The world is facing inevitable self-destruction as a result of climate change, and the United States is one of the leading countries in the contribution to environmental damage. Climate change has negative impacts on everything from our health and environment to our food and water sources. It’s important for everyone, including the American people, to take initiative and be a part of the climate solution in an attempt to reverse or slow down the damage we’ve already caused.
Ted Halstead, the CEO of the Climate Leadership Council, is an influential public speaker in the fight against climate change. Halstead has written numerous articles regarding environmental policy, which have been published in the Harvard Business Review, National Review and The New York Times. Halstead also participates in influential think tanks, which includes his TED Talk: “A Climate Solution Where All Sides Can WIn.” In addition to this TED Talk, Halstead has also written the widely popular book entitled The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics, which was co-authored by Michael Lind. Anyone who is interested in living a more eco-friendly life should read one of Halstead’s numerous articles regarding climate policy in order to become motivated to make a change.
Switch to a sustainable diet.
Although many people may not realize it, our food industry is extremely damaging to the environment and is one of the leading contributors of carbon emissions. With meat and dairy products being among the most environmentally damaging within the food industry, it’s a great idea switch to a vegan diet, as you’ll eliminate any support you may have given to these harmful industries. If going vegan is too much of a difficult lifestyle change for you, you can still have a positive impact by reducing your intake of meat and dairy or switching to local, farm-raised products.
Make recycling a priority.
Recycling is one of the most important aspects of the climate solution. Recycling helps prevent single-use plastics from ending up in a landfill or in our oceans, which in turn makes for a cleaner environment. In order to make sure that you’re recycling properly, it’s a great idea to research your town’s specific recycling policies so that you can make sure you’re contributing as much as you can. Recycling also helps decrease carbon emissions as used products can be created into to products, thus eliminating the need for the creation of any new products from scratch.
Change your laundry habits.
While many people may not realize it, our laundry habits can have a pretty negative impact on the environment. Luckily, doing your laundry sustainably is actually quite easy. One of the biggest misconceptions regarding laundry is that in order to make sure your clothes are fully clean and don’t have any stains, you should run your washing machine with only hot water; however, this simply isn’t true. Using cold water in your washer for your load of laundry is just as effective as using hot water, and it uses less energy in the process. It’s also important to eliminate or cutback on your use of the dryer, as it’s one of the most wasteful household appliances. The dryer uses a significant amount of energy and releases an abundance of carbon emissions. A simple solution to cutting back on these emissions is to just hang dry your clothes—it may take a little longer than your dryer, but the positive impact this has on the environment should be enough of a reason for you to make the switch. Hang drying your clothes also cuts back on harmful dryer sheets being thrown away into the environment.
Laundry detergents also pose a threat to our environment. The average liquid laundry detergent consists of harmful chemicals and comes in a single-use plastic bottle. Using a laundry soap sheet instead of your normal detergent can help keep our water sources clean by eliminating both the litter caused by the detergent bottles and the chemicals from the liquid detergent being released into the environment. Tru.Earth offers great eco-strips that make the switch to an environmentally friendly lifestyle easier than you could imagine. Be sure to purchase your Tru Earth eco-strips today to start helping the environment as soon as possible!
Eliminate single-use plastics.
Single-use plastics are one of the most harmful contributors to climate change. Once thrown away, plastics remain in our environment virtually forever, as they are incapable of biodegrading into the earth. While they may appear to break down into smaller pieces, micro-plastics remain in the environment and are making their way into our water and food sources. You can have a powerful impact on this problem by eliminating your use of single-use plastics. This switch can actually be quite easy, and you can begin making an impact by purchasing a reusable water bottle, as plastic bottles are one of the biggest issues regarding climate change and environmental damage.
