Inspiring Climate Action Since 2009
Tribe, when you read this article it’s given that you know climate change is real and you definitely want to know what can you do to fight climate change? However, we all need to understand that contributing to climate action is not really an option anymore. If we want our human race to survive on planet Earth, we all have to start acting now!
Since the 1960s we have been seeing the evidence of climate change, however in 2019 when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report after 3 years of scientific research about the impact of global warming at a 1.5C temperature rise, Climate Emergency was declared. Now we could have just 11 years left to limit climate change catastrophe.
But the good news is we have all knowledge, resources, and tools to fight climate change. All we need to do is start! Each one of us has a role to play and become a climate hero!
Here are Sustainability Tribe’s top tips to act on climate change.
To start acting on climate change, we don’t really need to follow the traditional activism path and go out on the streets. We all need to learn how to use our consumer power to drive the change from bottom to top. Sustainability Tribe has been working tirelessly for 11 years towards this goal and has a great success story with our #ZeroWasteUAE Social Initiative and how it created a demand for zero waste solutions in the UAE, giving rise to zero waste entrepreneurs in the region.
Zero waste shopping since 2015
So basically, as a consumer, we need to increase demand for more sustainable products, services, social cultures, and business practices. This way together we can create market demand and in response, businesses will have to make amendments. So every time you purchase something buy sustainable!
We definitely need to use our consumer power, however, we don’t have to be a consumer all the time! It’s important to divert our attention from overconsumption and bring it back to more important things in life like health, family, and joy. We all know the mantra, less is more!
We all need to stop and think about what brings us happiness, how can we maintain our physical and mental health. It’s important to make our life rich with experiences and good connections with others and not just by filling our life with things! Once we practice this, it will actually help us become conscious consumers, not the other way round.
Now you might be wondering how compassion might help with climate change. But let me tell you, our lifestyle has been changed so drastically since the industrial revolution that it is now aligned to suit our capitalist consumer economy. So we have to take control and redesign our lifestyle, social values. Practicing compassion towards all beings will help us change our outlook towards the environment, ecosystem, wildlife, and biodiversity.
But more than that our collective compassion will contribute to resolving social issues like bringing social peace, social justice, and equality of all kinds, racial, gender, etc. It will teach us to learn to accept and help others, acknowledge struggles and be considerate, collaborate, and co-exist. For example, once we harbor compassion and get to know the different adverse effects of fast fashion on factory workers and textile industries in underdeveloped countries, we can boycott fast fashion and increase the demand for sustainable fashion. Or we can change our consumption habits once we know ‘how to protect endangered species‘.
Saving water, electricity, fuel, etc. all natural resources is very important, this also helps in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here are our popular articles about saving natural resources,
We generally know most of these tips but it’s important to implement them in our daily life and make it into a habit.
Do you know that we directly contribute to climate change through our eating habits? How? Read our article about ‘Understanding the environmental and social aspects of food’ which takes you from greenhouse gas emission of the food industry to the nutrition aspect of the current food system. But the good news is if we change our food consumption habits we can start fighting climate change right away plus bonus will be we’ll improve our health by eating right.
Here is our detailed ‘Sustainable Eating Guide‘ which includes simple tips like eating local, seasonal, plant-based food, and much more.
Our population is increasing, especially in the last few decades the rate of the world population has been accelerated thanks to medical advancement, the rising standard of living across the world. We are now almost 8 billion people and our population is going to keep on increasing. But the natural resource we are so dependent on is actually depleting. We have been consuming and overconsuming Earth’s resources which our planet took many years to produce, like fossil fuels. So the unavoidable reality in front of us in near future is the scarcity of natural resources, which you can experience in some places in the world more than others even now. So we will now have to share resources, this is going to be a big part of our children’s life. But we start doing it now, we can actually contribute to the solution.
We need to support the sharing economy business models like car-sharing, thrifting, etc. The simplest thing we all can do is start buying second-hand stuff, that is one way of sharing resources. Here is our Guide to Second Hand Shopping in the UAE.
