Making a Difference: UN's 12 Steps for Everyday Environmentalists

I'm always searching for ways that we, the regular folk, can help mitigate climate change. It always seems like the problems are so big, and we are so small, that nothing we do makes a difference.

Which is kind of depressing.

But the United Nations has some very good ideas - their 12 Actions for a Healthy Planet.

It gives me hope that we can turn this Titanic around before we end up sinking ourselves.

1. Save energy at home

Much of our electricity and heat are powered by coal, oil and gas.

We can use less energy by:

• reducing our heating and cooling use,
• switching to LED light bulbs and energy-efficient electric appliances,
• washing our laundry with cold water,
• hanging things to dry instead of using a dryer.

Improving our home’s energy efficiency, through better insulation for instance, or replacing our oil or gas furnace with an electric heat pump can reduce our carbon footprint by up to 900 kilograms of CO2e per year.

This is imminently doable. We love our solar and wind powered dryer (a.k.a. the clothesline and drying rack). And we did make the switch to a heat pump which seriously reduced our electricity consumption compared to the old electric baseboard heaters.

2. Switch Home Energy Source

We could ask our utility company if our home energy comes from oil, coal or gas. If possible, we could see if a switch to renewable sources such as wind or solar is possible. Or we could install solar panels on the roof to generate energy for our home. Switching our home from oil, gas or coal-powered energy to renewable sources of energy, such as wind or solar, can reduce our carbon footprint by up to 1.5 tons of CO2e per year. Here, in British Columbia, the vast majority of our electricity comes from hydro-electric dams. Given the controversy over the Site C dam expansion though, we can see the need for reducing our electricity use. 

3. Walk, bike or take public transport

The world’s roadways are clogged with vehicles, most of them burning diesel or gasoline. Walking or riding a bike instead of driving will reduce greenhouse gas emissions -- and help our health and fitness. For longer distances, we could consider taking a train or bus. And carpool whenever possible. Living car-free can reduce our carbon footprints by up to 2 tons of CO2e per year compared to a lifestyle using a car. 

I'd like to say that I rode my bike around town this summer but... I did not. I'll try again next spring.

4. Switch to an electric vehicle

If you plan to buy a car, consider going electric, with more and cheaper models coming on the market. In many countries, electric cars help reduce air pollution and cause significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gas or diesel-powered vehicles. But many electric cars still run on electricity produced from fossil fuels, and the batteries and engines require rare minerals which often come with high environmental and social costs. Switching from a gasoline or diesel-powered car to an electric vehicle can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 2 tons of CO2e per year. A hybrid vehicle can save you up to 700 kilograms of CO2e per year.

Given that our electricity in BC comes from hydro-electric dams, not fossil fuels, switching to an electric car from a gasoline vehicle would make a huge difference. The trick is finding one!

5. Consider your travel

Airplanes burn large amounts of fossil fuels, producing significant greenhouse gas emissions. That makes taking fewer flights one of the fastest ways to reduce your environmental impact. When you can, meet virtually, take a train, or skip that long-distance trip altogether. Taking one less long-haul return flight can reduce your carbon footprint by up to almost 2 tons of CO2e. 

This one makes me want to cry! Our train service in Western Canada is pathetic and ridiculously expensive. Compared to Europe, we live in the Dark Ages. And our huge distances means that driving or flying is the only way to get somewhere in a reasonable amount of time within a reasonable budget. And I don't even want to think about the Mexican vacation...

6. Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle

Electronics, clothes, plastics and other items we buy cause carbon emissions at each point in production, from the extraction of raw materials to manufacturing and transporting goods to market. To protect the climate, buy fewer things, shop second-hand, and repair what you can. Plastics alone generated 1.8 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 – 3.4 per cent of the global total. Less than 10 per cent is recycled, and once plastic is discarded, it can linger for hundreds of years. Buying fewer new clothes – and other consumer goods – can also reduce your carbon footprint. Every kilogram of textiles produced generates about 17 kilograms of CO2e.

We do this!!! I think the only new clothing we buy is underwear, socks and sometimes hiking boots. Everything else we get secondhand. New clothing is soooo expensive and Fast Fashion means the latest trends will be out-of-date within a few months. We don't buy into that cycle. We also try to buy things second-hand. Facebook Marketplace is our friend! And we sell things there too, or give them away. Much better that our things find a second or even third or fourth home.

7. Eat more vegetables

Eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and less meat and dairy, can significantly lower your environmental impact. Producing plant-based foods generally results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions and requires less energy, land, and water. Shifting from a mixed to a vegetarian diet can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 500 kilograms of CO2e per year (or up to 900 kilograms for a vegan diet).

