.<\/p>\n

\"\" Reduce Your Food Waste<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Eating leftovers might not seem like it would make a difference to climate change. However, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the annual emissions associated with wasted food from farm to fork in the United States are equivalent to the amount produced by 42 coal plants.3<\/span><\/p>\n

Nina Sevilla, who works on the Natural Resources Defense Council\u2019s\u00a0Save the Food<\/a>\u00a0program, says the largest amount of food waste comes from our homes. However, the causes of food waste can vary a lot from family to family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not one silver bullet to reducing food waste in the house,\u201d she says. \u201cMy suggestion would be to reflect on your household\u2019s situation and then try to address those drivers.\u201d Some top strategies for reducing waste include\u00a0meal planning<\/a>, avoiding shopping for perishable items in bulk, and making the most of your freezer when you do end up with a lot of something.<\/p>\n

Hosting and celebrations can be another source of food waste. \u201cIn our country, I think we have this abundance mindset,\u201d says Sevilla. \u201cEspecially when hosting, this tends to lead us to feel we need to provide a lot of things and not run out of something.\u201d To help tackle the problem, the NRDC has created\u00a0The Guest-Imator<\/a>, a cleverly named calculator to help you figure out portion sizes and shopping lists based on your menu and your number of guests.<\/p>\n

\"\" Switch to Induction Cooking<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As more and more people are concerned about cooking with methane (also known as \u201cnatural gas\u201d) for climate and health reasons,\u00a0they are making the switch to induction stoves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a renter who doesn\u2019t get to pick the appliances, Rosenberg suggests getting an induction burner or a convection toaster oven to help you decrease the use of a gas-powered stove or oven. These small appliances run efficiently on electricity and are relatively inexpensive.<\/p>\n

\"\" Compost<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Food scraps can generate methane if they\u2019re sent to landfill, but when composted properly offer a\u00a0range of environmental benefits<\/a>. Composting can help cut emissions associated with waste removal and build up healthier soil. \u201cWe should be recycling the nutrients back into the soil, and composting is the way to do that,\u201d says Sevilla.<\/p>\n

There are tons of resources online to help you learn to compost, but if you\u2019re not sure how to get started, look for a Master Composter class. Many municipalities and state extension services offer these classes. Or if you don\u2019t want to compost yourself, look for a local food scraps drop-off, like at a community garden, farmers market, or recycling center.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Which Type of Composting Is Right for You?<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\" Insulate<\/h4>\n

No matter where your electricity comes from, using less of it can benefit the climate by leading to lower emissions if you\u2019re connected to the electrical grid. That\u2019s why many of the things you can do to address the climate crisis are related to improving your home\u2019s energy efficiency.<\/p>\n

Start by making sure your home is well insulated, which will save electricity on both heating and cooling. Fill any obvious cracks, add insulation where possible, add draft guards to doors with gaps, and consider\u00a0thermal curtains<\/a>\u00a0for windows.<\/p>\n

\"\" Wash with Cold Water<\/span><\/h4>\n

When washing clothes, 90% of the washing machine’s energy use goes towards heating water.4<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s a big energy saving for switching to a cold wash cycle. Today\u2019s modern detergents are nearly universally designed to work effectively in cold water, but you can always check the label just to be sure.<\/p>\n

Washing the dishes with cold<\/a>\u00a0or cooler water when possible will cut down on electricity usage too, as will skipping the \u201cheated dry\u201d setting on the dishwasher.<\/p>\n

\"\" Switch to LEDs<\/h4>\n

According to\u00a0Project Drawdown<\/a>, a nonprofit that has created a library of solutions to climate change, a global shift to LED lighting could save 14.45 to 16.69 gigatons of carbon pollution in the next three decades.<\/p>\n

That’s a pretty big benefit for something that starts as simply as switching out a light bulb.\u00a0LED lights no longer need to cost more upfront<\/a>\u00a0than incandescent bulbs, and they can save you money because they’re as much as 90% more efficient at producing the same amount of light.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The 7 Best LED Light Bulbs of 2023<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\" Air Dry Your Laundry<\/h4>\n

Skipping the clothes dryer benefits the climate on more than one level. First, line drying your clothing means that you\u2019re saving the energy the machine would have used, especially if you have a dryer that runs on methane.<\/p>\n

