Some people that that all change should start from the consumer – those who want to should choose environmentally friendly products and so on. Obviously there is a lot you can do as an individual to reduce your environmental impact. But it is at least as important to influence society in other ways, for instance by engaging in an organization or by expressing your opinion.
Affect Others!
- Read up, and form your own opinion. Help change your own and other people’s attitudes.
- Get engaged in or support environmental organizations
- Speak up when you hear someone denying climate change, including on social media.
- Protect the forest in your neighborhood and elsewhere by questioning fellings of forests with high natural or social value.
- Demand that the certification of forest products be truly sustainable.
- Contact companies which purchase and sell forest products and forest products and ask questions and make demands. Inform Ikea and other companies with products that come from logged old-growth forests that you know this and you won’t be their customer if they don’t stop. Contact forest owners and clients of large forest companies and demand that they take responsibility.
- Support small local businesses that process wood products. They often work with quality products and show greater consideration.
- Be an example: if you tell people that you become a vegetarian or stopped flying for the environment, you might open their eyes.
When Shopping
- Consume less in everyday life; recycle and reuse and buy second hand.
- Buy less stuff! Buy fewer new clothes and other gadgets. Visit the library and borrow books and newspapers instead of buying new.
- Save paper: stop using disposable packaging (one-way packaging) and say no to paper advertisements. Print on both sides when printing documents. Do not print documents unnecessarily.
- Use reusable products: bags instead of plastic bags, and crockery and glasses instead of disposable plates and cups. Use a menstrual cup or cloth sanitary napkins, and cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers.
- Eat less or no meat. If you do eat meat – eat game, and locally produced free range meat.
- Avoid products containing palm oil as far as possible.
- Eat seasonally produced vegetables – root vegetables, potatoes, cabbage and apples in the winter (Northern countries); lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries in the summer, or grow your own food.
Energy Usage
- Walk, bike, or use public transport instead of driving a car. Go on holiday locally instead of flying far away.
- If you really need a car: upgrade to an electric car and show others that it is possible to get around without fossil fuels.
- Reduce your energy consumption, for example by insulating your home.
- Live with other peoplen and you will consume less resources.
- Buy electricity from solar or wind power, or install solar panels if you own a house.
- Tell your wind power company that they shouldn’t put wind turbines in forests with high conservation values. There are other places for wind turbines. Say YES to windpower, but NO to wind power in the old-growth forests.