We do this too! We have added a little bit of chicken and fish back into our diet, for health reasons. But we still eat a tonne of legumes and other veg.

8. Throw away less food

When you throw food away, you're also wasting the resources and energy that were used to grow, produce, package, and transport it. And when food rots in a landfill, it produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. So purchase only what you need, use what you buy and compost any leftovers. Cutting your food waste can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 300 kilograms of CO2e per year. 

We try to do this too! Although we're always amazed at how food can get lost in a fridge and then make an appearance when it is ugly and moldy.

9. Plant native species

If you have a garden or even just a plant or two outside your home, check for native species. Use a plant identification app to help. And then think about replacing non-natives, especially any considered invasive. Plants, animals and insects depend on each other. Most insects will not eat non-native plants, which means birds and other species lose a food source. Biodiversity suffers. Even a single tree or shrub can offer a refuge – just remember to skip insecticides and other chemicals.

We do this too!! No insecticides for us. Er... well... maybe some wasp spray into a wasp nest that is proving to be problematic after multiple stings. But other than that, we don't spray pesticides on our garden, or Round-up on our weeds. 

10. Clean up your environment

Humans, animals and plants all suffer from land and water contaminated by improperly discarded garbage. Use what you need, and when you have to throw something out, dispose of it properly. Educate others to do the same, and participate in local clean-ups of parks, rivers, beaches and beyond. Every year, people throw out 2 billion tons of trash. About a third causes environment harms, from choking water supplies to poisoning soil.

I try to bring a plastic bag with me on my hikes and walks. And then pick up garbage as I come across it. Lately, I've been noticing a lot of full dog poop bags discarded in the bush along one of our favourite trails. Seriously... dog owners who do this are only slightly lower on the stupidity totem pole than cigarette smokers who discard their butts.

11. Make your money count

Everything we spend money on affects the planet. You have the power to choose which goods and services you support. To reduce your environmental impact, choose products from companies who use resources responsibly and are committed to cutting their gas emissions and waste. If you have money that is being invested for you, through a pension fund for instance, it may be supporting fossil fuels or deforestation. Making sure your savings are invested in environmentally sustainable businesses can greatly reduce your carbon footprint.

This one is a bit of a hard one. I know many of our Canadian banks are heavily invested in fossil fuels and other industries that are not friendly to the environment.  Will have to research this in more detail.

12. Speak up

Speak up and get others to join in taking action. It's one of the quickest and most effective ways to make a difference. Talk to your neighbors, colleagues, friends, and family. Let business owners know you support bold changes – from plastics-free products and packaging to zero-emissions vehicles. Appeal to local and world leaders to act now. Climate action is a task for all of us. And it concerns all of us. No one can do it all alone – but we can do it together.

This is true. If we all complained about plastic labels on craft beer cans... maybe the industry would change.

Conclusion

There are things we can do that do make a difference. And if more of us... or most of us... or all of us... started to make the same changes, or demand the same changes... then we would be a powerful force for change in the world. Look at Greta Thunberg! One person... and the movement that she inspired.

You can read more about the 12 Actions via the link below. There are other resources as well.

12 Actions for a healthy planet | United Nations

The Tick Bite that Results in an Allergy to Red Meat

We've all (likely) heard of Lyme Disease, caused by a bite from the black-legged tick. We know (or ought to know) that we should wear long pants, tuck in our socks and inspect ourselves (and our pets) for attached ticks when we hike in high-tick risk areas.

Lyme Disease Risk Areas in Canada

Lyme disease (caused by a bacteria) can be nasty, causing all sorts of symptoms like rashes, joint pain, facial palsy, etc... sometimes months after the tick bite. The repercussions of untreated tick bites are long-lasting and scary.

But now... down in the southeastern United States... there's a new tick-borne illness. Some people, who get bitten by the lone star tick (it has a white spot on its back) develop a permanent allergy to all mammalian meat and things like dairy. Yep. You heard that right. The lone star tick can carry can carry a substance called alpha-gal that, after a bite, triggers a delayed allergic reaction to red meat in the poor human who got bitten. It's called Alpha-gal syndrome and there's no cure. But what the heck is Alpha-gal??

Alpha-gal is a sugar molecule that humans don’t have in their system, but a lot of animals do. This includes many mammalian animals such as cows, bison, rabbit, goats, deer, pigs, sheep, and lambs. And their products... like milk, cheese, other dairy products and gelatin. If a person is bitten by a lone star tick and it transmits the alpha-gal molecule, then the person may develop an antibody reaction to the alpha-gal molecule. In other words, they could develop an allergy. This means the next time the person eats red meat such as beef or venison, or something made with beef gelatin, or drinks a glass of milk, or eats ice cream, they could break out in hives or have a more serious allergic reaction.

