10 Ways to act on Climate Change

Climate change, the global phenomenon that is affected by human behaviour and lifestyle. Our world is on fire. If we're scared about what's to come, we should act. Our choices today affect the future for all life on Earth.

Our yoga teacher, Joe Sharp, explains on his blog, what we can do as individuals to be part of the climate solution.

The teachings of Yoga are, in essence, practical tools we can use to behave better as global citizens. They point us in the direction of union, being able to understand that we’re interconnected and dependent on everything else and that our actions have consequences that reach far and wide. They’re explicitly clear that we should be non-violent, truthful, not take more than we need and relate to others with honesty and kindness.

What can we do right now?

1. Fly and drive fossil fuel-powered vehicles less; instead, walk, ride a bike, or take public transport

2. Switch to a renewable energy supplier - ditch fossil fuels from your home or business

3. Go vegan.

Animal agriculture is a leading cause of the climate crisis and the leading cause of species extinction, habitat destruction, ocean dead zones and rainforest deforestation. If we all ate plants, we would reduce the land used for crop production by 75%.

One vegan person saves approximately 829,000 litres of water a year. It takes 4,500 litres of water to produce just 4.5 litres of milk, and beef has an overall water footprint of roughly 15 million litres per tonne.

We'll need that water during drought and to fight fires

4. Only support politicians that recognise the climate crisis as the biggest challenge facing life on Earth

5. Air dry clothes

6. Whenever possible, share things; and reduce consumption, re-use, and recycle

7. If you need to use heat or a/c, insulate your home and your windows, and only use heat or a/c when you need to; dress appropriately for the temperature

8. If you own a home; add solar panels

9. Plant trees (we need a few trillion more) and stop mowing the grass in our gardens - we're destroying the habitat of insects and small creatures by cutting our lawns

10. Support companies working towards environmentally friendly solutions like carbon sequestration, sustainable energy, plant-based foods, etc. Stop investing in or working with fossil fuel companies.

If we stop using oil & coal, stop using animals for food, build a few million carbon sequestration units, and plant a trillion trees, we may avoid complete catastrophe.

We know better; we must do better.

Joe Sharp is a Yoga teacher at Yogaloft. You can see his upcoming classes here.