Learn About Solutions
Did you know we have all the technology and solutions we need to address climate change today? We do! And you can help - in fact, you can make a big difference and together we can make a huge impact!
Your Impact
Action Steps & Tips
Introduction
We Have Solutions! We have the technology and solutions today to address climate change and create a safe and healthy future. The best news is these solutions are affordable, save money, improve our health and create local jobs – they will make our lives better today. It is much easier than you think to make an impact!
The primary cause of climate change in the U.S. is burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas for energy. For example: burning coal or natural gas to create electricity, using natural gas or fuel oil to heat our homes and using gasoline to power our cars. Other main causes of climate change include agriculture – how and where we grow food and what we eat, and our waste stream – what we throw away. (Learn more on the Climate 101 actions)
We have affordable alternatives to all these causes of climate change, and you can help! In fact, 40% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from these 5 basic household activities we do every day – using electricity, heating our homes, our transportation (both land and air), our food choices and our garbage. There are now affordable options for all 5 of these basic household activites that also save money, create cleaner, healthier air and create local jobs.
Most households can lower their impact in these 5 areas 50-70% or more and save money! We have no time to wait – we need to make big progress on climate solutions in the next 10 years, or our children in school today will face serious impacts in their lifetime. We can do this! Together we can make a big impact and create a safe, and healthy future and a better today.
Read below to learn more about the Big 5 Solutions and how you can help! (mark this action done and get 1,000 points for reading!)
1Make Our Electricity Renewable
Prices for renewable energy have dropped drastically in the last 10 years and will continue to drop. In fact, renewable energy is now the same cost or cheaper than other sources of electricity in many places in the U.S. and will be cheaper nearly everywhere soon. This will lower energy costs for families and businesses. Batteries and other technologies are also developing rapidly and will provide a low-cost way to back up the energy from solar panels or wind turbines and save it for when we need it – when the sun is not shining, and the wind is not blowing. The best part – clean, renewable energy does not create air pollution, so we will all benefit from cleaner, healthier air.
Home Action: Choose Green Electricity (Easy action! – join a green electricity program from your electric utility or other company providing green electricity).
OR Install Solar Panels
Impact: 10-20% average reduction in basic household impact
Cost/Savings: Green Electricity Average Cost = $10/month, Solar Average Savings = $10-$100/month
2Use Clean, Renewable Electricity to Power our Transportation
When we power our cars and trucks (and buses and trains), with clean, renewable electricity, we can also make our transportation fossil fuel and emission free! Transportation is usually the largest source of climate impact in a household. Switching to transportation powered by renewable energy has a huge impact!
What does this mean? If you drive a car, choose an electric vehicle the next time you are ready to buy or lease a new car. Not ready to drive an electric car yet? No problem. But did you know electric cars are much cheaper to operate and (the best secret) they are fun to drive! Blow away the muscle car next to you at the stop light with the instant torque of an electric car. The savings are huge – an average of $1,000/year or more on fuel costs and since there is no engine, there is no engine maintenance which equals more savings. Battery ranges have increased to over 200 miles on an overnight charge for many models, which is more than enough range for most people to make the switch! And new models, including SUVs, minivans and trucks are coming soon.
The best part, electric cars create zero air pollution. Imagine if everyone drove electric cars running on clean, renewable electricity – no air pollution! Breathe in the clean, fresh air…
If alternative transportation is an option, this is another great way to lower your transportation impact. Taking the train or bus can lower your impact up to 80% or more. If you have a choice, choose electric powered alternative transportation like the subway or electric buses for the lowest impact. Of course, biking and walking are 100% fossil fuel free options! And great for your health.
Home Action: Buy or Lease an Electric Vehicle, Take the Train or Subway, Take the Bus, Bike, Walk, Skateboard or Unicycle
Impact: 40-50%
Savings: Average $1,000+/year per car for Electric Vehicles, $100+/year for Train/Bus, $500+ for Bike/Walk
Air Travel
There is one form of transportation we don’t have a good alternative for yet – air travel. A lot of bright minds are working on a solution now! However, in the interim, until we have a solution, reducing air travel as much as possible is the best option. If you need to fly, you can offset your impact. Learn more in the Offset Air Travel action.
