Like a lot of (most?) people, maybe you don't need to be convinced that climate change is real and it's happening now. But maybe you don't know where to start to be more climate conscious.
Good news! There's no wrong answer. Start anywhere, just start. And if you've already started, just take whatever next step you're ready to take. It all counts. As the saying goes, "Start Where You Are. Use What You Have. Do What You Can.
This week's post gives you 9 options for doing more to take climate action. In no particular order:
- ⚡ Choose a renewable energy supplier for your electricity. Right now green options cost HALF as much as the standard mostly fossil fuel-based supplier. What are you waiting for? Instructions here.
- ♻ Recycle your plastic wrap to keep it out of the waste stream. Collect it in a bag under your kitchen sink or in your garage, then take it along to your grocer's plastic recycle bin the next time you shop . Stop & Shop and other grocers and retailers participate. (Thank you!) Find a dropoff location.
- 🌞 Thinking about going solar? Learn more and get quotes through EnergySage, the solar marketplace developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Sun-Shot program to make solar and other renewable energy options affordable and accessible to all Americans.
- 🔋 Use an electric or battery-powered lawnmower instead of a gas-powered one. We love our EGO mower. Bonus: it folds up to save space. More.
- 🚲 Bike or walk for short trips instead of driving. It's getting nice outside. C'mon. You can give it a try! Be sure to mind the rules of the road - pedestrians walk against traffic, cyclists ride with traffic, and always with a helmet. Brush up on safety rules at watchformect.org/
- 🌳 Preserve your trees, don't remove them! Climate action means more trees, not fewer.
In one year, an acre of mature trees absorbs the amount of CO2 produced by a car driven 26,000 miles. Plus, they help clean our drinking water water and lower surface and air temperatures. Please, don't cut your healthy trees down! More at https://www.arborday.org/trees/treefacts/ - 🧯 Forego the firepit - and all the pollution they entail. Wood smoke is pollution. And if you can smell it, you're breathing it. Your lungs, your heart, your kids, and your neighbors will thank you. Learn more at dsawsp.org.
- 🦋 Give pollinators and birds some help in your yard and garden. Please, no RoundUp, pesticides or other chemicals on the lawn--they're poisonous to pollinators and birds and end up in the groundwater, creeks, rivers, and ocean where they do plenty more harm. Leave the flowering clover - bees love it. Learn more here here, and here. Product list here. Join one of CT's Pollinator Pathways groups or start your own.
- 🌄Soak up some nature. Find a new trail to explore using the CT Forest & Park Association's interactive map, or find a new state park to visit. Find places to paddle here. Looking for bike paths? Find lists here and here.
Which is the easiest one for you to start doing - this weekend?
Have suggestions for the next installment? Send them to ctclimatenews@gmail.com. Thanks!
Have suggestions for the next installment? Send them to ctclimatenews@gmail.com. Thanks!