Climate Actions—18+

Making your workplace more sustainable is a great way to build positive climate change, especially if you’re in a leadership role. From office upgrades to tweaking operations and policies, there are many ways to build a climate-friendly workplace. Check out the options below to see what might be best for your organization!

Our neighborhoods are our closest communities to home. And it turns out that there are many easy ways we can make our neighborhoods more climate-friendly.

If you're part of a Neighborhood Association or have another type of neighborhood association, then working directly with them is the best way to make change happen. If you don’t, look up who represents you on your city council or go directly to your city leaders and ask them to help turn your neighborhood into a more sustainable one.

The actions below are excellent ways to get started!

Whether you’re a student yourself or invested in the schools in your community, you can help encourage schools to take climate action. 

If you’re a student, here’s a tip to get started: Learn more about school policies on student activism and make your voices heard. Share information, a petition, or flyers with more information in your school AND create a presentation on your experiences.

If you’re not a student, try talking directly to the administrators at your community’s schools or bring up climate action at a school board meeting.

— Make your school idle-free for cars and buses OR influence a transition to electric bus fleets at school. 

— Find out what type of energy your school uses for heating and cooling. If it is based on fossil fuels, challenge your school to use less energy. Also work with school administrators to research renewable energy options like a Power Purchase Agreement or Renewable — Energy Certificates. 

— See if your school can become LEED certified.

— Encourage your school to transition to EnergyStar appliances that use less energy.

— Encourage your school to adopt a composting program.

— Encourage your school to adopt a 50%  plant-based cafeteria that both helps the planet and provides nutritious food options. 

— If your school has an investment portfolio, encourage leaders to divest from fossil fuels.

— Make sure all paper and wood products your school uses are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). It’s easy, just look for the FSC logo.

— If you’re able to, try to run your home at least partially off of renewable energy. This can be done through Power Purchase Agreements, buying directly from renewable companies, or installing solar panels yourself. If you do so and live in the U.S., you might be eligible for tax credits. And once you do so, tell your friends and neighbors! The best way to make other people act is to show them how it’s done! 

— Making your home more energy efficient can be simple yet impactful. Make sure all your appliances are EnergyStar certified, and consider following EnergyStar guidelines for an energy efficient home. One great way to do so is by installing heat pumps to more efficiently regulate your home’s temperature. 

— Switch from a gas stove or heater to an electric stove or heater.

— Find out if your city offers composting programs that are free or of an affordable price point for your household. Alternatively, consider if backyard composting could be a viable solution for your household.

Whether you’re just starting out on your financial journey or have been investing for years, you can make your dollars speak for polar bears and the planet. When it comes to climate action, money is power. If you have investments, then you can make your dollars speak for polar bears and the planet. 

Divesting from oil and gas companies is a powerful way to make your voice heard through action. Our planet needs to rapidly move away from fossil fuels and removing investments from oil and gas companies helps market forces shift towards renewable energy. TIP: Your investments might be supporting fossil fuels without you knowing! Mutual funds and other aggregated investments might include companies that support fossil fuels. Make sure to research each company in which you’re investing. 

Green investing is the other side of the coin. Supporting companies that advance renewable energy and other climate-positive industries helps ensure our economy grows in a sustainable way. Check out things like green mutual funds and other tools along with investing in individual companies yourself.

Need a place to start? Explore the resources below:

— What is Climate Investing?
— Carbon Collective’s Sustainable Investing Guide

Make your voice heard and speak on behalf of polar bears! Spreading the word about climate action is crucial for bringing more people into the fight to protect polar bears and the planet.