Three Steps to Cut Your Carbon Footprint 60% Today | Jackson Carpenter | TEDxAsheville

[detoxhealth]

Has anyone noticed how many thousands of office blocks in the cities leave their lights on all night with no one in them at all? This is a total waste of electricity and is going on night after night, ad infinitum.

[squig]

11:53 - step one : change your energy provider to one that uses alternative energy, like solar, which doesn't use fossil fuels to cut carbon footprint by 15%

12:44 - step two: heating and cooling your home, most of which is run using electricity so refer back to step one. use products that don't create fossil fuels for non-electric heating. this is another 17%

14:24 - step three: switch your car fuel. use ethanol instead of gas/petrol, this requires an adapter which costs less than 300$ and takes less than an hour to install. use biodiesel instead of diesel, no adapter required. use an electric car, but make sure the electricity used to charge does't come from a source which doesn't release fossil carbon. reduces 32%

[katharsis]

Oxford University says you can do exactly that, 60% reduction of your carbon footprint with only ONE STEP: cut all animal products out of your diet!

Talking about climate change without acknowledging animal agriculture is not a luxury we can have anymore!

[blackswift]

at 13:10 you can see that food and stuff you buy is the biggest reason for carbon footprint and he doesn't even mention it. switching to a plant based diet should be prioritised in saving the planet

[lilyydotdev]

Im proud, my country (Iceland) is running on completely clean energy. Also we're turning co2 into rock (carbfix)

[KingKhanWorldwide]

We have a future. Our children have a future and they deserve the world at its best and not how we throw away empty energy (like fossil carbons). It is a dangerous source, hazardous and yes, we do have the POWER to change.

[ruchikakunwar]

So far I found this to be one of the best contents on climate change. The way this man has explained about the climate change is phenomenal, especially the distinction between green carbon and fossil carbon.

[trnstn]

I like the science based explanation without making it an criticism of any one group of people’s lifestyle, great message to all of us and in a way we most people can understand yet still providing practical solutions.

This is a great explainer for anyone on either side of the political spectrum and will try and spread the message far and wide. People are lazy and don’t like change but these are actually not that hard to do on an individual level.

[nicolamoelter]

One of the easiest things people can do is reduce the amount of meat they eat, especially beef and lamb both of which have a substantial carbon footprint. Reducing meat intake is also good for your health and budget.

[garden]

After watching this video, I should also work on climate change to reduce my carbon footprint. As the speaker said, we should think of hope rather than despair in the face of climate change

[marcplante]

Clotheslines are cheap: no energy needed, 20 minutes to hang up, take down any time they are dry, no wrinkles, saves your clothes....(that "lint" on the dryer screen.... that's your clothes), they smell fresh, and a line can be strung up for $30.

[hitreset]

This is hands down one of the best climate change (more to the point, what can I do to address climate change) videos I have come across.
Please send, share, recommend, distribute this video far and wide.

[nickmendens]

For all the good that reducing meat intake has be aware that having 1 less child is the equivalent of about 20 people turning vegan in terms of reducing carbon footprint

[zanirani]

Animal agriculture is responsible for more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined. Plant based diet is the single best thing we can do. The UN has been clear on that.

[ronaldgarrison]

Oh, PLEASE. We were done with this biofuels nonsense a long time ago. Some things make sense, like collecting used cooking oil, but for the most part this is an environmental and nutritional disaster.

"It is a crime against humanity to convert agriculturally productive soil into soil which produces foodstuffs that will be burned as biofuel."—Jean Ziegler of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization

And there is other misinformation, but the biofuel stuff is the main problem.

I have to wonder if Carpenter is on the payroll of some agribusiness outfit, or if he's just independently misguided.

We do have to go to renewables, but not in that form. Wind and solar MUST be the focus.

BTW I worked out an estimate of the effect of my LEDs, and it's not 0.2%, more like 1.5%. And I don't do that much illumination. So there's another claim that seems wrong to me.

And yes, as some have pointed out, the diet you eat, and the way we grow food, are huge issues, for the climate and in other ways. Changing that makes more sense than biofuels.

[lotta]

Agriculture has to change. Like vertical planting, that reduces the use of water by 95% and can be done without pesticides or gene manipulation. No meat of course, but lets not pretend that conventional agriculture is good. We also need to use trains in stead of cars and trucks. Like truck trains.

[peepalfarm]

We are screwed when people don't bring up animal ag when talking about carbon footprint.

[gilesdesign]

I checked his website with bio video he says “I’m not a scientist” he studied “Ancient Greek and Sanskrit”. Yeah it shows, this “green carbon” closed loop theory is completely unscientific. It’s extremely dangerous because people see the TED brand and immediately assume he must know what he’s talking about and use it as a reason to defend their bad choices. I agree that electricity usage etc is important, I already did step one and covert to 100% renewables but sadly most people will not do that and instead just use this video to defend eating loads of hamburgers.

[xyzsame]

The carbon cycle is well explained, but I could not disagree more with step 3) using bio fuel or ethantol. - Follow the first step (electricity provider renewable) Step 2 heating: it depends. In Vermont you can get wood, or in many European nations that are in the moderate climate zone, enough rain and mountain area to have a lot of forests. They have a tradition there to use wood for heating anyway, and the technology for it had a blast in the last 20 years.

So that PARTIALLY replace the use of fossil fuel. It is completely impossible to satisfy all our energy needs for heating with plants, not even close.

Avoid flying if you can, do car sharing, or drive with other people to work if you can or use public transportation.

Eat less meat. Especially beef (METHANE !! Co2 on steroides)

Stop eating fresh foods that are grown out of season in greenhouses that are heated !!
(there are claims that the carbon footprint is not as bad, if it is imported - as long as the fruits are not flown in).
Glasshouse tomatoes in winter have a large impact, because they need so much heat for growing them. (So if the U.S. imports them from Mexico or they are grown in California, that is O.K.
Buy one of those switch off plug strips. to avoid standby costs - it adds up.

Get a good water saving shower head for those long hot showers. (I am still searching)

Switch to quality clothes but buy less.

have an eye at hemp products (clothes they aregreat, very durable, like linen. Or insulation material ...)

Buy a car that uses less gasoline (no diesel). Or drive down a used car and have it repaired (human labour) waiting for the breakthrough in electric cars. There is a lot of "grey" energy that is used whenever something is produced. So being frugal and extending the life of things is a good idea.

Tip for Europeans: if you like to drive fast and overtake a lot - slow down - it might cost you 5 minutes more time to move your car with much less energy. (and less risk of accidents).
Satisfy your ego elsewhere or go to fun car race area on the weekend.

If you can insulate your home do so, that needs a LOT of energy. (quality with mineral wool, styrofoam is somewhat cheaper, but mineral wool is more stustainable, can be recycled, helps with fire safety. Grenfell tower fire anyone !) In Germany the trend is to have thicker brick walls, instead of styrofoam. Good quality, nice to live in also in hot summer.

Buy quality appliances, avoid throwaway products. (Grey energy ! the energy that is necessary to produce something, and the inevitable pollution that goes along. Even if it is produced in a country with high standards it DOES have an impact).

If you CAN build an earthbag home consider it. Building with "dirt" requires much less energy than building with brick, concrete. Plus they insulate well.

[pierredaphningmsc]

WOW! Finally, someone provides a scientific explanation of the topic. Well done! I am very keen on carbon management so your video sums it all up!