Want to turn down the heat?

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So much to do, so little time! With every year bringing another "hottest year on record" for our planet and having now crossed the 1.5 C mark set as upper limit for stemming temperature rise, this is an urgent moment. And we are seeing the tell-tale signs of a warming world all around us - from extreme heat, to rising sea levels, to droughts interspersed with deluges, to food production dropping, to raging forests fires. BUT, there is much we can do to reduce and even reverse this downward spiral. Read on!

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Getting specific about these lifestyle choices:

• What we eat (lower on the food chain, closer to home,                                                                                   beans replace beef - eelgrass anyone?) Palm oil is in half                                                                            the stuff in the grocery store - and producing it releases                                                                        nearly 1 percent of global greenhouse gases - boycott it! 

• How we get around (every mile we drive typically emits a                                                                              pound of CO2 into the atmosphere; electric cars are better,                                                                            but still emit one-third as much carbon as gas-powered vehicles,                                                                    plus there's the issue of the batteries and lithium mining's eco                                                                        and other impacts; plus, any car needs roads, creates roadkill,                                                                  and isolates us from neighbor and nature)

• The size of our dwellings and how energy efficient they are,                                                                          since 20 percent of US emissions are "home-grown". Adjusting                                                                      the thermostat by 2 degrees saves a ton of CO2!

• How much stuff we consume - the production and use of                                                                  household goods and services is responsible for 60 percent of                                                                    global greenhouse gas emission (it takes energy to make stuff,                                                                 and a lot of it is shipped from abroad - just 15 container ships                                                              create as much carbon emissions as all the world's cars)

• Lawn size (mowing = 25 million tons of CO2 per year in USA)

• Challenge your school, congregation or other group to take                                                                    climate change seriously; invite NCP staff to stop in for a                                                                  workshop - we're cheap, knowledgeable and occasionally                                                                       funny :) 

• By your own lifestyle show others that a good life can be had                                                               without sacrificing a livable future

           

Your town on climate - see how many more 90+ degree days                                                                      there are today as compared to the past.

(here's our personal CO2 calculator with points for bad and                                                                          good behaviors)

 

Farther

• Advocate for local systems to be climate-friendly: bike lanes,                                                                    ride-share, farmers markets

• Our Sustainable Living Center in Harrisonburg, VA led the way                                                                     in getting that city to adopt a 50 percent reduction in carbon                                                            emissions by 2025. More here.

• Call for legislation to support carbon taxes, green energy                                                                          and other policies to reduce fossil fuel emissions

• Beavers! Often considered a pest, turns out they are our ally                                                                       in a climate-changing world!

• Solar farms are also sometimes considered a "pest". Whether                                                                    this is due to of lack of information or because some people                                                                          don't care for "solar" or anything that responds to climate                                                                    change, fight back with facts. Here's an analysis of how much                                                                  land it takes to generate different forms of energy. For many, taking the tops off of mountains in                      West Virginia to get coal is not as bad as a solar array in the field next door - and this doesn't add                  in the land degradation from climate change caused by fossil fuel use, which is big and getting bigger,              from Africa drying and Asia flooding to the American West burning to the Arctic melting. And since                    money talks, here are the numbers cost-wise on moving from coal to renewables. 

Farthest

• The world lost 6.7 million hectares of tropical forests in 2024, setting a record, and releasing the CO2 equivalent of two years' worth of US vehicle travel in the process. Get your school, club or congregation involved in our Two (!) Million Tree Campaign to do something about it!

• Here's a list of the most climate change-vulnerable countries in the world - NCP partner areas Malawi, Myanmar and South Sudan are regularly among the most at-risk. 

• Educating girls and empowering women are two of the top ten recommendations for reducing climate      change from the book Drawdown – do both through our Give a Girl a Chance fund

• Join campaigns to protect tropical forests, limit palm oil production, empower native people

• Go on our Learning Tours to the Amazon, Arctic and Dine reservation in NM to support native communities      as they protect the environment, deal with climate change and battle the extractive industries

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NCP's David Radcliff on causes, effects and solutions to climate change  =>