Focusing on the mitigation from a broader aspect of everyday life, this topic is about how mitigation could be a horizontal aspect of our daily life e.g. in mobility, travelling, energy consumption, etc.
More and more people realize that it is important to consider the social and environmental impact of their purchases. Conscious consumers want to be more informed about what, where, and who they purchase from. It is about taking responsibility for actions and ensuring that the products are ethically and sustainably sourced. Although this kind of approach is not only good for the planet but also can persuade businesses to adopt more socially and environmentally responsible practices, there could be a hardly avoidable trap “built in” this process.
An economic system “fuelled” by a general consumerist attitude of “the more the best” will never be restrained. We must remain vigilant and always ask the question: am I sure I need this or that? If we let the global trend of greenwashing fool us, we are fooling ourselves. Buy what and as much as you need, preferably local products from local producers.
Changes in lifestyle are key factors of the climate mitigation challenge since they drive the demand for energy, goods, and food. Main areas where the personal mitigative ambitions should be realized:
- Mobility and transport: Try avoiding vehicles run by fossil fuels. Instead, prefer the use of public transport or bicycles, in your surroundings. For more distant travels, use trains or car-sharing. These are very effective ways to mitigate the creation of CO2.
- Conscious buying: First of all, it is always worth considering if we really need what you want to buy. If so, we should take into account all the aspects that are relevant from a climate point of view such as distance, place of origin, quantity, quality and durability, conditions of production, etc. If relevant, it is suggested to choose repaired, used, re- or upcycled products.
- Reduction of waste (ZeroWaste ): Even though the selective-waste management is an undeniably great achievement of the past decades, but there is a much better option: the package-free production and buying, Composting has multiple benefits: producing soil while reducing the amount of disposable waste.