Climate change is here. And yet there isn't really a full guide people can refer toward on how to help with the solution.
So here it is - Going Green 24/7's compiled list on how to tackle the global warming crisis.
Let's get down to business.
The Tree Approach: Your Solution to Making an Impact
In order to ingrain our message deep into your roots, we have decided to present our list in a concise, easy-to-understand way - "The Tree Approach".
Comprised of five parts, this method of approaching the climate crisis helps you to grow from a little seedling to a gigantic tree of change.
But the best part of it?
Anyone - and we mean anyone - can follow this method.
It doesn't matter if you live in a heavily polluted area, don't have much time and money to spare, or are just not the outgoing type.
The beauty of this technique lies in its simplicity. No matter where your background lies, "The Tree Approach" is sure to suit your lifestyle and personality!
The Five Steps of The Tree Approach
In total, there are five steps to The Tree Approach.
As outlined above, the five steps that make up The Tree Approach are:
Step 1: Change yourself
Step 2: Help change your family
Step 3: Help change your city
Step 4: Help change your country
Step 5: Help change the world!
First and foremost - why a tree? Well, that's because in this guide we aim to help you grow.
We at Going Green 24/7 recognize that though many people want to help in the fight against climate change, they can't. They don't know how to.
Therefore, through this guide we hope to plant a seed in our readers that, with the right nutrients and care, will grow into an unstoppable force of change.
Step #1: Change Yourself
Before making broader changes in your community, it helps to plant the right seed in yourself.
The best way to begin is by removing your bad habits - some of which you may not even know you had.
Here's how:
Say, have you ever tried plant-based meat before? Why not join in the global trend and have a taste of a meat-free lifestyle?
Who knows - you might even be able to persuade your family to try it...
Step #2: Help Change your Family
Your next step in developing your eco-consciousness is persuading your family to do the same.
This is an especially crucial step in The Tree Approach because it helps to grow a spirit of activism in you - essential particularly in the Country and World stages.
For those of you who consider themselves as the introverted type, pay very close attention to the forthcoming tips. They'll make the other three steps in our list much easier to follow.
Without further ado, here's how you and your family can contribute in the war against climate change:
Transportation
For many of us, selling our petrol cars isn't really an option - especially when we depend on them to get us to and fro school, work, and everywhere else in between.
But there are other ways to work around this problem.
Simply making the choice to walk, bike, and bus whenever a car is not needed can have a massive impact on the environment.
This is because our laziness too often results in us choosing to drive even the shortest of distances, thus accumulating to a whole lot of carbon dioxide.
Making the choice to use less pollutive means of transport is not only an easy way for a family to kickstart their journey to go green, but one that has many health benefits too!
Diet
Did you know that 23% of human greenhouse gas emissions come from food production? Well, now you do.
One way families can help reduce this number is by looking into more sustainable diets.
Below is a simple summary on the main characteristics of an eco-friendly diet:
We understand that giving up meat - a very core aspect of many families' meals - will be a very difficult decision to make. The benefits of meat, too, play a very crucial role in human health.
Hence, we feel that it is only fair for a family to be granted certain occasions (e.g. once every couple of days) on which meat can be eaten.
Home
The third way you can help your family get further into the sustainable lifestyle by making small yet powerful changes to the house.
As our house is where we spend most of our time in, the things we do in them play a massive role on our carbon footprint.
Therefore, it is vital that we ensure family homes help fight against climate change rather than for it.
Whether it be getting energy-efficient light bulbs or installing low-flow shower heads, taking steps like these to make a house more green can end up greatly reducing the speed of global warming in the long run.
Overall, applying these tips may not be feasible for every family and every living situation. And that's okay.
So long as you are willing to consciously put effort into preserving our planet, many other ways to slow the process of climate change will be made available to you.
The team at Going Green 24/7 also realizes that not all families may be comfortable with the idea of giving up their current lifestyle to help stop global warming, even if they are able to.
Our only recommendation in these instances is for you to persuade them with the truth. The truth that our planet needs saving.
If you have a genuine passion to halt this global crisis, there is no doubt that they will come to a clear understanding of the necessity to change.
Step #3: Help Change your City
Now it's time to stretch your impact toward your local city/region.
Although it helps if you are already a keen involver in your community, there are other ways to establish your beliefs and make the changes you wish to see.
This includes upcycling waste, organizing litter picking programs, and conducting public speeches to spread your passion to others.
In this section, however, the team has decided to focus solely on the steps involved in petitioning.
This is because we feel that the internet has enabled all people - young or old, outgoing or shy - to express their ideas freely and openly.
This therefore makes petitioning a very effective way to change others' points of view.
Before we proceed: Do note that from this stage onward, the effort required from you will be greater - but that only means your impact will grow equally stronger.
Whenever you feel like giving up, just remember to ask yourself this question: If not now, then when?
On a more positive note, here's how you can petition for change in your city, online:
1. Begin by heading over to Change.org, a website on which you can create petitions free of charge.
2. Select your scope: Local, National, or Global.
In alignment with Step #3: Help Change your City, select the "Local" option.
But why is petitioning under only this step?
Well, Change.org clarifies this through its findings that "Local petitions are 50% more likely to achieve victory."
Click "Continue" to proceed.
3. When asked to select your petition type, click on "Environment"
Click "Continue" to proceed.
4. Choose a name for your petition.
We recommend that you be specific on the change you wish to make in your city/region.
We've found that the more specific you are, the more chances there are of your petition being successful - mainly because it gives your community a clear goal to aim for. Of course, the exact area of climate change you wish to tackle varied on your location.
Below are some possible ideas you can bring awareness to - remember to tweak them to your city's needs.