A second benefit is that air drying is gentler on our garments, helping them last longer. In the long run, that means we can buy fewer garments lifetime\u2014another win for the environment.<\/p>\n

\"\" Eat Less Meat and Dairy<\/h4>\n

Diet can be a big part of our carbon footprint, and cows are one of the biggest contributors to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. While going vegan would slash your diet\u2019s carbon footprint the most, a major study\u00a0found that if Americans cut their meat consumption in half<\/a>, it could reduce all food-related air pollution by 35%, an outsized benefit.<\/p>\n

Replacing dairy with plant-based products also benefits climate change, because plant-based milks and other products are less resource intensive and can be produced using less land.<\/p>\n

\"\" Rethink Disposable Packaging and Products<\/h4>\n

Single-use plastic is not only a major source of water pollution and a huge source of what\u2019s sent to landfill but it\u2019s also accompanied by a big carbon footprint. The plastics industry is really an off-shoot of the fossil fuel industry because most plastic is made from oil and gas by-products. So skipping disposable plastic whenever possible is a big environmental win-win.<\/p>\n

There are many easy swaps to help you use less plastic. For example, instead of using throwaway utensils and cups, consider packing your own reusable items when traveling or eating out. When food shopping, look for products sold in bulk instead of single-wrapped servings.<\/p>\n

\u00a011 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Plastic Waste Today<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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\"\" Clean or Replace Heating and Cooling Air Filters<\/h4>\n

According to Energy Star, a dirty filter makes your air conditioner and other HVAC equipment work harder and use more energy.5<\/span><\/strong> To get the most efficient operation, clean your filter every month and replace it on a regular schedule.<\/p>\n

\"\" Join a Buy Nothing Group<\/h4>\n

Just about everything we buy is associated with\u00a0some amount of carbon emissions<\/a>\u2014from the materials used to make it to the energy needed to transport it. So shopping second-hand is great for the environment: it cuts down on demand for new materials, plus all the resources used to make them. But what about all the things in our homes that are still useful but perhaps have little resale value?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the beauty of\u00a0Buy Nothing Groups<\/a>; they let you gift and get what you need without buying new items, just as the name suggests. You can find these community groups on Facebook or Reddit, and sometimes even on other kinds of community chats.<\/p>\n

\"\"Plan for Climate Smart Upgrades<\/strong><\/p>\n

Transitioning your home off fossil fuels by replacing appliances that burn methane or heating oil is one of the biggest impact things homeowners can do for the climate. This is the idea driving the \u201celectrify everything<\/a>\u201d movement: replacing furnaces, dryers, water heaters, and stoves that require dirty energy with newer, better machines that can run on electricity which will increasingly come from a carbon-free electrical grid.<\/p>\n

But these types of upgrades can be expensive (even if they can save you money on your utilities in the long run), and involve some degree of hassle if you need to renovate to accommodate them. However, Rosenberg says that starting to plan your transition now is a small step you can take right away, before your existing appliances give out or your home needs an upgrade.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of that is identifying when some of your appliances were purchased, their life expectancy, and when they might fail,\u201d he says. Then you can start looking into options now, and possibly identify any technicians you might need to hire. It might inspire you to start saving for an upgrade and give you an idea of how to budget.<\/p>\n

Rosenberg has even written an incredibly helpful guide called \u201cElectrify Everything in Your Home<\/a>,\u201d for people who are looking into making these kinds of upgrades.<\/p>\n

\"\"Consider If Solar Is Right for You<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another change that has both a big impact and involves a big commitment is installing rooftop solar. You can start by using a solar mapping tool like\u00a0Google’s Project Sunroof<\/a>\u00a0to see if your home gets enough sun to make installing panels worthwhile. If your prospects look bright, you have a number of different finance options to choose from, ranging anywhere from Power Purchase Agreements to solar loans to buying the panels outright.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Guide to Solar Panel Installation<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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\"\" Stay Politically Engaged<\/strong><\/div>\n
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All the experts interviewed for this article mentioned the need for system change, in addition to individual action. So, it’s worth mentioning that you can play a role in changing the system without leaving home. That includes making sure we\u2019re all registered to vote, and by writing letters or making phone calls to our elected officials to ask them to support legislation that reduces emissions.<\/div>\n
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