Leonardo DiCaprio & National Geographic’s Before the Flood has taken the world by storm, overnight it had more than 2.8 million views worldwide, bringing climate change to the forefront of public discussions, articles, posts and blogs.
DiCaprio swoons us more than usual as he speaks to some of the world’s top scientists and leaders about climate change and what we can do to slow down its snowball effect.
Yet as epic and thought provoking as this documentary is, it can be a little overwhelming. What can we do in our day to day lives to help minimise our carbon footprint and thus climate change?
Ten actions to help save our planet!
1. Eat smart
Eat locally grown, organic produce that’s in season
Food is expensive to travel. And non-organic produce leaks all sorts of nasties into our waters and soils.
2. Make meat a treat
Do meat free Monday. And then maybe Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and the weekend too.
Approximately 18% of greenhouse gas is generated by livestock farming, mainly from cows! So if you cannot give up meat, then at least switch to organic chicken. Did you know producing one steak emits more CO2 than if you drove for one hour and left your lights on at home?
3. Be energy savvy
Unplug your phone charger when you're not using it. Put your laptop in sleep mode. Switch off appliances. Use LED light bulbs. Your wallet and Mother Nature will thank you for the smaller energy bill.
4. Go easy on the water
Take a shower over a bath, it uses 1/5 the amount of energy. Wash your clothes in cold or warm water. Fill the kettle with only what you need - in the UK alone it’s said 30 million litres of water are boiled daily only to sit in the jug unused.
5. Don’t be a waster
Rubbish produces a lot of methane, a very toxic greenhouse gas. Minimise the amount of garbage in landfills by recycling paper, glass and plastic. And create your own compost for scrap food, get some pet worms!
6. Get fit
Transportation causes a heap of greenhouse emissions. Skip the car and cycle or walk instead. You certainly live in the right city for it!
7. Plant a tree
We love trees because they consume CO2 helping keep our planet that little bit greener. Over the course of its life one tree can absorb a ton of carbon dioxide. Here's how to create your own urban garden oasis...
8. Read the news online
Newspapers are said to cause their weight in carbon emissions, literally.
9. Don’t fly high or at least if you fly do it as green as possible
Flying releases huge carbon emissions. Don't ever think about flying private. Skip the business class and go for economy instead like Prince William does too.
10. Give your two cents
Click here to donate to a charity working for the cause. Then you can treat yourself to that bath once in a while....