One of the major problems we are facing today is climate change. According to NASA, every year, sea level is rising by 3.3 millimeters, the average temperature has risen by 2°F, and 427 gigatonnes of ice sheets are lost. Although it is very difficult to actually experience changes in our daily lives, this data clearly shows how the Earth is changing.
There are many ways you can help fight climate change, such as going waste-free or going vegan or vegetarian, but for many of us, these are not very realistic. We might live in a place where plastic-free alternatives are not accessible or plant-based foods are more expensive, but there are many other ways you can help the earth.
(Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels)
< Use Ecosia >
Ecosia is a completely free website where you can indirectly plant trees just by using them. It is very similar to using other search engines such as safari or chrome. The major difference is that they use their profit to plant a tree somewhere in the world. Their server runs 100% on renewable energy. For every search request, 1kg of CO2 is removed from the atmosphere, and for roughly every 45 searches, they plant a tree somewhere in the world. The best part is that the website tracks how many times you searched so you can get a rough estimate of how many trees you planted in the world. I have been using this for a few months now, and I have already planted about 120 trees. It is truly the best feeling to know how much you contributed.
They have an app as well as a chrome extension.
< Food >
As a teen, it might be difficult to take charge of what foods to eat. If your family is willing to reduce or cut animal products, great. But that is not the case for most people, like me. My family enjoys eating animal products and are not open for me to go plant-based. One thing I keep in mind though is to choose a vegan or vegetarian option at a restaurant. Today, as veganism and vegetarianism are on the rise, many restaurants offer plant-based options, and luckily, they taste very similar. Additionally, since beef is known to be the biggest contributor to climate change than any other type of meat, go for grilled or fried chicken instead of steak or burger.
It can even be as small as getting a normal hamburger instead of a cheeseburger!
< Unplug Electronics When You Are not Using it >
Did you know that roughly 25% of all residential energy is used on idle power mode? This means that this 25% can be reduced if everyone just unplugged their devices.
Look around your room. Do you see any phone chargers or any other electronics that are not being used still plugged in? Take a second to unplug it now. Your changes can be as small as this.
< Use Your Voice >
Teach people what you know about climate change: Tell your parents or grandparents when you are grocery shopping with them; Sharing posts on your Instagram story about climate change; Sign petitions; Join protests. There are countless ways you can use your voice and power to bring awareness to this problem.
The best and the biggest tip I can give to everyone: no matter how small your changes are, the impacts are still big. A small step is better than no step. Rather than having small numbers of people doing perfectly, it's better to have a million people doing it imperfectly.
These changes might seem insignificant and pointless, but small things add up to make a big difference.
Written by Ashley Yakish from Las Vegas, Nevada
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