George Dy - Entrepreneur, PM, Designer in Oakland, CA

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What Can I Do On Earth Day?

George Dy

Something happened over the last few years that changed my perspective on climate activism. I was never a conspiracist or non-believer in climate change, but just as bad, I was a passive global citizen and inactive participant in the fight to reduce carbon emissions.

Before you scroll down to learn about some of the ways that my family has made personal commitments to curb our carbon footprint, I want to tell you the very short story about where my interest came from to help motivate you into action.

When it comes to activism, find your own voice and listen

It wasn't until I started working on the idea that would become Bay Modular that I started to pay more attention to policy, activism, and impact. I had very little understanding of the overwhelming impact of policy and law to fund or support change in ways that were inequitable or profit-first. As a business owner in the affordable housing market, I saw how historical policies created ripple effects in social inequities in my neighborhoods and cities around the country decades after they were written into law.

This very same level of concern and curiosity drove my personal interest and recreational research into studying the effect of human behavior and cultural norms on climate change. Over the next few years, as I continued to forge ahead with my business, I couldn't ignore the constant emotional pull to learn more about the role I could play in mitigating my personal impacts on the global climate.

As with all other side projects and businesses, I started doing my own researching, reading, listening, and watching content to learn more. I leaned heavily on social media algorithms to surface worthy organizations and personalities through suggested accounts (LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter do this so well).

I created a hypothesis to help frame my beliefs and understanding and reshaped it as I learned more:

If our behaviors control how humanity impacts climate change, then our cities are the first and last battleground for defeating the global climate crisis.

This is why forming a hypothesis is so important to me and why you, a climate activist, should consider doing the same.

  1. Writing down a hypothesis helps to reinforce ideas and concepts that you've learned and combines them with the knowledge you already have.

  2. Reading your hypothesis encourages continued commitment to prove or disprove.

  3. Sharing a hypothesis packages your research and beliefs into a snackable size and promotes engagement and conversation from a global community.

Learning about climate change is a continual process. Every day, we learn more from data and stories that teach us about what works and what does not.

Where do I start?

There are so many resources for newly minted climate activists that range from highly targeted solutions to broad level information on climate change. It isn't very useful for me to repeat the information already out there, so I'll share what resources I've used and how I make them work for me.

1. Find a fun way to learn about climate change

It could be books, podcasts, videos, or even TikTok. Whatever format is fun to you will keep you motivated to learn more. You might start with TikTok and learn about some good books or longer videos. Keep it fresh. Here are some of my current resources:

2. Create a framework for your research

Research is a scary word. To me, this just means pick a place to save your favorite links and resources. I use a table in Notion to save my favorite articles, resources, and companies. I use the Notion web clipper to save directly into a list.

3. Buy less, waste less

For context, reducing food waste is the #1 most effective scenario with the biggest net savings to achieve climate drawdown. The same goes for material purchases from fast fashion to electronics. Not only will you help the planet and reduce landfills and production costs, but you'll save money!

4. Maintain and upgrade your stuff

Sometimes we take for granted the efficiency of home appliances, vehicles, and tools. Maintaining your stuff can be easy to forget, but it's a necessary step to improve product lifecycles and reduce waste. Here are some simple things you can maintain to improve operating efficiency and help keep your stuff in top shape for many more years of use:

  • Clean your dryer exhaust

  • Clean your refrigerator condenser coils

  • Clean your bathroom vents

  • Replace your duct filters

  • Clean your dishwasher filter

If it's time to replace an appliance, look for EPA-recommended appliances that are Energy Star and WaterSense rated. These appliances may cost more, but they reduce lifetime expenses due to energy usage and water consumption. Utility costs are variable and trend upward. Spending more on a single-time purchase will help you save money in the long term. This includes:

5. Track your habits, change your behaviors

I've written about how my perspectives have changed on habit building after reading Atomic Habits earlier this year. Changing behaviors is a difficult thing to do for everyone because of the effort required to reprogram your mind. Habits are a necessary biological mechanism to keep people from getting exhausted from all the decisions we are faced with on a daily basis, but when our behaviors are driven by subconscious routines, the impact of our behaviors goes unnoticed.

Technology has given us the ability to track our behaviors with simple and fun gadgets like fitness watches and home sensors. Even simpler, tools like free carbon calculators help us understand the impact of our existence on the planet, which has been largely unknown or underrepresented in our daily rituals. We can all benefit from tracking the metrics behind what we do and where we live:

6. What else can you do?

If you've done all this and want to do more — volunteer locally, invest, donate, get a new job!