Decarbonista is committed to reducing the world’s carbon footprint swiftly, through high-impact individual actions
We are all at the center of our collective climate challenge — because we power, move, live, heat, eat, cool, communicate and play — using natural resources. Thus, we are also the solution!
Working with us, you’ll learn, make your plan, discover your journey, and become the #climatesolution.
First, let’s get our heads around the problem.
What is the deal with climate change? And why is it so annoyingly urgent?
In short, humans have already put more than 300 gigatonnes of CO2 or CO2-equivalent into the atmosphere — mainly from 6 greenhouse gases — which hereinafter we'll abbreviate as GHGs. We humans add about 38 gigatonnes more every year. (BTW a gigatonne is a billion tonnes.) These GHGs trap heat in our atmosphere like a thick blanket, which causes the surface of the earth to heat up. That heat causes our earth’s natural systems a bunch of stress. If the earth were a human body, it’s like getting a higher and higher fever with no signs of ability to regulate the body’s temperature.
Weather patterns change as a result. It rains too much in one place, dries out too much in another, air and water flow differently between the land, ocean and atmosphere. Insects and animals who are regulating soils can die, and disease proliferates in the higher temperatures.
We humans have built our livelihood around the earth’s “health” — a predictable temperature, stable natural systems and the seasons — for useful things like feeding ourselves, building things, transport, flying, and generally enjoying life. So we risk losing our ability to thrive, stay healthy, and build durable infrastructure for our survival if the weather, temperature, natural systems and seasons don’t do what we expect.
We’re already being caught off guard by the impact:
Unruly forest fires in Australia, California and Canada; Parisian railway tracks bending due to summer heat; heat stroke deaths; ocean storms that damage our infrastructure and homes across the world. These are just a few examples of what that heat can do to us.
To add insult to injury, the places that naturally "process" the heat and “soak up” these GHGs — like forests, lands, glaciers, and the ocean — are getting "full" or we're damaging them so they can’t function the way we need them to. Forest fires, ocean acidification, and glaciers melting are all things that take away the ability of the earth to cope with that excess heat and gas.
As a result of calculated predictions, scientists have designated 1.5 degrees as the threshold we should not exceed. And they have conservatively estimated we have only a few years to start transitioning our lives and systems dramatically or we will just continue the status quo which uses up our “carbon budget” — meaning — irreversible damage takes place.
C02 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Energy Sources
For every minute that each of one us continues to add more GHGs into the atmosphere, we speed up the increase in temperature and we lose valuable time to figure out how to cope with the heat.
Tick tock.
We don't know exactly what will happen if the temperature exceeds 1.5 degrees, but there is consensus that we won’t be able to reverse that damage and the systems we’ve been counting on won’t act the way we expect or want. Actually the earth itself will be totally fine without us, as it has for millions of years, it’s just us humans and the other organisms, animals and plants who stick around that will suffer the consequences of a highly unpredictable climate.
So, if we humans want to stay on a healthy, steady earth for longer than the next 10 years, this is our chance to transition in every sector: To slow down the heating process by not releasing so many GHGs through our lives and work, and also take actions that “soak up” as much CO2 as possible!
I get it now! But why do you need me specifically to help?
Turns out, individuals are the root problem or the root solution of this issue. Either we can personally *every day* choose to maintain or speed up the path to 1.5 degrees, or we can slow it down! That’s because every decision we make — every purchase, every investment, every vote, every vehicle movement, in both our personal lives and our working realms — is connected in some way to releasing GHGs.
Perhaps it’s surprising for you to learn that anyone with assets of $100K or more is by Credit Suisse’s definition in the Top 10% of the world’s wealthiest people? If you have this amount of wealth, then you are helping to release more than 50% of the world’s consumption-based emissions. What’s even stranger — and yet manageable — is that various researchers say as little as 5-10% of the global population flies in a given year. Yet, most offsetting practices are not thorough enough to be accurate, and we are likely not getting the whole picture says Atmosfair. In other words, the estimates of how many GHGs we’re releasing through all our actions are likely too low, so we can assume we’re releasing even more GHGs and even faster than we can currently track.
We, who release the most GHGs, are likely educated, working and earning money, eating and buying stuff often, and are possibly flying for pleasure or work. And the thing we all have in common? We’re really really busy and distracted with our lives. Understandably. And yet, we are just 753 million people in the world who have the opportunity to make or break this world in the next few years. You see, we get the chance to change this trajectory for everyone.
There are many solutions out there! Best practices exist. Technology, innovations, efficiency measures, supply chain solutions, better materials, systems, knowledge, wisdom — Drawdown.org alone is a goldmine of information focused on impact. What we know for sure is that one solution alone isn’t going to fix this. We need to implement as many solutions as possible, as fast as possible, in as many dimensions of our lives.
