S/off thread how do we help climate change then?

[saraha]

I’ve been following the resiliency thread and thought as a family we were doing ok (not great but ok) In the personal responsibility category. We recycle, we garden, compost, raise our own chickens and cows for beef, we own used cars that we maintain and try to use in as responsible ways as possible. We don’t have air conditioning. We line dry our clothes as soon as seasonally possible. We use cloth napkins and don’t buy paper towels. We’ve planted trees and are members of the Arbor Day foundation. We buy used as much as possible (I love a good yard sale or auction) and as much as we can spend our dollars in responsible ways. We also have short falls. 
  While reading the other thread, I started to think about what else I can do, and that moves me into the social activism realm. But I don’t know where to start. When our state was debating (and then passed) a law banning making laws that ban plastic bags, I contacted as many offices as I could, but that was the only thing I knew to do. How do I know where to begin? I would love done suggestions.

Thanks!

Edited July 6, 2021 by saraha

[prairiewindmomma]

Things that have happened in our neighborhood/town—these always need volunteers for labor and advertising and organization

plastic cling wrap drive in schools: https://recycle.trex.com/

maker Saturdays tied to recycling of styrofoam and other hard to recycle items. One set of tables had several people willing to repair broken items, another was for upcycling ideas, etc.

putting water bottle fountains into community spaces (funds earned through aluminum can drives)

prescription drug dropoff (nurses and police together because the drugs include controlled substances) to keep people from flushing them into the water supply

county political party work 

weatherizing of homes help

emailing political leaders

supporting political candidates through work (usually one has to be 16 to canvas  but you can always stuff mailers or help with fundraisers) 

kid protests (we had an earth day one in our metro a couple of years ago), likewise trips to capitol—to meet with legislators or hold signs

volunteerism for local environment—my kids have done removal of invasive plants, tree planting, distribution of pollinator plants, hiking trail maintenance, releasing fish spawn, trash pickup, etc. but there is also wildlife rehab, bird counts, and more

 

 

 

 

[saraha]

6 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

county political party work 

emailing political leaders

supporting political candidates through work (usually one has to be 16 to canvas  but you can always stuff mailers or help with fundraisers) 

So here is where I stall. How do I know who to contact/help/etc? How do you figure out locally and nationally who are working towards solutions. I feel like I only learn about things through the news and they are already settled.

[Tanaqui]

You contact your own lawmakers and tell them that you will not vote for them, will not donate to them unless they get on board.

They don't give a darn about your opinion if you're not a constituent.

[prairiewindmomma]

I would Google for your county’s political party info. So, as an example, “Bexar county democratic party” 

Here’s that example:

https://www.bexardemocrat.org/

You can read the planks for their positions and learn more about the candidates. 
 

At the state level you should be able to find out what bills are planning on being sponsored.
 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

“X (state name) environmental bills” will also turn up info.

Here’s what a quick look at Texas pulled up: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/a-snapshot-of-environmental-bills-filed-7312171/

https://environmenttexas.org/blogs/blog/txe/top-environmental-and-anti-environmental-bills-texas-legislature-0

and so on. Reading policy papers supporting the bills is enlightening, usually.

(If you were a policy hound you would approach this differently, but this is an average person kind of approach.)

Edited July 6, 2021 by prairiewindmomma

[Innisfree]

My personal list of goals for our family includes solar panels and hybrid or electric cars. Based on where we live, I don't think we can function without air conditioning. I wish we didn't need a car, but suburbs. Since we can't get away from these things, I want to be able to power them in the greenest way possible. In some areas, wind might make more sense than solar. 

Another possibility is a solar water heater.

Drying clothes on a line is an easier switch than the items above.

We're getting new storm windows. I looked into replacement windows instead, but the margin of energy savings over new storm windows plus new insulating shades inside was slender. That would also have meant that our perfectly good old wooden windows would have been scrapped (loss of carbon presently stored in the wood), and I would have been supporting manufacture of vinyl, which has its own problems.

Simple things like making sure you have adequate insulation in your home. Weatherstripping.

Energy saving appliances, wherever possible.

We haven't flown in twenty years. We also haven't driven more than four hours from home, and that rarely.* That's not because we've been great environmental stewards, it's for other reasons. In some ways it stinks. But-- it can be done. I think about my grandparents, who never expected to visit other countries, and never did. They had rich local lives. That's going to be a tough transition, but I think maybe that's the direction we're all going to need to go. Maybe families will stay geographically closer.

Think about the energy you use. If it comes from fossil fuels, that needs to change. Reducing the quantity used is a good step, also.

Think about the food you eat. The more plants, the better; the more local, the better. Seasonally appropriate local foods are good.

Local, state and national political action is crucial. See if there's a local or state group you can join. They'll help you stay informed, and target action to local needs.

* I take it back: one trip to visit colleges was maybe ten hours one way.

[Innisfree]

The other thread got into the question of whether individual action or systemic change was more important. It's not either/or, it's both/and. Both are essential. An article on the tension between the two approaches:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sierraclub.org/sierra/yes-actually-individual-responsibility-essential-solving-climate-crisis%3famp

Quote

Ultimately, a personal action versus political action binary is unhelpful. The environmental movement needs to sustain a way to do both: agitate and organize for systemic change while also still encouraging individual behavior changes. 

