Reducing Environmental Impact

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. In that order.
• Eat local to reduce costs of transportation.
• Invest in new tech. Tech will be able to create new solutions (and new problems too).
• Use renewable energy. Donate to renewable energies projects.
• Insulate your house.
• Use GMOs.
• Vote with your wallet by buy environmentally conscious things from environmentally conscious and if possible, local companies.
• Opt for long lasting products over ones you will have to replace quickly.
• Avoid plastic products.
• Plant plants and create gardens!
• Donate to organizations that save (better than planting new) trees.
• Reduce meat consumption.
• Donate to birth control projects.
• Systemic problems need systemic solutions. We can't get there if everyone thinks they already "did their part" (turning off light switches, turning the thermostat down a degree, paper/metal straws, sorting recycling).
  • Individual actions aren't enough to improve the current state. They give a false sense of progress while not doing much progress. E.g: recycling doesn't seem to make a dent in climate change and recycled plastics are often actively harmful, poisoning people or ending up in the sea. Choices like your diet or how much you take the car have a much bigger impact.
    • The cultural dynamic in many places of serving more food than your guests can possibly eat–as a form of status or generosity–is persistent and wasteful. But it's just a small part of a system that needs fixing.
  • By focusing on the individuals, we miss the much bigger problem of climate change.. Around 70% of emissions come for 100 companies. Push governments to transform the economy so individuals don't have all the pressure.
  • It's hard to make changes since climate change happens slowly and doesn't trigger our fight and fly response. We need Incentives that makes buying and using the good things the selfish thing to do.
  • What's good for the individual is harming the collective and no one is going to concede because is not rational. E.g: it's cheaper to buy an foul car than an electric one.
    • Tesla is changing the incentives so even if you don't care about environmental change, you'd buy a Tesla.