Black-legged tick (left) vector for Lyme Disease
Lone Star Tick (right) vector for Alpha-Gal Syndrome

Well... that shouldn't really matter to us in Canada, right? I mean... the lone star tick is down in the southeast United States. Well... yes and no. It used to limited to the SE US but now... with climate change, and warming temperatures, the tick can survive farther and farther north. It's recently been spotted in the northeastern United States. And... in 2022 and 2023... some have been found in Ontario and Quebec.

Soooo... if we allow climate change to continue to run rampant... we can expect a future in which the lone star tick will colonize higher latitudes... eventually scrambling over the Rocky Mountains and heading for the Pacific Coast. The cynic in me foresees a future in which the majority of North Americans have been bitten by the lone-star tick and are forced to readjust their eating habits. We might not make the switch to less meat now... voluntarily... but there may come a time when nature makes the choice for us.

More Reading

CTV News - Tick bites: Meat allergy caused by tick spit more common now

CNN - Alpha-gal: Meat allergy passed by ticks may affect hundreds of thousands in US, CDC estimates

CTV News - Another tick that causes meat allergy spotted in Canada

BeefResearch Site - The Red Meat Allergy: A Canadian Perspective

Our Carbon Footprint Could be Better... Needs to be Better!

After calculating our carbon footprint last week... I was pretty satisfied with it. 12 tonnes of CO2 per year per person isn't bad! It's certainly better than folks in Alberta who rely on coal powered electricity power plants. Right? Right.

Global Neighbours

Well... turns out, we're not the only ones on the planet. And our carbon footprint in Canada is not great. In fact, it's worse than pretty much any European country. I know why too... distance. We fly more. We drive more. We don't have super-fast trains that connect cities. Our wide-open skies and huge distances mean we do a LOT of travelling and... that's where we are racking up a lot of our CO2 emissions. Not to mention all of our food has to travel long distances, etc, etc. And let's not mention holidays... if we want to flit off to a Mexican vacation, we are talking thousands of kilometres of flight distance... whereas in Europe... those distances are often smaller... just flit down to Greece or Spain or Italy for a winter vacay.

Yeah... except... China has an average carbon footprint of 5 tonnes... and they are a big country too... We are in trouble.

Climate change isn't going to cut us any slack. A recent study confirmed that by 2050, Canadians are going to have to cut their emissions an average of 95%. Eerk... that would mean... an average of 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per year... Ummm... where's my chart??

Basically... we could heat our home, handle garbage and recycling and drive a tiny bit in our gasoline powered car, and eat a vegan diet... Remember... in my previous blog, this carbon footprint didn't include diet at all! 

Yep, it's official... we are in trouble.

2035 and 2050 Targets

Here's what it looks like... There we are at the top of the pack... and there's Brazil and India near the bottom. And we can see our targets as well. The 2035 target is 2.5 tonnes/person/year. But by 2050, we need to get that down to 0.7 tonnes/person/year.

Hot & Cool report on climate change - 1.5-Degree Lifestyles Report | Hot or Cool

Seriously... it seems impossible to go from 12 tonnes/year to 2.5 tonnes/year! And then down to 0.7? HOW???

Reducing Carbon Footprints

The Hot or Cool report offers the most bang for your buck suggestions. And for Canada, a high-income country... we are looking at the following...

Biggest Reduction - 0.5 to 1.5 Tonnes/year per option

• shift from gas-guzzlers to fuel-efficient vehicle
• shift from gasoline car to electric car
• car-free private travel (a vacay with no car??)
• reducing  international flights
• shift from meat-based diet to vegan or vegetarian diet
• shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy

Medium Reduction - 0.25 to 0.5 Tonnes/year per option

• living closer to the workplace
• car-free commuting with electric bikes, ride sharing
• smaller living space
• hybrid car
• car-free commuting with public transportation
• closer weekend leisure
• efficiency improvement of home appliances

Small Reduction - less than 0.25 tonnes/year per option

• food production efficiency improvement
• alternative dairy products
• renting a guest room
• telework
• efficiency improvement of buildings, heat pump or air conditioner for temperature control
• reduction of sweets and alcohol
• reduction of domestic flights
• household food loss reduction
• saving hot water
• lowering temperature at home
• supply side food loss reduction,

The Bottom Line

My sense is that a lot of us are focused on the Small Reduction section. We are trying to save hot water by showering less. We are lowering the thermostat and wearing sweaters. We are composting and trying to reduce food waste. We are installing a heat pump. But while all of these things are good... they aren't making a big difference.

