1. USE YOUR PLATFORM:
If you have a platform: use it. Having access to social media is a platform. Use that platform to raise awareness about the positive changes we can make. Share updates, information and initiatives to make a difference. Connect with others who are doing the same.
2. TALK TO OTHERS:
Instead of talking about the weather, or sports, and other small talk, start a meaningful dialogue. Ask friends, family and co-workers if they know about these issues. Ask what they think we can do better as individuals. Share solutions and engage in constructive conversations. Through communicating better with the people in our sphere, we can work together on these bigger issues that affect us all.
3. ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
Know that you can make a difference - no matter how big the issues is, we are never too small. We may not be the lawmakers but those lawmakers work for us. Make sure to hold your representatives accountable to climate action. Ask what they are doing to help. (Find your reps here.)
The big corporations that use their financial influence on government for self-serving interests - know them, name them, hold them accountable by taking away your business, and letting them know why. Just 100 companies show responsible for 71% of global emissions. These corporations cannot exist without a profit. Without customers they will have to change their practices or go extinct themselves. Know what businesses you are supporting and their business practices (some of the biggest US companies are profiting from climate change).
Know what politicians you are supporting and who they may be financially liable to. How the world’s dirtiest industries have learned to pollute our politics. Support climate champions and make your vote count. (Lobbyists helping Brazil recruit US companies to exploit the Amazon.)
Get your money out of the big banks funding irresponsible industries like pipelines and deforestation (How Big Banks are Putting Rainforests in Peril). Change what you personally are doing and be an example. Live the changes you want to see.
4. SPEAK OUT:
Make your voice heard by signing this petition >> GREEN PEACE PETITION HERE
Rainforest Rescue has multiple petitions up>> RAINFOEST RESCUE PETITION HERE
Another current petition is available on Change.org>> CHANGE.ORG LINK HERE
5. QUIT BEEF AND DAIRY:
It is a non-debate that the beef and dairy industry are driving climate change by drastically increasing carbon levels and contributing large amounts of pollution to land, water and air. Up to 91% of the deforestation is due to the production of beef. (Sources here - here - here - here - here - and here.) That burger, that steak, that cheese... all has a drastic negative impact on animals (both wild and farmed), people and the planet. Beef and dairy are also one of the largest creators of carbon pollution (more on this here and here) and the direct cause of the most common health issues (more here and here).
It's time to put our money where our mouth is. Changing the world and making an impact starts on our plate.
The first people impacted by climate change will not be the ones who have the power and privilege to make change. Rising tides from melting ice caps and boiling heat waves will hit the poorest people and most marginalized communities first. This is already occurring: affecting millions of families and children that are becoming climate refugees. Our choices are not just our own. Our choices affect more than just us and our families. They impact innocent people, our choices - things we can control - destroy our own home, earth, and they cause the death of billions of animals annually (150 million land animals die a day for food).
Eating healthy plant based foods costs nothing but a change in habit, a shift in mindset. For those that think it is too expensive, here is a free source for Eating vegan on a budget. It takes nothing away from us when there are hundreds of alternatives to our meat and dairy addictions (8 best vegan burgers). Taste is not a good enough reason to take a life, to irreversibly destroy crucial ecosystems or cause families to suffer. Those of us that have enough food to eat, with a stable home are living in a bubble of privilege. These essential human rights are not universal. Going vegan is one of the best things you can do to make a real positive impact! Get started here: free starter kit from PETA, and vegan nutrition.
Vegans are not off the hook. There's more to making a positive impact then just being vegan. Be a responsible vegan by choosing to avoid conflict palm oil (shopping cheat sheet & palm oil scorecard). Steer away from unethically sourced soy (find ethical soy products here). Even veggies and fruits can come from the exploited labor of people, or abuse of land. We all have become educated, and make conscious changes for our shared world.
7. CHANGE FROM ME TO WE:
Recognize this is a shared world made of many millions of overlapping communities; many billions of species, plant life, flora and fauna, and the critical ecosystems all occupy this same space. This is all connected in what one does has a ripple effect across the world. Every action and reaction has consequence to the collective. We must work together, for the good of all.
8. RESPECT NATURE:
Nature is a living temple. What is most essential to the human spirit is out there; in the raw and wild wonder of endless forests, oceans, mountains and glades. Not only are the roots of every medicine, and every staple resource for our existence, the secret truth of life is encoded within the nature itself. It is not to be explained but experienced. Its treasure trove of wisdom is written on the leaves, on the waves, on the wind, and on the hearts of all things that walk, crawl, swim and fly.
We are nature. The whole of earth is a sacred site. If earth is burning, we are burning.
The privilege of our life (as it is a privilege to be alive) asks that you remember the deep pact made and passed down for thousands of generations - the communion of humankind and the natural world. We are in a relationship with all Creation. That is meant to be symbiotic. Everything you see, every life, moving and un-moving, is connected. This is a shared world. Honor it. Protect it. Do your part.
9. SUPPORT GROUPS THAT HELP:
Rainforest Action Network - LINK HERE
Amazon Watch - LINK HERE
Rainforest Trust - LINK HERE