Here we look at; importance of doing something to help climate change and how to vote with your money with 6 quick and easy steps to get started with sustainability. This is part of our series on growing, eating, and living sustainably. You might also like our Sustainability Roadmap and Company directory to help you grow, eat, and live sustainably.
Let’s get straight to the point. Climate change and global heating are big topics. I often feel overwhelmed, because by 2030 we have to halve global emissions; however, now is not the time to bury my head in the sand because there are some quick and easy things that I can do, that every one of us can do, to play a significant role in reversing global heating. That’s Why I Left My Job To Help Inspire Sustainability and came up with this campaign called #VoteWithOurMoney.
#VoteWithOurMoney is about giving everybody 6 quick and easy steps to get started with sustainability. To show everybody that we have the power, you, me, everybody, to reverse climate change and global heating. If we start with these 6 simple steps then we can be the heroes of our own story. We can reverse global heating and climate change as well as improve our lives and the lives of future generations.
By changing the way we use our money and the way we shop, we will #VoteWithOurMoney and drive businesses to change at a scale that matches the climate crisis.
These 6 steps will get you started. From there, you can keep going on your journey to grow, eat, and live sustainably.
For a quick read on why we have to reverse climate change and global heating, have a look at the article on How To Sustain Life On Our Planet.
An Example of Why We Have the Power to Help Climate Change
What you do and where you keep and spend your money has a direct impact on the decisions that businesses make, and the ability to reverse climate change and global heating. This was proven in May 2021 when, in the fossil fuel industry:
Shareholders at Chevron voted for a resolution that it should cut its emissions.
A small activist shareholder group at ExxonMobil got two nominees appointed to the board with a view of being more proactive on climate change strategy.
A court in the Hague ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its global carbon emissions by 45% by the end of 2030 compared with 2019 levels, in a landmark case brought by Friends of the Earth and over 17,000 co-plaintiffs.
If more businesses see they will make a profit by operating in a way that can sustain life on Earth forever, they will change. The way to make change happen quickly is when we #VoteWithOurMoney.
Start with the 6 steps to living sustainably and #VoteWithOurMoney.
Here Are the 6 Steps to Get Started with Sustainability
1. Search and #VoteWithOurMoney
This one is actually free.
Instead of using Google for your web searches, use ecosia.org. Every time you search, Ecosia uses some of their profits to plant trees. Every search through Ecosia removes 1kg of CO2 from the atmosphere!
- Your searches plant trees in some of the harshest places on Earth
- Trees that benefit people, the environment and local economies
- They operate with transparency by publishing their monthly financial reports
- Ecosia is more than CO2 neutral: Their servers run on 200% renewable energy
- And, they are privacy friendly: They don’t sell their data to advertisers
2. Shop and #VoteWithOurMoney
By purchasing products that use sustainably sourced ingredients we can be a part of reversing climate change. You can start by looking at the ingredients in the products you buy. Are they sustainably sourced?
One Example Is Buying Products with (or Without) Palm Oil
Half of the World’s rainforests have been cleared, in many cases to make space for monocultures like oil palm.
Palm oil is in almost 50% of the packaged products we find in supermarkets: pizza, doughnuts, chocolate, deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, lipstick, and animal feed.
You can choose products that use sustainably sourced palm oil. Read more about palm oil in our article on Products with Palm Oil.
Another Example Is Buying Organic Food and Drink
Many conventionally produced foods use artificial fertilisers and dangerous chemicals that are bad for our health, destroy soil, and release carbon (more on that on our page about Growing Sustainably). If you buy foods produced using organic, biodynamic, or regenerative approaches then you’re telling businesses that you prioritise health and protecting the planet for future generations.
If we #VoteWithOurMoney and buy sustainably produced products, we can reverse climate change and global heating. This is a simple and quick way to help stop climate change. You can start by just swapping out a few of the products each time you buy.
3. Use Energy and #VoteWithOurMoney
There has been good progress in the shift from fossil fuels, but more can be done.
