Questioning: the idea that GROWTH and technology can decarbonize our way out of this emergency. Questioning: when renewables themselves and an economic system which sacrifices the natural world and its living beings for profit over survival contribute to warming
Nevertheless what can individuals do while challenging the political industrial power structure?
A Letter to the Editor by Earth Action Squad member Diane Collins April 29,2021 "Less Is Best" What if “Less is Best” becomes a rallying cry for those of us concerned about the climate crisis and life on our planet? What if hundreds, no thousands of us locally can help by changing choices? We know that climate overheating is happening and that it’s one of the biggest threats humanity has ever faced. We know that carbon pollution (our carbon footprint) from industrial and human lifestyle activity is irreversible and stays in our atmosphere for thousands of years creating a thick blanket that traps heat and causes stronger hurricanes, bigger fires, more frequent flooding and the extinction of thousands of species. Here are a few mitigating “Less is Best” choices: 1. LESS CONSUMPTION We are constantly distracted and barraged to buy new stuff. The carbon footprint for storing mined data about our preferences, packaging, shipping, and returning what we buy cannot be overestimated. We can curb carbon by only buying essentials. 2. LESS WASTE The cost of burning and burying what we throw away adds to carbon pollution. Local reuse, repair and recycle initiatives give us other options. Backyard food-scrap and yard waste compositing is an easy one. 3. LESS MEAT EATING A United Nations climate change report describes plant-based diets as a major opportunity for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Raising livestock on lands that could grow trees that remove carbon dioxide from the air Is precious loss. 4. LESS DEPENDENCY ON FOSSIL FUELS Less driving and lower thermostat settings are simple choice examples. Another is making calls to our legislators in support of federal climate action. We can be converted, one resistant mind at a time, that the earth is in peril and that we can choose “Less is Best” steps to help save it. Diane Collins Glens Falls
CHALLENGES to BE ANNOUNCED: plant based diets creating backyard gardens planting trees re use repair computers, phones, dont buy new divestment and purchase power
The issue is no longer how many people the planet can sustain but how many she can endure- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d19x_eu1-ug interview with Michael Moore's Planet of the Humans filmmaker
Can "Convenience Behavior" change? Thought of in these terms:
In terms of tons of CO2 equivalent per year the following is what it would represent:
Having one less child saves 58.6 tons;
living car free saves 2.4 tons,
avoiding 1 transatlantic roundtrip flight per year: 1.6 tons,