It’s Earth Day. Here are five ways to reduce your climate impact
Earth Day is Saturday, April 22, and we have some ways for you to reduce your personal climate impact every day.
Eat and shop local
Buying local means supporting local businesses, but also requires less transportation. Online shopping involves a lot of shipping, which means burning fuel and adding carbon to the atmosphere. Every year, shipping alone sends about one billion metric tons of carbon monoxide into the air.
Whatcom County is also home to farmland that can be supported by eating local, which is helpful to the climate for the same reason as buying local, it cuts down on shipping.
Energy upgrades
Upgrading electrical and energy systems is something that takes a lot of work, but it has a strong payoff. Switching from a traditional furnace to a heat pump is a common way to improve energy efficiency and is becoming all the more popular in Whatcom County every day.
Building insulation should also be reviewed. Over time, insulation wears down and as a result, energy is wasted while heating a home or other building. People can check the Community Energy Challenge at Sustainable Connections for ways to improve their home or office.
Reduce food waste
Rotting food in landfills produce methane, a greenhouse gas that is even stronger than carbon dioxide. According to the World Wildlife Fund, 6%-8% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced if we stop wasting food.
In the United States, 30% of purchased food is thrown out, according to Sustainable Connections, and 75% of people believe they don’t waste food. Sustainable Connections has a number of ways to reduce food waste in the home, including buying less food, preparing meals in advance and food preservation methods.
Roadside Litter
Pickup crews and volunteers cleaned up more than 1,641 tons of garbage on state highways in 2022, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology. As of April 16, free car litter bags are being given away by Ecology at all Washington Fred Meyer stores as part of the “Simple as That” campaign.
Litter is pollution to the environment, poisoning the air, land and water. Cleaning up litter can improve the environment and save wildlife.
Transportation
Transportation choices can reduce personal climate impact. In Bellingham, transportation accounts for nearly one-third of all community emissions, according to the city of Bellingham. The majority of these emissions are made by cars carrying only the driver.
Walking, biking, carpooling and taking the bus are all ways to reduce your personal climate impact caused by transportation.
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