Most Impactful Climate Actions

Any action is better than no action, but there are choices that matter a lot more than others. For those who just want the hard hitters, here's your short list.

1. Use renewable energy. For most people, this means signing up for community solar (arcadia.com) or other renewable energy sources through your utilities provider. For homeowners, take advantage of solar incentives to install solar panels.
2. Take public transportation, walk, bike or drive an EV. Fossil fuels account for 75% of greenhouse gas emissions globally (un.org), and car emissions account for 20% of carbon emissions globally (ourworldindata.org).
3. Green your finances. For most people, this means switching to a green bank (like atmos or aspiration). For those with investments or retirement accounts, green your investments.
4. Eat less animal products, especially beef. Meat and dairy accounts for approximately 15% of global carbon emissions, but beef is by far the biggest contributor (forbes.com). This is due to habitat destruction - including in the Amazon Rainforest - as well as methane from cow burps (yes, really).
5. Buy less stuff, especially plastic. Plastic is made from fossil fuels and does not biodegrade (bpf.co.uk). Polyester in clothes is plastic (cfda.com). When you buy stuff online and then return it, most of it goes in the trash (bbc.com).
6. Compost. About 50% of our waste is compostable. When this material decomposes in the landfill, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas with up to 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide (cnn.com). This is because its not exposed to oxygen due to the sheer weight of trash. Find a composting service near you.
7. Use less energy overall. Our homes are full of electronics, from TVs and computers to humidifiers and light fixtures. If they are not explicitly energy saving, they may be passively charging at all times. Learning how to reduce energy usage will save you money and be better for the environment. Tips from energy.gov and Commons.

These are prioritized roughly by impact x ease. However, the prioritization is not completely accurate.

To be accurate, I would need to know your average utility bill a month and where you live; your commute, and the car you currently drive; the amount of money you have in the bank, and which bank and your investment profile; how much meat you currently eat; and your credit card transactions to see what you buy etc etc.

Basically, it depends on you as an individual and what your carbon emissions are currently. If I knew this information I could tell you which things would give you the greatest carbon savings and rank them properly. If you really want to know your biggest opportunities for impact, then I suggest you check out Commons the app, and make sure you fill out the carbon survey and connect a card.

[Disclaimer]: I work at Commons, but I'm not plugging Commons because I work there. I work there because its the only company that I know of that can achieve this level of accuracy on an ongoing basis.