In 2020, 37.7 per cent of UK electricity generation came from fossil fuels @GOVUK
Renewable technologies generated more electricity than fossil fuels in 2020 for the first time in the published time series. If you use gas or electricity, you can be a part of that movement away from fossil fuels by switching to a green deal. You can use electricity from renewable sources and, at the very least, use gas that comes with a carbon offset whilst you work towards a move away from gas.
By voting with our money we can make banks, individuals, and companies move away from fossil fuels and invest in green and renewable energy. This has a direct impact on reducing your own CO2 emissions. By putting your money with green deals, you help the industry to grow, and offer cleaner and lower cost energy.
4. Bank and #VoteWithOurMoney
Banks invest in fossil fuels. That can change, now!
The UK’s 5 biggest banks – Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds and Standard Chartered – invested nearly £40.4bn into the coal industry between 2018 and 2020 @BigIssue
The world’s biggest 60 banks have provided $3.8tn of financing for fossil fuel companies since the Paris climate deal in 2015.
You can change to a bank that only uses your money ethically, such as Triodos (or use this referral link to get some benefits*). This is a simple and quick way help climate change.
5. Save for a Pension and #VoteWithOurMoney
Pensions invest in fossil fuels. That can change, now!
Each year the average UK pension pot finances 23 tonnes of CO2 emissions – the equivalent of running 9 family cars each year or burning 1,100 coal fires annually @guardian
If you have a pension, you can change to a green, ethical, or sustainable fund. This is another simple and quick way to help stop climate change.
6. Go Carbon Neutral (or Climate Positive) by Offsetting Emissions
Now, carbon offsets are not the solution, but they are better than doing nothing. There are carbon offset projects that reduce emissions now (it’s not only about planting trees and waiting for the years that it takes for trees to reduce emissions), there are verified carbon offset projects that are low cost, and you can do this while waiting for it to become possible to move 100% to using only green and renewable technology etc.
Carbon offset, otherwise called Emission reduction projects, can generate “ex ante” or “ex post” certificates:
- “Ex ante” means that the certificates are issued before the actual emission reduction (think rewilding and tree planting).
- “Ex post” certificates are only issued after the emission reduction (think helping African villages transition from peat fuelled fires to renewable).
The CoGo app (install from the App Store or Play Store) makes it easy, and low cost, to purchase carbon offset projects from South Pole. As South Pole focuses on verified climate protection, over 99% of the emission credits from South Pole’s portfolio come from “ex-post” climate protection projects, where the climate impact is verified and calculated before the certificates are issued. Whenever I offset my carbon emissions, within a few minutes I receive the certificate, which means these projects are reducing emission now! Read more about South Pole Carbon Offset Projects.
The science shows clearly that in order to avert the worst impacts of climate change and preserve a livable planet, global temperature increase needs to be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Currently, the Earth is already about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s, and emissions continue to rise. To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 [UN Net Zero Coalition]. Using the CoGo app and purchasing verified emission reduction projects through South Pole is one very powerful, low cost, and easy way to quickly reduce emissions whilst we transition to green and renewable.
Here Is What You Can Do
- Bookmark this page
- Try one new thing each week
- Can you buy more sustainable products?
- Starting with small changes is ok
- Be inspired. We can Live Climate Positive
- Talk to your friends and colleagues
- Share this with others
Where Next?
There is so much inspiring information to give you ideas of how to Live Climate Positive, you can:
- Get started and Vote with your money
- Try the Sustainability Roadmap
- Use the Company Directory
- Read My Blog Posts
- Subscribe to My Free Email Newsletter
- Support Us
Sources Used to Create This
- Big banks’ trillion-dollar finance for fossil fuels ‘shocking’, says report
- Is your bank funding fossil fuels?
- Is your money being used to fund climate chaos?
- Do you want your pension to invest in companies harming the planet?
- Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES): electricity
Production Notes
This was produced by me, James Walters, as a personal project to help stop climate change by inspiring others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.
Any advice given is the opinion of those involved and does not constitute medical, financial, or legal advice.
* We include links we think you will find useful. If you buy through those links, we may earn a small commission. It’s one way to support our work and to inspire as many people as possible.