Combating climate change on a budget | OPINION
As a recent graduate and Environmental Studies major at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, I have often thought about climate change and the negative impact that I make on the environment each day. Even the decision to attend school put me in a position where I was contributing to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because I had to drive one hour each way to campus. Commuting wasn’t ideal, but Asheville is an expensive place to live and I just couldn’t swing it.
Deciding to go to UNCA was a challenge for me. I had never experienced such conflicting thoughts about education and my love for the environment. On one hand, I had a chance to be the first person in my family to ever go to a university. On the other, I would be hurting the environment that I was passionate about. In fact, I was passionate enough about it to know that I would spend my time in college studying it.
Ultimately, after considering all my options, I made the decision to attend UNCA. It was going to be costly to drive every day – both financially and environmentally – but it was cheaper than trying to live in Asheville. With money scarce, the balance between doing what you can for the environment and doing what must be done to live a happy and productive life can tip away from “green” choices. This is the reality of the world we live in, but it doesn’t mean that the environment becomes a lost cause.
The apartment complex where I grew up had residents that would throw bottles and trash in the yard carelessly. My dad would always go out and clean it up. As a kid it was hard to understand why he would do that. It was their trash so why don’t they pick it up? As I grew older, however, I gained an understanding of how important the environment was to him; it was this appreciation that he has passed on to me.
Making ends meet while also caring about the environment is something that my family and I have prioritized. Knowing now that human activity is changing the climate is a much larger problem than a few rude neighbors littering, though. And realizing that you are part of the problem can be dispiriting. In a way, I had become the neighbors from my childhood.
The car I drive, the electricity I use, the food I eat, and even the clothes I wear all contribute to climate change. So, what do you do if you can’t afford an electric car or solar panels? I’ve spent my time trying to focus on behaviors that are within my ability to change.
We’ve always recycled in my family, but was that enough? What other steps could I take? I took it upon myself to try to drive less when I didn’t have to and to carpool whenever the opportunity was there. This cutback on the amount I was spending on gas, but the trip to campus and back far outweighed any driving I would normally do.
I started watching the amount of energy that I was using. If a light was on that I didn’t need, I’d turn it off. I’d use towels multiple times to cut back on the amount of laundry I was doing. When winter hit we’d put plastic over the windows to insulate the house better and use less heat. I was still using energy, though, so how much was I helping the cause? It cut back on the power bill, but I was still changing the climate.
This summer I’ve planted a garden with my family, so we don’t have to buy food that’s trucked in from far away. It’s a small step towards mitigating climate change but looking forward to time with my family and getting outdoors kept me going at the end of a tough semester. It’s just the next step in finding new ways that I can make a difference. Or maybe I’m just satisfying my conscience and trying to reduce the guilt I feel.
Thinking about climate change can be discouraging, especially whenever you feel like your actions aren’t enough. It is a threat not only to us as humans, but also to the way our modern world functions. The consequences are overwhelming and feeling like you don’t have control over your own impact is disheartening.
Climate change is unlikely to be solved by personal behavior changes alone. Yet, environmentalists often make suggestions that argue for behavior changes and ways in which you can make a difference by altering your lifestyle. But the solution doesn’t have to be about sacrifice. Putting policies in place that create jobs and focus on renewable energy sources are one way in which we can reap the benefits of combating climate change without having to give up everything.
There is a simple solution that can go a long way towards solving this problem: vote. Changes need to be made at a level that individuals can not readily influence.