For the biggest difference... we are going to have to address things like our car-culture... gasoline cars in particular. And our preference for individual transport over communal transport.

We are going to have to address our fixation with fossil fuels... whether it's natural gas for heating homes or coal-powered electrical generating plants. Those don't work anymore.

We are going to have to look at our addiction to air travel. In France and Austria, they have banned short-haul domestic flights under 2 hours. You'll need to take a train instead. And that works for them because they have the rail system to support that. Here... our rail system is pathetic. And we like our warm-weather winter vacations too... and flitting off to Arizona for the entire winter. Those things might be a relic of the past in a few years.

Carbon Budget

I wonder what would happen if we had a carbon budget for the year. And no... you can't borrow or trade carbon like you would money. This is a budget that can't be altered. You only have so much carbon money to spend. Once it's gone... that's it.

Of course we'd buy our heating and electricity first... and then want?

Things like garbage and recycling... but then travel? Transport? Diet?

We made the switch to a primarily vegan/vegetarian diet three years ago. Beans... tofu... tempeh... and a bit of salmon here and there for the Omega-3s. It works. It's actually quite yummy. Do we miss milk? Nope. Do we miss cheese? Sometimes. We do dabble in yogurt and butter but minimally. But if we had a carbon budget... and had to cut something... yogurt and butter would be the first to go. But what about eating local? What if we ate some local bison? Makes no difference. Meat whether it is next door, or across the country still has a high carbon footprint.

I'd probably be cutting my daily drives to Starbucks. In favour of walking or biking to another coffee shop. I'd make sure that all of my errands are tied together like a daisy chain. They generally are... but sometimes we make that run to the grocery store for a packet of basil because we need it for the recipe we are cooking. Maybe that's a place to start... track our annual kilometres and make an effort to reduce our daily car use.

As for travel... when my mother immigrated to Canada in the mid-1950s... there were no international flights. Heck there weren't even domestic flights. She took a passenger ship from Bremen to Quebec City. She then boarded a train that travelled all the way across Canada. Took days and days. She remembers a time when there were no cheap and easy flights. They are a luxury. And one that we can ill afford the way it stands.

It's enough to make one's head ache. And yet... it's all pretty obvious.

• Buy local - farmer's markets
• Buy seasonal - don't buy raspberries in January
• Eat more vegetables - including dried legumes... best bang for your buck
• Eat less meat - beef is bad... fish is better
• Walk or Bike more - time for an e-bike?
• Drive less - plan your errands... vacation locally

Right now... we still have some free will and choice in all of this. We can choose to do better. There may come a day when we don't get that choice. When it's gotten so desperate that we have carbon rationing... or a ban on international flights or... who knows. I can't see the future but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the writing on the wall. 

Our Carbon Footprint Could be Worse

I got sucked down the carbon footprint site the other day and it was a fascinating journey!

I had been taking an Instagram course for our short-term rental, and the instructor had a post about how to calculate your carbon footprint. He was in the UK... so the site he used wasn't ideal for us.

 But no worries... I found a Canadian one - Carbonzero Calculator

Carbon Categories

There are all sorts of categories...

• Utilities
• Vehicles
• Flights
• Transit
• Fuel
• Shipping
• Waste

There is a whole section on calculator methodology and I leave that to you to read... As a caveat, I'm not sure how to calculate Shipping so that category is going to be empty for us. I presume that would be for people who do a LOT of shopping on Amazon and Wayfair... which is not us... so going to leave that for now...

We also don't use Transit so that is going to be blank for us...

Carbon Footprint - Utilities

The first step is to calculate Utilities - which includes Heating and Electricity. Given that we have electric heating with the heat pump - we only had one category here... 

The calculator asked us for total kwh and I got that off of our BC Hydro Account - May 1 to May 1. It also asked what province we are in... which is British Columbia.

So, 0.14 tonnes... that seems ridiculously low? Is it because of our hydro-electric power gird?? Let's check Alberta with it's coal-powered electricity generators...

Oookaaayyyy... well... that answered that question. Don't move back to Alberta. Ever. 

Carbon Footprint - Vehicles & Fuel

Let's go through Vehicles. We have a little 2011 Kia Soul that we drive about 10,000 km a year - mix of highway and city driving. And... we get 0 tonnes? That's weird... but I did a little test and chose a 2022 Ford F-150 pick-up truck... same distance, same type of driving and it's pushing 3 tonnes... so this must have to do with the age and type of vehicle...

