Do Less to Help the Environment in 2020
If you’re still thinking about your New Year’s resolutions, here’s one suggestion that can benefit not only your own life, but the state of our planet: do less.
What does it mean? Less travel, especially if it involves flights. Less travel by car; It may be time to ditch some extracurricular activities or social activities and set aside one or two nights as “overnight nights.” Less time is spent looking for new products and entertainment and more time enjoying what you already have, and if you don’t already have it, you can get it in the library.
In The New York Times, author and environmentalist Paul Greenberg lists a number of climate-related resolutions we can implement by 2020, many of which are already familiar: Eat less meat (and prefer chicken and fish over pork and beef). ), avoid buying disposable plastic, unplug appliances when not in use, and so on.
He then mentions the importance of spending more time at home doing nothing:
Busy Americans are worried about what they really need to do something to solve the climate crisis into their already hectic lives. But doing nothing is better for something. A 2018 study published in the journal Nature notes that tourism accounts for about 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Just one long-haul flight emits about half a ton of carbon per person, or a whole ton of the greenhouse effect when you factor in the other gases that the jet spews into the upper atmosphere. Business and First Class travel provides three to four tons of carbon dioxide on a long-haul flight because of the extra space these more comfortable seats take up.
So doing nothing at home on your next vacation is an easy choice. Another best option is to turn off the car rather than letting the engine idle, which accounts for about 30 million metric tons of US carbon dioxide emissions annually .
Greenberg’s proposal to “do nothing” seems especially pertinent after last year, when everyone seemed to be discussing burnout and the value of doing less. Anna Helen Petersen’s article ” How Millennials Become a Burnt Out Generation” went viral in January 2019; Emily and Amelia Nagoski’s Burnout: The Secret to Breaking the Stress Cycle, published in March (and was one of my favorite books of the year); People have been recommending Jenny Odell’s How To Do Nothing: Resist Saving Attentions since its publication in April, and I still haven’t found enough time to read it.
I disagree with Greenberg’s advice that we should all be outdoors this year instead of taking vacations. Giving up on daily life is of great value, at least for a while; a random change of scenery can help spark new ideas, shake up old routines, and create fresh memories. (Bonus points if you can take a vacation that is not work related.)
But I agree with the idea of doing and / or using fewer things in 2020. Less flights and more FaceTime. One less duty each week and one more night at home. Use up what you have before you go out and get more. Get to know the people who are closest to you (literally) and contribute to the community that surrounds you, because you will also contribute to the health of the planet.