Or, put another way: If a fixation on personal behavior distracts from the political changes we need, dismissing the value of personal behaviors detracts from the political movement for climate justice. It may just be that encouraging personal behavior change doesn’t shrink or weaken the climate movement—it can expand, strengthen, and deepen it. 

 

[Rosie_0801]

Informing oneself about environmental issues before voting on them is important. In my state and a neighbouring state, the city Greens vote for the destruction of a major major river ecosystem while thinking they're doing the opposite.

[lewelma]

It is too late. The deed is done and cannot be reversed. My son and I are working to be a part of the solution to adaptation to what is coming rather then trying the change what we have already done. My son is considering a career in the 'retreat from the coast' 40 year policy that NZ began this year. I will be retraining next year in pollution remediation. Neither of us believe that it is possible to change what is coming. The Greenland icesheet passed its tipping point in 1997. It cannot be reversed.

[Happy2BaMom]

4 hours ago, lewelma said:

It is too late. The deed is done and cannot be reversed. My son and I are working to be a part of the solution to adaptation to what is coming rather then trying the change what we have already done. My son is considering a career in the 'retreat from the coast' 40 year policy that NZ began this year. I will be retraining next year in pollution remediation. Neither of us believe that it is possible to change what is coming. The Greenland icesheet passed its tipping point in 1997. It cannot be reversed.

We won't change what's coming, but we can help to mitigate even worse outcomes by reducing our impact on earth and trying to help all the other life forms who have the great misfortune to be stuck on Planet Earth with humans. Taking out most of our lawns (plant trees, wildflowers, whatever) & helping to preserve & rehabilitate wild lands and degraded farm lands is one way to help (altho I acknowledge that will do nothing to help all the ocean creatures). We really need to stop the fossil fuel use, but we haven't even shown the ability to mildly slow it down so far, so......

Edited July 6, 2021 by Happy2BaMom

[Innisfree]

I think there are degrees of bad outcomes. What's already baked in is awful, I agree. But there's plenty of room to make things worse, and so also a chance to avoid some of that.

[lewelma]

7 hours ago, Happy2BaMom said:

 but we haven't even shown the ability to mildly slow it down so far, so......

I don't think there is the political will especially worldwide. And I think that we are in an ethical dilemma to suggest that the developing countries need to stop developing because we have munted the Earth's climate with our development. The problem is that any reduction the wealthy countries make will be more than offset by the production of CO2 by developing counties. My son and I are reorienting to helping others adjust to what is coming rather than being activists for change. I didn't post in the previous thread about resiliency, but I have worked hard to make sure my son is not depressed but empowered to be a part of the solution for adaptation to the changing climate. He is majoring in physical geography / environmental science and my PhD is in Ecology. So this is our focus. The deed is done. It is a positive feedback cycle at this point, and there is nothing we can do to change the trajectory. My son and I have accepted this and have moved on to what we can do. He and I will study for years to be of use -- we have the motivation and capability to make a difference.

Edited July 6, 2021 by lewelma

[mommyoffive]

Not do things like this

Air India A320 Flies To Dubai With One Passenger | One Mile at a Time

[Melissa Louise]

14 hours ago, lewelma said:

It is too late. The deed is done and cannot be reversed. My son and I are working to be a part of the solution to adaptation to what is coming rather then trying the change what we have already done. My son is considering a career in the 'retreat from the coast' 40 year policy that NZ began this year. I will be retraining next year in pollution remediation. Neither of us believe that it is possible to change what is coming. The Greenland icesheet passed its tipping point in 1997. It cannot be reversed.

This. 

And actually, it's very energising to turn one's attention to adaptation. That's actually still within our power. 

[lewelma]

37 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

This. 

And actually, it's very energising to turn one's attention to adaptation. That's actually still within our power. 

Completely agree. My son started to worry that he didn't want to go into the field of physical geography because it would be too depressing, but he now knows that he can pick problems that he can fix, which is empowering. Helping kiwis navigate the Retreat from the Coast?!?!  Wow what a project to be a part of.

The earth science class we took last term was pretty clear that our current CO2 levels are outside the ice ages Pleistocene and into the Pliocene levels 5 million + years ago. And there are a LOT of positive feedback loops that will continue the climate change even if we completely stop anthropocentric CO2 this year ,(which of course we can't). The deed is done. We can stop driving, heating our homes, purchasing plastic, etc, but it won't matter. Time to change our focus. 

Edited July 7, 2021 by lewelma

[Melissa Louise]

2 minutes ago, lewelma said:

Completely agree. My son started to worry that he didn't want to go into the field of physical geography because it would be too depressing, but he now knows that he can pick problems that he can fix, which is empowering. Helping kiwis navigate NZ's Retreat from the Coast' ?!?! - Wow what a project to be a part of.

The earth science class we took last term was pretty clear that our current CO2 levels are outside the ice ages Pleistocene and into the Pliocene levels 5 million + years ago. And there are a LOT of positive feedback loops that will continue the climate change even if we completely stop anthropocentric CO2 this year ,(which of course we can't). The deed is done. We can stop driving, heating our homes, purchasing plastic, etc, but it won't matter. Time to change our focus. 

Amazing of you both!