10 WAYS YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

1. Include a prayer of gratitude and Care for Creation in your normal prayers and reflections. Consider reading the encyclical, Laudato Si’, or watching one of the many fine summaries available on it.  Discuss it with your family and friends.  You can download it for free at:  http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html        Youtube video summary at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvBUswFA5bw 

2. Calculate your carbon footprint. Understanding which activities are carbon-intensive allows you to know where you can take action. Try https://www.conservation.org/carbon-footprint-calculator#/  

3. Go single-use plastic free and reduce packaging everywhere possible.  https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/plastics-in-the-ocean/

4. Be energy efficient. During the summer months, close your curtains to block day-time heat and raise the thermostat. During the winter, open your curtains when the sun’s up, and lower the thermostat. These simple steps can significantly reduce most energy-intensive aspects of your home, even 5 degrees on the thermostat helps!

5. Adjust your driving routine. By combining multiple errands into one trip, you reduce the amount of fossil fuel you use.  Walk, bicycle, carpool or telecommute when possible.   

6. Don’t waste food. Try to purchase, cook or order only what you can reasonably eat, since food production requires a lot of energy and water.  Also, food thrown out creates a high amount of methane, a Green House Gas, which contributes to global warming.  Finally, wasted food is food that someone or something else in our world could have eaten.  https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-in-context/environmental-impact-wasted-food

7. Go meatless on Fridays, or at least one day a week, and eat reduced portions of meat the other six days.  Livestock production accounts for 4% of Americans’ greenhouse gas, according to the EPA.  Don’t forget to say grace, giving thanks for the animals that nourish us and all of the people it takes to get the meal to our tables!

8. Purchase less "things" Consider whether you really need to buy something, and whether you can borrow or purchase used.  Consider what will happen to the item when you are through with it.  Will it go in the landfill?   Can it be shared or donated to someone else? Consider the 5 “R”s – Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rent and Recycle, in that order if at all possible. 

9. Use less water. Water processing accounts for approximately 3% of energy use in the United States, according to the EPA. Saving water means saving energy. Post a “please conserve water” sign at sinks and showers, install low-flow spigots, or select the “eco” setting on laundry machines and dishwashers. Try:  https://www.watercalculator.org/ .

10. Petition policy makers.  Our elected officials have the power to take action on waste and pollution, especially air pollution, which is likely leading to climate change. Write to policymakers to tell them that you stand for Care of Creation.  Consider writing a letter to your newspaper.  Writing a letter to the editor has effects beyond your local  community.  Legislators assign their staffs to read letters to the editor as an important barometer of constituents’ interests. For tip sheets and templates, write to programs@catholicclimatecovenant.org.

• BONUS:  Sign-up for newsletters and ideas at the Catholic Climate Covenant.  Since 2006, this 501c has been helping US Catholics fight pollution and waste, and Care for Creation. :  https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/newsletter.