I chose a 2022 Toyota 4 Runner and a 2010 Toyota 4 Runner as well - the 2010 had 0 emissions and the 2022 had over 3 tonnes.... so it must be an age thing.

As for fuel... this is where it gets scarier! I calculated that I generally put 40 litres of fuel into our little Soul once a week, so 2000 litres of fuel a year, give or take...

Yikes!!! That's almost 5 tonnes of carbon emissions... this is where the rubber hits the road. Drive less... better fuel efficiency... hybrid... electric vehicles... bike more... all definitely options.

Carbon Footprint - Waste & Recycling

This section wanted to know the weight of our waste and recycling... I went to our city's website and pulled up the average weights for a household in our city. I tend to think we throw out less garbage than the average household but... let's run with that... So 200 kg of garbage per year and 150 kg of recyclables (mixed).

Well, that's not too bad either.

Basic Carbon Footprint - no Flights

Right then... so our total greenhouse gas emissions for the year are pushing 5 tonnes. Which isn't bad. You can see that gasoline is the biggest generator of CO2. If we had an electric car... we'd be smiling... although then our vehicle emissions (probably from making it) would be higher than 0.

Carbon Offsets

After calculating your carbon footprint... you can then choose to purchase carbon offsets. On this site, they run about $30 per tonne... so we would be spending $150/year on offsets. There are other sites which have cheaper offsets. And since all of the projects on CarbonZero seem to be "completed"... I'm not sure of the benefits of purchasing an offset here. The Gold Standards website on the other hand is highly recommended by the Suzuki Foundation... and there are tonne of offset projects here - some at $15/tonne, and some higher. The Gold Standards site recommends that, if you don't know your carbon footprint, you choose an average for your country. For Canada, this would be 2 tonnes/month. Ergh...

But then... I haven't added flights into the mix... so let's do that!

Carbon Footprint - Flights

This is the scary part I think... so let's just bite the bullet and do it. The site makes it easy... all you need to enter is your starting airport, destination airport, class and whether it's round trip or economy... Here we go...

Now... here's the weird thing... distance wise, Cancun is 4500 km while Mom is 700 km (one way). So it's a bit odd that Mom's flights are more tonnes than Cancun... but maybe it has to do with the size of the planes... bigger planes mean the carbon footprint is spread out over more people. Maybe...

But... these flights have turned into scarey-ville!

Carbon Footprint - with Flights

It's the gasoline. It's the flights. If we didn't drive or fly, our carbon footprint would be miniscule. But we do... so it's not.

Now... divide this by two as well... some for me... some for my partner. And still... 12 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year... that's a bit dismaying. And yes... we could just buy some carbon offsets but... ideally... we would move in the direction of less gasoline and less flights. It's those vacation and family flights that are the kicker.

Oh, and this calculator doesn't even include diet in there! A meat-eater diet has twice as much carbon footprint as a vegan... 

Another Carbon Footprint Site

That's where the Carbon Footprint Calculator comes in handy - it has a bunch of different secondary categories that can make a difference. Although it doesn't include the Waste/Recycling category. But then... when I do that one... I get this. 

I'm not sure about all of this... The car bit includes gas and yet... it is way less than the CarbonZero calculation. And the flights are much less as well. The Mom flight is 0.21 tonnes!  Although, it does add the secondary bits - things like food (makes a difference if you are vegetarian or a heavy/medium meat eater), also pharmacy and clothes and furniture. 

Ugh... I can see why some people just go with the average for their country! But let's just say our household is running at 24 tonnes/year (added in those secondary bits to our CarbonZero total). So that means each of us is about 12 tonnes/year or 1 tonne/month. That is in line with most European countries. The average for Canada is 2 tonnes/month/individual. But as we saw above... Alberta is VERY different from BC in terms of electricity footprints. Soooo... I'm going to run with 1 tonne/month and leave Albertans to fend for themselves.

Carbon Offsets

There are a LOT of places out there that sell carbon offsets. Some are legit... some less so. The David Suzuki Foundation has a pdf that can help you navigate where to purchase your offsets (https://davidsuzuki.org/science-learning-centre-article/purchasing-carbon-offsets-a-guide-for-canadian-consumers-businesses-and-organizations/). The other site is the Gold Standards site mentioned already above... (https://marketplace.goldstandard.org/collections/projects).

I'm going to have to look through everything and choose one to use as my offset. And look at ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint. It's the hydrocarbons (gas, jet fuel, etc) that are the high ticket items.