Climate change impacts us all. The fires, drought, and floods that we are seeing across the country are all being driven by the warming of our planet. The scientific community is attributing the increasing temperatures globally to these disastrous events all over the world with increasingly negative implications on the economy and society, such as the loss of billions of working hours because of excessive heat. In fact, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) spanning from 1970-2019, these types of disasters have gone up 5 times during this 50 year span, in which climate change is one of the contributing factors.
It’s time to take action. You can make a difference with small steps. This week is Climate Action Week, 9/20-9/25. We're so excited to be partnering with California Volunteers, Office of the Governor — the team leading the way nationally around mobilizing volunteers in the state with Climate Action Corps. Each of us has the power to drive change. Here are 7 simple things you can do to combat climate change wherever you live.
1. Be inspired to take action.
Laura Plato, Chief Solutions Officer at VolunteerMatch, sat down with Josh Fryday, Chief Service Officer for California Volunteers, to hear more about what California Volunteers is doing next week and beyond to combat this crisis. Whether you are in California or someplace else, learn more about how California is mobilizing volunteers, why climate change is important to address, and get inspired about what you can do. Watch the interview below now or read the transcript.
2. Be a part of the change.
If you’re located in California or wherever you are based, see 5 actions you can take every day this week to minimize climate change. It's up to all of us, and it's something we can all do. If each of us took at least 1 small action, we would collectively make large strides in reshaping our futures.
3. Hear from inspiring leaders.
On Wednesday, September 22 at 2:30pm PT/5:30pm ET, join Anne-Marie Slaughter — CEO of New America and best-selling author, who recently wrote Renewal and Josh Fryday — Chief Service Officer for California Volunteers, who launched the first-in-the-nation statewide Climate Action Corps as they discuss what they are doing to address the current climate challenges through civic engagement. This engaging webinar: 'Renewal' at All Levels — The Personal to the Global. An Urgent Conversation between Two Leaders of the Movement will be moderated by James Fallows, co-author of Our Towns and co-founder of Our Towns Civic Foundation. Register now for the webinar.
4. Explore ways you can give back.
See all the ways you can support environmental causes in your area. Whether virtually or locally, there are a variety of ways you can give back to make a difference!
5. Share what you are doing.
Share what you are doing with others on social media or in your community. Inspire others in California to do the same by including the hashtags: #CAClimateAction and #ClimateActionCorps and linking to California Volunteers on Twitter: @CalVolunteers, Facebook: @CaliforniaVolunteers, and Instagram: @californiavolunteers. Also, we’d love to hear what you are doing! Feel free to tag us on Twitter: @VolunteerMatch, Facebook: @VolunteerMatch, and Instagram: @VolunteerMatch or LinkedIn: @VolunteerMatch.
6. Consider eating more plant based foods.
Adding more plants to your diet is not only healthy for you, it's healthy for the environment. According to recent research from Nature Food, 57% of emissions from food production is meat, compared to 29% from plant-based foods. Just by decreasing the amount of meat we eat, we could lessen the overall greenhouse gases in our environment.
7. Improve mental health through action.
Newly released research from Lancet Planetary Health of youth aged 16-25 spanning 10 countries showed that 75% of those surveyed were frightened by the future and 64% responded that governments “are not doing enough to avoid a climate catastrophe.” Work with your communities to find ways to come together to step up to create a better world for the next generation and beyond.
