David Suzuki

GREEN YOUR COMMUTE

Nowadays, we barely see people walking on the streets nowadays. Instead, people are often in heavy traffics. Driving is convenient; however, modern transportation relies heavily on petroleum. Indeed, transportation is now the largest source of carbon emissions in the United States. The carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels like gasolines goes into the atmosphere, causing the Earth’s atmosphere to warm, which increases global temperature. However, not every transportation produces the same amount of greenhouse gasses per capita. Taking public transportation and biking could significantly reduce carbon emission, and walking produces no carbon emission at all. If less people choose to drive their own cars, people not only save energy used but also save their precious time since traffics will get better. People could also save money. For instance, individuals can save more than $9,738 per year by taking public transportation instead of driving.

​

USE ELECTRICITY WISELY

Climate change is largely driven by the excessive consumption and dependence of energy sources, especially electricity. The generation of electricity, a secondary energy source from the conversion of other sources of energy, is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. In the production, coal supplies more than half of the total energy needed to generate electricity. However, the burning of coal is responsible for 46% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. What should we do then? One simple way is to use electricity wisely. Simply stop cranking air conditioning in the summer or overheating home in the winter would reduce many carbon dioxide emissions since home heating and cooling is responsible for roughly 441 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. You can also replace the five light fixtures you use most often at home with energy-saving models. Replacing other machines to energy-efficient modes would save lots of energy. Although the immediate cost for updating suppliance is seemingly large, in the long run, its environmental and financial benefits far more exceed its cost. For example,  simply changing home light bulbs to energy efficient light bulbs can save up to $70 each year, according to ENERGY STAR. Other easy ways to save energy are closing the light before you leave, charging electronics only if necessary, and close televisions if no one is watching.

CHANGE YOUR DIET

Do you know that about 25 percent of the global climate change problems can be attributed back to the food and the our food choices on a daily basis, which is about twice as much global warming pollution as the cars. For example, a single serving  of beef causes about 330 grams of carbon, which is equivalent to driving a car three miles. However, choosing chicken instead causes only one fifth of emissions; if we switch to veggies, the emission is negligible.

Indeed, livestock accounts for over 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions since many of livestock are gassy and it takes about a billion tons of grain to feed all livestock, which could directly feed 3.5 billion people.However, all livestock are raised equally: some parts of the world raise livestock in a way that actually restore lands. Therefore, it is important for us to consider the causes when we choose food. Changing our diet doesn’t mean that everyone should go vegan or vegetarian. In fact, Mediterranean diet is similar to vegan or vegetarian in terms of the environmental impact. If we all switch to Mediterranean diet, we could solve 15% of global warming pollution by 2050.

In fact, we are eating too much meat: U.S. has one of the highest meat footprints per capita. The doctors are actually telling us we are eating twice as much meat as we really need for a healthy diet. And people listened to the doctors. In the last decade, there is been a 19 percent drop in the amount of beef we eat. Let’s catch the trend and contribute your part to mitigate climate change!