- Tree Planting
- Mangrove Planting (particularly for coastal areas)
- Increasing financial aid to climate adaptation
- Creating water conservation programs
- Painting walls and roofs white
- Implicating early warning systems/technology
Click "Continue" to proceed.
5. Tell your community why you care about your selected issue.
This is where you pour out your thoughts on global warming, and why change needs to be made now if we desire a future on this planet.
It is absolutely crucial that you complete this stage whole-heartedly, as what you write has a direct influence on whether people end up supporting your cause.
Once you're ready to proceed, click "Continue".
6. Add a photo that relates to what you're fighting for.
Though this stage isn't necessary, an image helps draw attention to your petition, thus increasing the chance of it receiving support from the public.
If you do decide to attach a photo, remember to use a royalty free image to avoid copyright issues. There are tons of sites out there that offer royalty free images at no cost.
Click "Continue" to proceed.
7. If you haven't already, create an account on Change.org.
From there, all you have to do is click the "Publish Petition" button - your petition is now live for the world to support.
Congratulations! You've started what we hope will be a very successful and change-making petition!
It is encouraged that you proceed to share your link across social media, in blog posts, and everywhere else you can - it will no doubt accelerate the pace of change.
As mentioned before, if petitioning is really not your thing there are a wide variety of other ways you can help your city slow global warming down.
All it takes is for you to look closely.
Step #4: Help Change your Country
It's time to go big.
To tackle this stage effectively, you should begin by looking at how exactly your country needs your help.
Don't know where to start? Don't worry - below is a list of questions to guide you in identifying a significant need:
Does your country already make use of renewable energy (e.g. wind, solar and hydro energy)?
Does plastic play a key role in day-to-day life?
Which areas of life do fossil fuels get used the most?
Is your country's primary form of transport really the most environmentally-friendly?
Trees play an important part in preventing carbon dioxide from getting trapped in the atmosphere. Are they an integral part of your country's landscape?
Remember that there are many other ways your nation needs help with climate change - the only limit to your assistance is your imagination.
Once you have zoned in on the aspect you want to fix, it is then time to actually make an impact.
For the sake of simplicity, we'll use the fifth question above to show you how to do this.
Trees play an important part in preventing carbon dioxide from getting trapped in the atmosphere. Are they an integral part of your country's landscape?
Let's assume the answer is "no".
To begin with, we need to look at how we ourselves can reduce our country's carbon footprint.
Besides, it's easier to change oneself than others, right?
In our instance, a clear step we can take is to help plant some trees.
With the help of the internet we managed to find a wide variety of websites with which to do this, ranging from #teamtrees to Tree-Nation.
Take as long as you need when involving yourself in these activities - it will help to develop a more eco-conscious mindset in you.
Ready to move on? Great.
The time now comes for you to look toward encouraging your country to get involved in your cause.
The best way to do this is through "mass media" - or advertising - that reaches a wide range of people.
This may include handing out flyers, hanging posters, writing in your country's major newspaper, and even speaking on national radio (for the more adventurous).
Below is a sample poster we've created for tree-planting - feel free to use it if it suits you.
NOTE: Remember to check with your country's regulations before putting posters up. Without permission, hanging content up in public spaces is a criminal offense.
What a massive feat you've just accomplished - your country is now well on its way to supporting the battle with global warming!
But that's not the best you can do. We know.
Now that you're equipped with knowledge on environmental preservation, it's time to head as far out as we can possibly go.
Here we come, world...
Step #5: Help Change the World!
So, here we are. The final step of The Tree Approach.
To be frank, there are millions upon millions of ways this stage can be approached.
But is there an absolute best way to change the world's view on climate change? There sure is.
The answer is... to be yourself.
Your first response might be:
What?! Wasn't that the very first step in this whole guide? Have I been bamboozled?
Well, hold your horses for just a moment. Allow us to explain.
As we told you at the very beginning, this guide has been made to develop the climate action skills rooted within you - not to change/disrupt your personality and hobbies.
In other words, this journey you've taken with us should not at all have altered who you are, but strengthened it instead.
For example, Steps #1 and #2 involved you ridding yourself and your family from bad climate habits - thus allowing you to enjoy the things you love doing, without the negative environmental impact.
And in Steps #3 and #4? You looked at how climate problems close to you could be resolved with your passions and skills.
After thinking about it thoroughly, wouldn't you agree it would be a waste of your talents to discard this journey we've had to your personal development?
Now, the plan of action we suggest you go about in order to make full use of your personality is to do something unique.
I mean, just look at all the famous people of our time. Most (if not all) of them got to where they are now because they were different.
In the same way, you can make a climate impact on a global scale by being different - whether it be inventing a new global warming prevention tool, speaking about a crucial idea nobody's covered yet, or even starting a charity organization focused on planting those world-saving trees.
Overall, this step comes down to you.
Nobody's the same as someone else, and so it might well be your uniqueness that this world needs to combat climate change.
It's just a matter of whether you'll take that leap.
Conclusion
Here we are at the end of the guide. Congratulations on all you have already accomplished - you really are an eco-warrior!
Alas, this is not the end. Never forget that just as you have persevered, climate change has persevered too.
Yet even though it will take a whole lot more effort and sacrifice for humanity to truly be saved from this crisis, it can - and must - be done.
And now, armed with experience and knowledge on tackling climate change, there's no doubt you'll be the pioneer to a better future.
The team at Going Green 24/7 wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors, and look forward to being witnesses of your impact on the world.
Godspeed.
Bibliography
Start a Petition · Change.org. (n.d.). Change.org. https://www.change.org/start-a-petition?started_flow=true
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