The state the world is in concerning climate change is close to being irreversible and the science agrees with it. I keep seeing Governments and businesses pledging to be 'carbon neutral' or whatever by 2050, that is simply too late. Drastic change needs to happen in the next 10 years or so or we are going to be in big, big trouble. We have all the renewable energy we need but people like money...
Over the last couple of years I've started to do more to reduce my carbon footprint since waking up to the situation. My intention is to keep doing a bit more every few months and try going full vegetarian and eventually vegan. I've stopped eating red meat and cut down my meat intake overall. Beef in particular is hugely damaging for the environment. 50 bathtubs of water is required to produce one steak! Now the meats I mostly eat are chicken and turkey - beef contributes 4-5x more emissions than chicken. One easy thing people can do to make a difference is stop wasting food! On average, a third of food is wasted by households.
Pre-pandemic I had started to get the train when I was freelance working near Chiswick, as opposed to driving. It took longer, cost more, and was really more hassle, however I actually preferred it as I could read on the commute. Public transport needs to become more affordable and accessible if we're to cut down the number of cars on the road.
The fashion industry is a massive contributor which often gets overlooked. Fast fashion (Primark, Next, H&M to name a few) is a massive problem but people don't seem to care. These are cheap clothes not designed to last and are generally manufactured in poor conditions with high emissions. Moreover, clothes shed microplastics when washed. These ultimately end up in our oceans (35% from clothing) which is contributing to killing them. Our oceans do a huge job in protecting the planet, if they die...we die.
Right now the future looks bleak. COVID is really a minor problem. Sure emissions may have been reduced, but everything is single use and so much more plastic is being used. No one seems to have considered the environmental impact. Home testing kits for example - each one has five bits of plastic in, how many billions have been produced? Masks too.
There is, however, lots people can do without it costing anything, or on the cheap at least. I recently read a book called How to Save the World for Free by Natalie Fee, I'd definitely recommend it if you're wondering what you can do to help. It's not too preachy and does a good job in highlighting the issues we have.