Ask Lemmy

Funny enough, I just posted this:

https://lemmy.world/comment/26654710

VOTE for politicians that prioritize the environment and public health.

See if there's a local Weed Warriors volunteer group near you, or some other organization that addresses invasive plants. Invasive plants have become a big problem impacting biodiversity, these plants were introduced by humans and need humans to help restore balance to local ecosystems. Ideally plant native seeds to replace the invasives.

If there's anything in your life that burns fossil fuels (e.g. major home appliances or vehicles) look into electrified alternatives. At least in my area there are substantial local incentives to replace gas furnaces and appliances with electric heat pumps or appliances, often making those the cheapest option to install. And because they are more efficient than fossil fuels, they are price competitive to operate and often need less maintenance (particularly EV cars vs ICE cars). Public transit and bicycling when available are even better.

If you're unable to have solar panels installed where you live, some states allow you to get your electricity from a third party company. Programs vary by state in terms of how effective this is, but some make the third party company prove their green energy is in your state's borders and that your electric bill dollars go towards incentivizing new production. This often helps save you money because solar is cheaper than fossil fuels now.

Go vegan. It has a huge impact on the environment, and at the same time, you aren't actively and intentionally harming other animals.

Don't buy shit you don't need, reuse what you can, recycle, what's left, stop eating so much meat and dairy (especially red meat) or stop entirely, switch to !micromobility@lemmy.world over a vehicle if you can, if you have a house get your insulation done, switch to solar, next time your HVAC dies, replace it with a heat pump, avoid non-local products where possible, buy sustainable, and consider volunteering in meaningful ways.

Once the solar punk instance comes back up, check them out: I think you will appreciate a lot of their communities: slrpnk.net

Not eating meat is probably the biggest impact you can have, followed by using public transportation whenever possible.

Grow indigenous pollinator-friendly plants. Minimize your trash output as much as you can. Vote against expanding the military budget if youre in the US.

Fr tho going vegetarian/vegan is huge on a personal scale, large-scale farming is tremendously harmful.

The old slogan "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is in priority order. Buy less stuff, and try to fully make use of used things before you buy new. In this vein, I saw a great rhyme posted at a children's play center to encourage the kids to make efficient use of the craft supplies: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

Try to reduce your day-to-day travel by living close to work/school/groceries/etc.

Eat less meat and dairy.

If you own your home, consider energy efficiency improvements like new windows or a more efficient HVAC system. If your home has a yard, don't spray herbicides/pesticides, and plant things to support native insects and birds.

Advocate for dense zoning and walkable urban development in your city, and better public transit.

Others have mentioned the meat but wanted to point out this can include milk and milk products.

If there's any parks near you, go for a walk and bring a bag to collect garbage in. I almost always find wrappers or bottles I can pick up.

If there's any citizen science projects near you those are great. Scientists sometimes need regular people to just record things from around them like how many bugs they can catch or something.

Also, biodiversity loss is a huge problem. If you can create a hedge or some sort of wild area in your yard it can really boost the local biodiversity over time.

Bomb a datacenter

Eating less animal-based food and going for the less greenhouse-gases emitting vehicles (walk>bike>train> bus>e-cars>cars>planes) are the two biggest impact fields for the global warming problem, if i'm not mistaken.

For other problems such as plastic pollution, chemicals, etc., i think a good option is to minimize the waste you "generate" : avoiding plastic bags or containers, as well as aluminium/metal ones, glass is better especially if you reuse it, cardboard and paper are a bit better too though far from perfect.

Maybe some local farms or shops produce things with environment in mind (or at least more than others), like organic farming, ethic woodcutting, etc. It's never perfect, some are mainly greenwashing, others really try their best, most are in-between, but most of the time it's a better option than classic ones.

Picking up litter is never a bad idea.

If you have the space and knack for gardening, try cultivating a native plant garden for pollinators. Maybe put out a bird feeder or two, keep it cleaned

Make things yourself instead of factory produced. E.g. bake your own bread (it's not hard) and you'll save the plastic packaging and the waste produced in the industrial baking process. Make your own ice tea from loose tea leaves instead of buying ice tea in plastic bottles. Buy plastic free products such as shampoo/soap bars. See if there are farms near you that directly sell essentials like milk,produce, eggs etc. Buy local products and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Look into natural cleaning, e.g. using bakimg soda for some things instead of buying a chemical solution in a plastic bottle. Buy second hand when possible. Clothing, cutlery and plates, decorations etc., a lot of things can be found in thrift stores.

Mowing your grass less is actually a huge one. Like you can take such small steps that have huge impacts. Let your grass get 6-10 inches tall and then back to 5 inches. You will increase the bug count and increase the number of birds and predators almost immediately.

Of course there’s a lot more you can do, but that’s one that many people don’t even realize.

It may seem counterintuitive, but hunting is good for the environment. Your local department of natural resources (DNR) is most likely funded by the sale of hunting permits. In return, the DNR publishes a list invasive species, areas, limits, and season dates. For some species, they issue tags to enforce harvest limits and help track the remaining population.

By doing your part in helping control the population of invasive species, you can promote biodiversity in your local environment. The most common example is the white-tailed deer, who eat pretty much everything smaller than knee height. By keeping their population under control, slower-growing trees (like shade trees) have a chance to grow past that stage. In areas where deer aren't hunted, only fast-growing trees survive.

If your local zoning laws allow it, beekeeping.

Vote.

Single citizens can't do anything significant,

Organized government action can.