An Individual’s Impact on Climate Change
An Individual’s Impact on Climate Change
Maybe you have concerns about climate change but you feel unable to help in any way or contribute towards a solution. Maybe you feel that you are just 1 of 7.7 billion people on this planet. Maybe you feel that this is a problem that requires a solution from our largest corporations and manufacturing plants or requires government policy and leadership. Or, maybe you feel that there is nothing that you can do without a ton of extra money to make home and household upgrades.
If you feel one or more of these concerns, you are not alone – I had these exact same thoughts before I started to do a little research.
How much does an individual contribute towards climate change?
Did you know that ‘individuals’ (versus corporations or businesses), contribute directly to approximately 20% of our CO2 emissions that are driving climate change (source: ScienceNordic)? That may not seem like much, but the other 80% is produced by corporations or businesses that produce the products and services that we, as individuals, consume. So yes, we do control more than 20% indirectly through the products and services we consume. According to ScienceNordic, individuals are responsible for 60% of our carbon emissions and 80% of the world’s water usage.
Interestingly enough, about 100 companies have been responsible for 71% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions (source: Fortune summary of CDP and Climate Accountability Institute report). The 100 companies are primarily fossil fuel companies like Exxon, Saudi Aramco, and Russian gas giant Gazprom. So, as you can see, if we reduce our need to buy those products directly or indirectly (such as reducing our dependence on long transportation distances by buying local), those companies must decrease or shift their business to ‘healthier’ products and services for the environment to market to the changing priorities of their consumers.
What can we do about it?
So, indirectly, we as individuals have an impact on approximately 40% of the CO2 emissions. But, let’s talk about what we can do directly – what we can do immediately.
Of the 20% that I mentioned earlier (direct contribution), that breaks down into 2 major contributors: transportation and housing. The actual split will vary drastically from household to household depending on many factors such as commute distance, mode of transportation, climate (for home heating / cooling), type of heat, source of electrical power, number of people in household, etc.
However, on average, the emissions from our homes are approximately equal to the emissions from our transportation.
You’ll see on our Calculate & Plan page that it’s important to understand where the big energy hogs are in your household – sometimes they will surprise you. For example, we’ve always been told to turn off the lights when not using a room, but in most households the lights don’t have a large impact as far as energy consumption is concerned. Some of the things that stay on 24×7 consume a lot more energy – things like computer monitors, cable/internet routers, TVs, clock radios, etc.
But, how much does this cost?
It’s also important to know that you don’t have to take out a second mortgage on your house to become ‘more green’. Certainly some items are big ticket items – like installing solar panels, insulating your house or replacing all of your old windows with energy efficient windows. But there are also many low cost or free changes that can also have an impact – and some of them produce a fairly significant impact! You can see more detail in our post 10 Low Cost, High Impact Tips to Slowing Climate Change, but, as a sneak peak, some examples include using a programmable thermostat, closing the shades/drapes to keep sun out (in the summer) or cold out (in the winter), turning off computer monitors when not in use, only running the washing machine or dishwasher when you have a full load, using a rain barrel to collect water to water flowers or lawn, and recycle all materials allowed in your city or neighborhood.
I hope that you can see that we do have an impact and that we can do something about climate change – both indirectly in the products and services that we consume as well as directly in the way that we manage our household. For further information, check out our other blog posts or our Where to Start page.