It’s “all hands on deck” time!
Unfortunately, we have been disempowered over and over, told that our personal actions are useless, and instead, that “big oil”, “corporations”, and “policies” are the culprits of our troubles. But if we buy those products and blindly support the policies which perpetuate the very things that shorten our future, we’re in charge of the problem. So what happens if we start making better decisions?
No matter how we slice or dice this problem, reducing personal emissions is part of the solution. We, individuals create demand for GHGs. We also vote. We’re part of communities with collective power. So we can either ignore the climate, resist change, kick and scream, keep pretending that growth and resources are endless, fall victim to the change, and fight the new policies and taxes that governments and society recommend, or we can join together to support each other’s transformation, reduce our GHG use, shape decisions and policies, pool our impact, and have some fun!
Ok, I want to be part of the solution in some way. So how can I slow down my own release of GHGs (things that create more heat), and soak up that CO2?
We’re so glad you asked!
In a nutshell, by calculating your carbon footprint, you can learn about what you’re currently doing and get your head around your starting point. Look at the big things first: Your source of electricity and heating, how you travel and move about, what you eat, and how all of the stuff you buy has been produced and delivered. The calculators help you see how GHGs are linked to the things you buy and do. The goal is to slow down use of those things that contribute the most GHGs or stop them altogether! In our experience, this takes some experimentation, some trial and error and behaviour change to get good at it. You can join our community to be a part of the group of people who are currently working on reducing and sinking their GHGs. We encourage and inform each other. You can invite your friends to join you, too, then it’s waaaay more fun!
We also offer our Podcast, Resources, Meetups, Workshops, and Coaching to help you discover your lowest emissions life and influence your circles.
When your footprint is as small as you can get it for now, you can offset. We’re big fans of supporting and donating to caretakers of Natural systems, because we want you to experience the joy of your CO2 actually being absorbed! Natural systems are beautiful, support human wellbeing, thus we get multiple benefits with donations and volunteering: preserve critical life systems, biodiversity, human wellbeing and sink and sequester CO2!
You can also calculate your past carbon footprint and offset those emissions, too. Many of us have done that so we can all sleep easy that we’ve reconciled the gases of our past.
When we’re moving into our lowest carbon lives, things feel different — some of us have experienced a big increase in life happiness. Enjoy it! Live calmly and confidently! And enjoy challenging yourself!
Don’t forget, there’s a huge opportunity to bring others along with you, too. Share your experiences and knowledge. But don’t push. People will see you being successful and they’ll be encouraged. They will see it’s not *hard* per se, and yes, it does take effort. And when your friends get into reducing and sinking their emissions too, you’ll have that many more people with whom to share success, discuss challenges and enjoy life.
Why aren’t you giving me a list of things to change or do like everyone else?
We were people with large footprints and we know how it is with all the bad news and advice out there. No one wants to be told what to do! Or shamed and blamed! Or alarmed by fear, over and over! We all can figure out what reductions suit our unique lives and design our own impactful path. We are all sovereign individuals leading ourselves and we definitely aren’t trying to interfere with your stuff. Rather, we want to support you in finding that path. As. soon. as. possible. So that you can experience immediate positive impact on your life and we can all benefit from that extra time before we hit 1.5 degrees.
Did you know that about 60% of an average person’s footprint is a direct result of personal decisions? Subsequently, about 40% we wake up with every day because it's "fixed" based on where we each live. That 40% is from city infrastructure and services like police and hospitals, waste management and roads, basically anything we all share a part of. So, you’ll need to vote on those things. But to have immediate positive impact, focus on that 60% directly in your control! We provide you with more of these insights, helpful nuggets of wisdom and tips to tackle your footprint along your way.
So what do I get for reducing my footprint?
Other than our immense gratitude and our kudos?? If you’re like us you’ll get peace of mind, lower grocery and energy bills, time to enjoy your life, more savings, a sense of freedom and choice, community, deepened friendships, health, less travel stress, more adventure, a chance to live confidently into a very uncertain future, and deep satisfaction that you’re changing the world one tonne at a time.
If you have kids, grandchildren, god children, nieces, nephews or any child you care about in your life, you will get to look them in the eye and tell them you are doing everything you can to avoid a catastrophic future and to prolong our collective time together.
And we bet you’ll get many other things that will surprise you. We hope you’ll tell us!
We’re so glad you’re here. Join our collective mission to extend the timeline of a cooler climate so that all beings can continue to live and thrive on this earth. Let’s create positive impact together.
With deep gratitude,
Renée LaPlante, Founder