Home Action: Reduce Air Travel, Offset Air Travel
Impact: 10%
Cost/Savings: Reduce Air Travel Savings average $200 for every 1,000 miles, Offset Air Travel cost around $4 for every 1,000 miles.
3Use Clean, Renewable Electricity to Heat our Homes
If we heat our homes and businesses with clean, renewable electricity, we can make them fossil fuel and emission free! Many homes currently use natural gas, propane or fuel oil to heat their homes and water, and sometimes for cooking and clothes drying as well.
New, highly efficient electric heating options are now available that not only reduce climate impact but can also save significant money on energy costs over time. These options are available for space heating, water heating, cooking and clothes drying! Most importantly, electric heating is also a healthier choice. Heating with natural gas or other fossil fuels impacts indoor air quality and can cause asthma and other health problems.
Just bought a new water heater? No problem! For all Solutions Actions, do them when you are ready! Schedule this action on your list for 5 or 10 years out when your water heater is ready for a replacement.
Home Action: Install Electric Heat Pump Water Heater, Install Electric Heat Pump Heater, Upgrade Clothes Dryer (to electric), Upgrade Oven/Stove (to electric)
If you rent, talk to your landlord about efficient electric heating options – and take credit if they make the change!
Impact: 10-20%
Cost/Savings: ranges from $30-$100/month savings to $10-20/month cost depending on your current appliances and the upgrade.
4Be Energy Smart
Being energy efficient does not mean restrictions like setting our thermostat to 50 degrees – it means using reasonable, comfortable settings and installing a smart thermostat to make sure the energy is only on when we need it. You don’t need the heater on high when you're off at work!
The best part – being energy smart saves money! Many energy efficiency actions pay for themselves after just a few months or years and then lower home energy costs significantly over time. There are also more financing options becoming available to help with energy efficiency upgrades. Check out the action pages for more information.
Home Action: All the Actions in the Energy Efficiency category plus Combine Trips, Carpool, Drive Wisely & Telecommute
Impact: 10-30% (These actions reduce your impact in some of the other areas above.)
Savings: Average $20-$150/month ($250-$1,500/year) depending on the actions taken and where you live.
5Rethink Our Food and Reduce Garbage
Two additional sources of significant impact on climate change include agriculture – how we grow food and what we eat, and our waste stream – what we throw away.
Some foods, like red meat, create a powerful greenhouse gas called methane, while other foods, like vegetables and grains, create much less impact. How we grow food also matters – some farming methods help to reduce climate emissions, even reducing some of the emissions we have already created! However, other farming methods can create more emissions. And finally, where we grow food matters. If we clear the forest to grow food, we remove trees that help to lower climate emissions, create the oxygen we need to breathe and create habitat for many animal and plant species.
Home Action: Eat Lower Down the Carbon Chain, Buy Local, Buy Organic, Plant Trees
Impact: 10-15%
Savings: $100-$200+/year
When we throw garbage in the landfill instead of reducing, reusing, recycling or composting, it also creates methane! Taking a moment to think about reducing waste like buying things only when we need them, choosing products with less packaging, reusing things when we can instead of throwing them away, and recycling and composting when possible – can reduce what we send to landfill significantly! We have limited resources on our beautiful planet; using them wisely is an important part of creating a safe and healthy future.
Home Action: Reduce & Reuse, Recycle, Compost
Impact: 5%
Savings: $0-$30/month (depending on your garbage rates and options)
6Your Direct Impact
The Home Actions in the 5 Big Solutions above cover all of our direct impact on climate change from our daily activities. Most people can make a plan and lower their impact 50-100%! Add actions to your list and see how low you can go! And after taking actions, celebrate! You are helping to create a safer, healthier future and a better today.
These Home Actions cover your direct impact on emissions - the impact from the 5 basic household activities of electricity use, home heating, transportation, food choices and garbage. There is also an impact from the things we purchase and the services we use. For example, when you buy a new pair of shoes or go to get a haircut, the energy and resources used to make the shoes or the energy to power the electricity in the hair salon can also create emissions. Since we can't directly control this, the best way to reduce your impact is to vote with your dollar and choose products and services that have a lower impact. However, it is often difficult to know which ones to choose. Green certification or other rating information can be hard to find, but as it becomes available, we will provide the information on our site. You can also use your voice and your vote to encourage your elected officials to consider options for policies to lower business emissions.