I was just in central California right before the Los Angeles fires started. The effects of climate change are all around us. And the only solution is to dramatically cut down on the use of fossil fuels.
But how do we do that when our federal government seems to be taking the reverse tactic?
We do it by individual action. After all, it is our consumption that has caused the problem, and it is only our reduction in consumption of fossil fuels that will solve the problem. So, let’s look at what the most effective actions individuals and households can take.
The first thing you need to know is: what is your carbon footprint? How much carbon and other greenhouse gases do you and your family put into the atmosphere every year?
There are several online carbon footprint calculators you can use like the EPA carbon calculator. However, I have found that the easiest way to track your carbon footprint is to use AI. AI is fast, reasonably accurate, can be very precise, and it’s fun.
The first question I asked is what’s the average carbon footprint for someone living in New Mexico. Sadly, it is about 16 tons of CO2 per year, one of the highest per capita in the world. New Mexico relies a lot on fossil fuels. We have limited public transportation and have carbon-heavy consumption habits.
The next question I asked was how much is this reduced if I have rooftop solar and generate all my electricity that way, and if I recycle, compost, and drive a small hybrid? These are the things I do now.
AI told me that electricity accounts for about 25% of a typical household’s carbon footprint. If I generate my electricity from rooftop solar, I eliminate about 5 tons of CO2 per year. Like most of you, I recycle. That can reduce emissions by about half a ton. I also take my food waste to a composting facility and that reduces my emissions by another half ton.
Next to electrical use, one of the largest sources of our carbon footprint is our cars. A conventional gas engine produces about 4.6 tons of CO2 a year assuming it’s driven about 12,000 miles. AI confirms that you can drop that by half or more with an efficient hybrid. If you have an electric vehicle and rooftop solar, you can drop it by a full 4.6 tons.
A large source of carbon emissions is airline travel. Some people must fly for work, but what about discretionary flights? You can get specific here. The average emissions per mile are 0.2 kilograms of CO2 per passenger per mile for domestic flights. A typical round-trip domestic flight would use about 0.5 tons of carbon. I try to keep my domestic flights limited to two a year; so that’s about 1 ton of carbon per year. You can also buy offsets.
The other main thing that increases the U.S. average carbon footprint is what we eat. Beef and lamb are the most carbon-intensive proteins. That’s because of the methane emissions produced by cattle and sheep, feed production, and land use degradation involved in conventional agriculture.
The average American consumes about 58 pounds of beef a year. Unfortunately, I’m an average American. One way to cut this down is to eat more low-impact protein, like chicken and fish, that have a much lower emission impact. A vegetarian diet reduces food-related emissions by up to 50% and a vegan diet by up to 70%.
If you just can’t give up beef, cut your portion size in half or less. The impact on your footprint can go from 0.71 tons of CO2 per year to 0.35 tons. And if you stick to a Mediterranean diet, you cut your food-related emissions 40% to 50% and improve your overall health.
What you buy also adds to your carbon footprint. If you buy used goods from any one of our great consignment stores, you reduce your carbon footprint. Used goods do not add much to your footprint.
Individual actions matter. If you have a well-insulated home and make thoughtful and cost-efficient changes, you can cut your carbon footprint in half. And there are still lots of federal and state rebates and tax credits and utility incentives available to help individuals and households transition to lower carbon. AI, like ChatGPT4, can make it fun, specifically tailored and cost-effective.
Our choices matter more than ever now.
Published on February 1, 2025, in the Albuquerque Journal.
© Judith Polich. All Rights Reserved. May be republished with author’s written consent and proper attribution.