Now every time we throw something, we are wasting natural resources invested in that item. So this is very important to be mindful before throwing anything and try to use up the natural resources invested as much as possible. So here are a few steps we all could do,
When you decide to prevent climate change, one of the first steps should be educating yourself. There is so much noise around climate change and sustainability that many times, people get confused or take less informed decisions. Therefore first thing is to find a reliable source and then invest time is reading, listening to the material with a curious mind where instead of just believing in what you come across, you should be asking questions. Because from my over 13 years of career in sustainability I can assure you, there are no silly questions in climate change and sustainability! If you want to ask me questions, please ask it on our social media or in the comments below (not via private messages), so that more people will learn from your questions.
Here are some quick educational articles for you
If you have started fighting climate change then don’t be shy, voice yourself! Make some noise about it, if you can! Go ahead and use your social media for good. For example, if you like this article, share it on your socials. If you are taking positive efforts show us by mentioning @sustainabilitytribe on socials.
But beyond social media, start talking about it when you are conversing with friends, family, colleagues, and even your kids. If could be an informal chat or could be a business meeting, break the ice and involve everyone. Don’t fear the climate deniers, criticism, or any kind of resistance. You are not supposed to get into an argument or defend every question, simply talk about what you understood and about your climate action. If you are taking some positive actions, you are on the right path so don’t hesitate to express yourself.
From my personal experience of raising social awareness over 11 years now and as a sustainability consultant I have seen it all and worst, believe me! But if I would have got affected by people who are at the other spectrum of ‘fight against climate change’, you wouldn’t have been reading Sustainability Tribe now! Rather every time I came across any kind of resistance, I looked at it as an opportunity to educate and spread the right message. Of course, it’s important to listen to criticism from people with an open mind. Without even knowing they might inspire you to take the next step in your sustainability journey!
Since the pandemic, many people have realized sustainability is a way to build back better. Now the conversations are moved from ‘why’ of sustainability to ‘how’ of sustainability. In reality, it doesn’t matter what is your professional or academic expertise or which industry sector you are working in, each one of us can work towards a sustainable future.
You can definitely bring in some sustainability thought processes at your work and can even become a sustainability change agent. Of course, you will need education and training. But here are a few simple things you can do to make your workplace more eco-friendly.
When I work with businesses, I help them embedding sustainability into their business. I have seen many businesses are not aware of some basics and easy to achieve sustainable business practices. Go ahead and read if your business making any of these mistakes? If we want to mitigate climate change and reduce temperature rise to 1.5C, we need all sorts of large and small businesses to adopt sustainable business practices and in the next stage circular economy.
We all know we are in this together, we can not keep fighting alone! So the best thing to do is join a group of like-minded people, who will support you when you lose the track, who will inspire and challenge you, and most importantly where you will feel belonged. There are many small and large local and international organizations that you can join.
However, if you are reading this article by chance, have a look at ‘About Sustainability Tribe‘, our brief journey about how a humble blog turned into a grassroots movement. Be part of our Tribe, join our community events, and monthly campaigns on socials. Join our knowledge building webinars, sessions, and even download our useful e-books and resources.
When it comes to climate change, the picture future-if we don’t do anything now- looks scray. But my advice is, don’t spread fear, we need to spread positive actions and hope. We don’t want people to get scared, that might turn into inaction. Remember optimistic people are self-motivated and we need motivated people to start and continue climate action!
Let’s picture the harmony returning back to our planet, which we destroyed. With the help of new research and development like bio-mimicry, circular economy, shared economy, etc. along with the widely spreading global wave of conscious consumerism and sustainable lifestyle, we can bring back that harmony, where our future generations can survive, thrive and have a sustainable future!
Amruta Kshemkalyani, an expert sustainability professional turned social entrepreneur, is the founder of the Sustainability Tribe, AK Sustainability
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