by Guy Dauncey

The pandemic has seized our attention, and so it should – but the climate and ecological emergencies haven’t paused out of sympathy, thinking “Let’s give the humans a break.” That’s not the way Nature works.

We can’t afford to relax our climate and environmental concerns just because we’ve got other concerns. We have to do both. And being stuck at home gives us an opportunity to do some serious planning. Serious, as in “Let’s make our family 100% climate and ecologically friendly within five years.”

I have assembled a chart that lists everything you need to think about, with a column for each year from 2020 to 2024. What could you do this year? Next year?

The format here does not display the columns well, so use this PDF file to print the sheet, making it easier to use: Climate Planning 2025 World

Some items, like ditching a bank that is investing your savings in ventures that make the global emergencies worse, are easy. Others take more planning, like buying an electric car or arranging a home energy retrofit.

The first step is simple: call a family meeting. Share your thoughts about the climate and ecological emergencies, and then work your way through the chart. Mark everything you decide to do this year with a green dot, then discuss them in detail. What’s needed? Do you need to do some research? Who will undertake what?

Next – and this is really important – plan to meet next week at the same time to report on progress. Go through each item that’s on your list for 2020, and assign new responsibilities. When you’ve achieved one of the tasks, mark the line in green all the way to 2024 and choose a way to celebrate.

I wrote this list, but I waive all copyright. Feel free to print multiple copies and share them around. We need to set up meetings with our politicians and press them to act with more urgency, but we also need to play our part. We’re all in this together.

If you belong to a club, association or place of worship, ask if they can put this on their agenda, and if you can come and speak to it. We need to embrace this rapid speed of change. For some it will be easier, for others it will be harder. Tenants, for instance, will need to engage with their landlords. Political help will be needed. Let’s do this!

Family Planning	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Call a family meeting to discuss this list
Transportation
Shift to cycling or walking for more local trips
Buy an electric bike or trike
Carpool to meetings and events
Do more ride-sharing, use more transit
Buy a new or second hand hybrid or electric vehicle
Sell your last fossil fuel vehicle and never look back
Pack a zero-waste travel bag – mug, cutlery, take out containers
Flights: Minimize, buy carbon offsets if you have no choice but to fly
Home
Switch to LED lightbulbs
Upgrade to the most efficient appliances
Upgrade for better home insulation, better windows, reduce heat-leaks
Remove your oil or gas heater
Make sure that any firewood you use has been harvested sustainably
Install a heat-pump.
Install solar PV. $2 per watt. 4kw system = $8,000 + tax
Assemble your household emergency preparedness kit
Financial
Switch to a climate-friendly bank. www.ran.org/bankingonclimatechange2019
Switch to climate-friendly investments.  www.riacanada.ca
Business
Owners: become a Certified Benefit Corporation    www.bcorporation.net
Staff: Talk to your employer about making their business as green as possible
Forest, Farm and Garden
Place a conservation covenant on your forest and/or farm
Adopt the ecoforestry approach to timber management http://www.ecoforestry.ca
Plant ten trees
Safeguard your home against wildfires
Grow food organically
Practice bear-safe home composting
Save your own food – drying, canning, freezing
Harvest rainwater in tanks, swales and ponds
Save water by cover crops, mulching, drip irrigation
Create habitat for birds, bats, bees, native plants and wildlife
Save your own seeds
Switch to an electric mower, weed-eater, chainsaw
Share tools with your neighbours
Shopping
Buy more local produce
Buy certified organic products
East less meat and dairy – make your meals more vegetarian and vegan
Eliminate non-sustainable palm oil products https://tinyurl.com/responsiblepalmoil
Buy tree-free or 100% recycled paper, tissues, toilet-paper
Buy safe personal care products www.ewg.org
Buy Fair-Trade, slavery-free chocolate, coffee and tea
More over….
Buy green household cleaning products www.seventhgeneration.com
Buy nature-friendly, non-sweatshop, sustainable clothing
Waste
Learn how to knit, sew and repair clothing
Upcycle and creatively re-use clothing and other items
Use re-useable shopping bags, re-fillable containers  www.tinyurl.com/sustshopping
Aim for zero household waste to the landfill
Community Engagement
Join a local Climate Action Group
Take time to learn more about the climate and ecological emergencies
Invite your friends to a Climate Action Kitchen Table gathering
Choose a climate/nature focus and join or start a local group
Help your local school to engage in more environmental activity
Campaign to help the best climate-aware candidate to win in the next election
The End
Leave a legacy for climate and nature in your will
Plan a beautiful green burial

Books: The Climate Emergency

The Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming, by Guy Dauncey (2009)

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, by Paul Hawken (2017)

Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy, by Hal Harvey (2018)

This is Not a Drill: The Extinction Rebellion Handbook (2019)

No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, by Greta Thunberg (2019)

The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Success: Overcoming Myths that Hinder Progress, by Mark Jaccard (2020)

Our House is On Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis, by Greta Thunberg et al (2020)

Books: The Ecological Emergency

Eradicating Ecocide: Exposing the corporate and political practices destroying the world and proposing the laws needed to eradicate ecocide, by Polly Higgins (2010)

The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Oceans Are One, by Sylvia Earle (2010)

Enough is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources, by Rob Dietz & Dan O’Neill (2013)

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert (2014)

Prosperity without Growth: Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow, by Tim Jackson (2010, 2017)

Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food, by Timothy A. Wise (2019)

Books: Green Living

How to Live Plastic Free – A Day in the Life of a Plastic Detox. Marine Conservation Society (2020)

Live Green: 52 Steps for a More Sustainable Life, by Jen Chillingsworth (2019)

Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste, by Bea Johnson (2013)

Greening Your Home: Successful Eco-Renovation Strategies, by Thomas Teuven and Laura Parker (2014)

Greening Your Community, by Jill Doucette (2015)

A Year on The Garden Path: A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide, by Carolyn Herriot (2011)

The Zero-Mile Diet – A Year-Round Guide to Growing Organic Food, by Carolyn Herriot (2010)

 Books: Green Business

The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability, by Paul Hawken (2010)

Greening Your Office – Strategies that Work, by Jill Doucette and Lee Johnson (2014)

Greening Your Hospitality Business, by Jill Doucette and JC Scott

The New Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits of a Triple Bottom Line, by Bob Willard (2012)

A Finer Future: Creating an Economy in Service to Life, by Hunter Lovins (2018)

Guy Dauncey      March 2020       www.thepracticalutopian.ca

Author of Journey to the Future: A Better World is Possible (2015)