1. Join environmental charities

When I began considering what to do first on my green quest, it was very hard to know where to start. Virtually every aspect of our lives has an effect on the environment and finding out the best way to act to reduce your impact in each case can be a difficult and confusing process. The obvious place to turn for advice and suggestions was the internet where there are many organisations attempting to fight climate change.

By supporting these organisations we can effectively and very easily contribute to their efforts to tackle climate change and protect the environment, both directly and indirectly. A small but regular financial contribution is not a difficult thing for anyone to shoulder. And it’s very easy to set up: using the internet, these groups are just a few clicks away. Within ten minutes I was able to join both Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, setting up direct debits that will donate a small amount money to them from my bank account every month. That’s it. I don’t have to worry about it again. And through the Gift Aid tax reclaim system you can increase the amount they receive from you by 28% without actually parting from any more cash.

By joining these organisations I will also be able to find out about their campaigns and how I can contribute more directly, from signing petitions and writing to my MP to boycotting certain companies and products and going on protests.

You too can join Greenpeace here: https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/donate/by-direct-debit?PromoParam=WE001

And Friends of the Earth here: https://www.foe.co.uk/direct_debit_form_new.html

If you didn’t know:

Greenpeace is an international, independent and non-violent organisation that aims to prevent climate change and protect the environment by exposing and confronting environmental abuse by governments and countries around the world, and to promote responsible and just solutions to the environmental problems faced by the world. Greenpeace’s campaigns have contributed, among other things, to bans on nuclear weapons testing, mineral exploitation of Antarctica, and the dumping of industrial and radioactive waste at sea. Find out more here: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk

Friends of the Earth is an international network of organisations that seek to influence political and economic policies in favour of the environment, finding green alternatives based on fact to help people and governments change the way the world is run. Just recently, Friends of the Earth’s ‘Big Ask’ campaign contributed to the successful introduction of the UK’s Climate Change Bill which will require a legally binding reduction of the UK’s carbon emissions of 60% by 2050. Find out more here: http://www.foe.co.uk

You may want to support more organisations or, for whatever reason, you may not wish to join the two I have highlighted here. So here is a list of environmental charities: http://www.britishcouncil.org/environmentuk/charities.htm

Of course joining either of these organisations won’t directly reduce my carbon emissions, but they are both incredibly important in the fight against climate change. And this blog is designed to show how little things can make a contribution, so it’s not a bad way to start.

It’s not (always) easy being green

I’ve just finished watching the environmental documentary The 11^th Hour and I’ve been left in tears. This incredibly powerful examination of the environmental problems facing the world today has shaken me to my very centre. Going even further than Al Gore’s Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, the film exposes just how much danger we as humans are putting ourselves in through the extreme impact we are having on the planet. Never has climate change seemed so real to me, and never has it seemed such a genuine threat, not just to our way of life but our very existence.

It wasn’t the scenes of despair-inducing environmental devastation that caused me to well up, however; it was the affirmation that we, as a species, have the ability to do something about climate change. According to the film, the technology already exists to reduce human impact on the Earth by 90 percent. When put like that the task of halting our impending self-induced doom doesn’t seem so impossible.

We live in an age of industrialisation, globalisation and advanced technology, and while this means that huge forces influence our lives in ways we can only struggle to comprehend, it is also the case that virtually every decision can have an effect on our environment, from turning on the light in the morning to brushing our teeth at night. We can effect change in each of these small aspects of our lives without too much hassle or sacrifice, and while individually they might seem relatively insignificant, if enough people take part they can all add up to one planet changing whole.

Of course there are some other, larger issues we need to seriously consider as well, things that require determination and a willingness to make a major lifestyle change. That’s why it’s not always easy being green. But by taking things one step at a time, perhaps we can ease the transition to a greener, more sustainable way of living, becoming so used to making environmentally conscious decisions that they don’t seem like a chore. These decisions won’t always be the simplest or cheapest but in the long term they will probably be they best.

So with this blog I intend to document my quest to green up my life without completely rejecting the modern world and resorting to moving to a shack in the middle of nowhere. It will require willpower and an acceptance of limitation of choice but when the solution is to generally become less materialistic and self-centred I would be ashamed to imagine I could not achieve these aims.

It was the realisation, while watching The 11^th Hour, that we do have the power to make a difference that turned my fear and anger into determination. The human race has achieved so much in its relatively short history, and much of that has come in just the last 100 years. Surely we have it in us to rise to the challenges presented by climate change and stop it before it’s too late. Perhaps we really can save the world.

http://11thhouraction.com/