The first thing I always see people say is plant a garden/trees or recycle, but I don’t have land, and I live in a red state that seems to hate recycling. The closest place to take plastic last I checked was over an hour away by car.
I know anything I do would have a negligible effect, but I’m sick of not doing anything.
Also is there anything I can do about the heat without running the AC? I try to leave the windows open, but they’re all on one side and don’t seem to allow for much airflow that way.
Do political organizing.
One private jet ride for a CEO will negate anything you do on your own.
Buy fewer things. Try to avoid plastic. Walk instead of drive. Stop eating meat. That’s about it.
nothing really. so chill out about it. get some nice indoor plants or a window box?
nothing you can do, individually, can change the climate. trying to do so is an exercise in futility, and the cost of your own well-being and comfort, by not running AC isn’t going to make the world better. you aren’t going to derive value out of your life by making yourself suffer ‘for the climate’ anymore than you would be for god.
what you can do is just support and vote for local candidates in your city that have climate-friendly policies for your city. who want to plant trees, reduce traffic, promote housing density/development, and offer more green energy solutions. maybe volunteer for these things or like community garden/tree stuff. a lot of environmental orgs need help.
The closest place to take plastic last I checked was over an hour away by car.
Unfortunately, plastics recycling was largely a scam perpetrated by various business concerns to whitewash their image. Actual plastics recycling is a pretty toxic process as I understand it, and at some point the world’s largest importer (China) no longer accepted used plastic.
I agree with the other suggestion that holding local and regional politicians to account is probably the most useful step overall.
EDIT: Oh, sorry, one immediate, hands-on thing you can do as an apt-dweller (fist-bump) is to start up a window herb garden. It doesn’t take much to do at a basic level. :D
Eating less meat, especially red meat, is the most impactful thing you can do as an individual.
As an individual anything short of some kind of eco-terrorism (not recommended) won’t really have an effect. It’s the collective action of lots of people not eating meat and stuff.
Assuming you’re in the U.S., which state? If it’s in the south I’d highly recommend trying to save up and find a way north. In 25 years some of those states will be literal hell. Better to move on your own terms than be forcibly relocated imo(worst case scenario).
Something i don’t see posted much is to enjoy the present as much as you can. Go on walks. Admire trees/nature. Visit people who live further away. You know, things we wont really get to do in the future. Our futures have been taken, don’t let them take our present too.
The most effective thing you can do in your situation is collective action. You can’t change your apartment building in any appreciable way. But you can direct your efforts to changing your local politics by organizing with other like-minded people.
The place to start is attending some town/county council meetings and just learning about what the current issues are and who’s involved. It shouldn’t take long to figure out if there are people who want the same things you do. Talk to them, find out if they’re already organized, and what they’re focusing on.
It’s common to feel like you’re the only one that cares. This is not true, but the people lining their pockets at the expense of our environment want you to believe that it is. The last thing they want is for people to work together to stop them.
You’re already on Lemmy, that isn’t nothing. Open source things are more resilient against censorship and mass surveillance.
The conversations are not steered by an algorithm, and you’re helping that be more normal while in apartment!
- Stand upright
- Lean way over
- Bend far at waist
- Kiss ass goodbye
As long as 80% of emissions are created by 1,000 or so giant companies, all with their respective governments captured, there’s really not much you can (legally) do.
Maybe some gorilla gardening?
As vegetarians, I really like the idea of letting gorillas plan out gardens for a change.
Avoid red meat and using AI.
A window fan or two (one blowing in, the other blowing out) might help with the heat. Wouldn’t do anything for humidity.
The idiom is “reduce, reuse, recycle” in that order for a reason. Even if plastic recycling is difficult in the US, reducing and reusing are doable by just about anyone. This can be using less one-time plastics, eating less meat (make sure nutritionally balanced), drive less, reuse those shipping boxes for other stuff such as for paper waste, buying from local farmers (if you can afford it)… something along those lines
For home, living in an apartment is actually one of the best things one can do for the climate, since living in an apartment in a city is much, much more energy efficient than living in a suburb… not to mention cutting down on car-related costs. For ppl living in a home, methinks AC is more of a boogeyman… having good home insulation is a much better solution (as a well-insulated home uses less energy!), and the best part is that it is bipartisan so red states would happily do it too. If renovation is not possible, stuff like blackout curtains, window blinds, … are cheap insulation options
IMO these are still negligible effects on an individual level, but these are not nothing, and if everyone does these the world would be a much better place. For more meaningful actions, probably organizing
Plugin solar is starting to role out and may be worth looking into depending on if it’s legal in your area.
To maximize cooling, close your windows in the morning as soon as it starts warming up after sun rise and block any windows letting in light. It makes a huge difference during heat waves compared to leaving your windows open and letting the air inside heat up at the same rate as outside. If you find yourself overheating, a wet towel on the neck with a fan pointed at you can be an effective way to cool down quickly.
Eat a billionaire
