If you are frustrated at global politicians not showing enough leadership on climate change whilst devastating extreme weather events are happening around the world, do not give up in despair. This means that what we do as individuals matters even more and that we must make more efforts to cut our own personal carbon footprint and slow down global warming.

The United Nation’s annual COP 31 meeting in Turkey this month may or may not deliver enough action on climate change. But we are powerful in how we shop and how we engage with the political system. If demand drops for certain products, there will be less incentive for high polluting industries to make them. If demand for products and services that are low carbon emitting and supportive of biodiversity increases; the more investment these industries will attract. We can do a lot to reduce our carbon emissions and join in the fight against climate change through our lifestyles and shopping habits.

Many of us are time poor and have a lot of things to prioritise in our life before reducing our carbon footprint. What are the quickest things you can do today that require little effort?

Quickest ways to get off fossil fuels

The most important issue is getting the world economy off fossil fuels as fast as possible because they are the main cause of global warming. So far, the world has moved too slowly in coming off fossil fuels and carbon emissions from fossil fuels continue to increase despite targets set to bring them down. This has partly been due to the successful lobbying efforts of the fossil fuel industry. There is some good news however, that the renewable energy revolution is accelerating because the US-Israeli war with Iran has had the unintended of making fossil fuels expensive and demand for them has dropped.

What can you do today to cut your use of fossil fuels? The easiest thing to do is to switch to a renewable energy supplier. This does not mean your home will be fully charged with renewable energy but the company is investing to expand renewable energy.  This automatically reduces your carbon footprint by 1.5 tonnes per year.

A few behaviour changes can make a real difference too. Putting your washing machine and dish washer on a lower temperature setting saves energy. Having a 4-minute shower, as well as having showers instead of baths, cuts energy and water usage significantly. Using an air fryer instead of the oven or hob reduces the amount of energy needed to cook. Recycling properly, by just simply putting the right items in the right bin and not contaminating recyclable material with soiled waste. All of these changes can save at least half a ton of carbon emissions a year. 

There are small household investments to make your home more energy efficient: LED lights, a jacket for the boiler, a heating rack, toilet hippos, aerated shower heads and slow flow taps can cut your energy and water usage. These small, low-cost adjustments save money and cut your carbon emissions by at least another half a tone a year. Another way to reduce how much fossil fuels you use is using your car less. You can substitute up to a quarter of your car journeys for walking, cycling and public transport or do more car-pooling.

Quickest ways to avoid causing deforestation

We face two crises at the same time: global warming and a biodiversity crisis.  Deforestation contributes directly to both of them. Cutting down forests puts carbon back into the atmosphere as well as destroying ecosystems. Deforestation contributes to 20% of carbon emissions annually and is one of the main reasons biodiversity has declined by 73% since the 1970s.

There are three main products that cause deforestation: beef, soya beans and palm oil. Beef and soya beans are related because soya beans are used to feed cattle. This is why cutting down the amount of beef in your diet is the most effective way to reduce your carbon impact on the world. Cattle need a large amount of land to graze and cause about 40% of deforestation alone. Beef produces the most carbon emissions out of all types of meat and you can reduce the carbon emissions of your diet by 21% by making this one change.

You can reverse deforestation by planting trees for free using apps such as Ecosia and Treeapp. Tree planting is very important in combating climate change and protecting biodiversity across the planet. You can plant trees for free by simply browsing your phone and watching short adverts.

Quick and easy activism

Activism is really important in our fight against climate change. It makes a huge difference how engaged we are with politicians and other decision makers on this issue.

The fossil fuel industry and other interest groups have been very successful at slowing down progress on climate change. Evidence of their lobbying tactics are often covered by DeSmog, a website dedicated to investigating people, companies and organisations blocking action to protect climate and nature. Examples of this include the fossil fuel industry send the biggest delegation to COP meetings than any other interest group, the industry lobbying the European Union to stop plans to replace aviation fuel with clean fuel and the fossil fuel lobby spending around $500million on elections in the USA since 2023.

Signing petitions, going to protests, and lobbying politicians, shows that you care and puts them under pressure to do the right thing.  Bodies that regularly organise action include Avaaz, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Parents for the Future and Extinct Rebellion. These organisations often take action on a local and national level, so it is worth checking out what they are doing in your area.

Just doing some of these actions will be a great start to cutting your individual carbon footprint. Switching to a renewable energy supplier, not eating beef, changing bulbs to LED lights and recycling properly will take 2 tonnes of your carbon footprint. By using apps such as Ecosia and Treeapp to plant a tree every day, you can offset all your carbon emissions for a year. Cutting your carbon footprint really is this easy and this behaviour changes the trajectory the world is on.