You did this. I did this. We all did this. Every single person reading this post burned more carbon than they should have, which warmed the atmosphere, causing climate change and creating the fire storm that is engulfing a continent. Every one of us is culpable. Every one of us should feel ashamed. And every one of us needs to make sweeping changes to our lives now.
Do you feel bad?
Good.
Then change your actions.
Firstly, donate to help the people who are suffering.
Next, park your car. If you don’t believe me when I tell you that how we transport ourselves accounts for at minimum thirty percent of our carbon footprint, then go here.
Screen capture of the average household carbon footprint according to the Cool Climate Calculator (Source https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator)
It’s the Cool Climate Calculator. It shows how you compare to other households like yours. It is far and away the most comprehensive calculator I’ve found. As a point of reference the accepted global sustainable footprint for an individual is 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
The carbon footprint calculator was developed by a number of organizations one of them being Berkeley, the California school. Look at the bottom, it has Leo DiCaprio’s name on it. Say what you will about his taste in women, that man is devoted to climate change and bringing awareness to it.
If you want to help understand the ramifications of the crisis and how it came about, watch National Geographic’s “Before the Flood”. It’s narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and was the catalyst for our family committing to both renewable energy and reducing our carbon footprint.
This is an emergency. Greta Thunberg told us to act like our house was fire. There’s no pretending now- our house is truly on fire.
What are you going to do about it?
Tell me your and your family’s goals to change your habits and lifestyle in the comments.
The Great Unwashed 
Because of Leo’s film we decided to cut back on meat, particularly beef, and we eat a lot more vegetarian and vegan food now instead (thanks Leo!). We use public transportation (neither of us drives) and rarely, but we’re lucky to live in a place with public transport *at all,* and within walking distance of our jobs. We use cloth bags whenever we can and try to minimise use of single use plastics. We also don’t heat or cool our home (again, lucky to live in a place where this is possible, i.e. the discomfort is still manageable, though it might be different if we had children to consider), and only turn on the boiler when we need to shower (appliances are still the biggest use of electricity in our home, fridge, washing machine etc.)
That isn’t to say there isn’t more we can do, or that we’re doing it perfectly, but I’m a proponent of encouraging people to do whatever they can even if it’s imperfect; at least they’re trying. I really hope the world doesn’t burn before our eyes, the governments can and will ditch us when catastrophe strikes and resources dry up, as seen in Australia. I know you are very conscious about the environment and that’s awesome.
What are your thoughts about buying carbon offsetting? I looked into it because we’re going to be flying in a few months but haven’t decided on one yet.
Oh, and VOTE in the next election, and encourage other people to vote, for leadership who take climate change seriously. 🙂 And aren’t afraid to challenge offending big business.