How to Save your Butt. And Mine. (Part III)

9 min readJun 22, 2021

So, now we finally arrived at the juicy details. The real actions about what the hell you can do for your own butt, to not melt away (in case you randomly landed here and wonder what this is all about, here’s part one and part two).

The “how to save your butt” guidelines

Let me be clear, I don’t have the intention of telling you that humanity is doomed and give you a little advice on how to contribute to change the status quo. No, this is a direct order to save your butt. And mine. And your children’s, neighbours, ex-boy-/girlfriends and uber driver’s. And you better start now. You want to know why? Well, because you (and me) are the only hope this planet has left.

So my friend, let me tell you one thing. It’s going to be hard. Hard because we will face enormous challenges along the way. But moving your butt (and mine) is the only option we have to grow old on this planet. And also the only prospect for our children to enjoy the funky life we have (obviously thinking about pre-covid times). And though I am not sure what you’ve been hearing lately: there is no such thing as Earth number two. Only this Earth, our number one.

So here’s what I want you to do.

30 minutes

Yes. I know that you are a busy, hardworking wo:men, have to take care of your children, go to the gym, do the groceries and see friends for cocktails.
But if you count the minutes you spend scrolling through your social feed on the way to work, to the supermarket, sports club, during your lunch break and in bed, I bet you will have at least thirty minutes a day. Yes, thirty minutes!

Thirty minutes are an absolutely great opportunity to open your horizon, collect valuable insights and understand what really is going on out there! There is a general misconception that someone needs to spend three hours straight to effectively gain knowledge. No. You can cut this down to 30min a day and a week later see if you can make it 30 minutes two times a day. Set an alarm, block some time in your schedule and see for yourself where these minutes fit into your day! How to gain valuable insights?

I love to listen to various podcasts while running or commuting from place to place (and found great inspiration here).
(Audio-)Books. Yes, nothing new as well. Though, a wonderful accompaniment when you have some time to kill, want to ease your mind from a stressful day or just enjoy a cup of coffee in the sun (my current favourite authors: Gunter Pauli, Paul Hawken, Maja Göpel (unfortunately atm only available in the German language), Bill Gates, David Attenborough and further inspiration here).
Overview of the world’s state today. In a world of constant overflow, we might lose track easily when trying to separate valuable sources from unreliable ones. I stumbled over Worldcounts which I considered being useful when searching for a general overview of consumption levels and environmental impact today (and if you want specifical insights into emissions, you’d find a great overview here).

Join the club of inspiration

You can take a step further and get inspired through environmental experts and various knowledge holders by joining learning platforms of Ted Talk (Environment) attend the inspiring and free Climate 101 course of Project Drawdown, (and check out Project Drawdown’s extended table of the solutions we’d need) attend free educational sustainability programmes on Coursera and join communities on Climatebase, Slack groups, LinkedIn and Clubhouse. Further, join climate newsletters such as HEATED, InsideClimateNews or CarbonBrief.

Now it’s time for 3,2,1…Action

After all the knowledge and information you processed and all the people you might have encountered along the way here’s your ticket to get active. Get active in changing the status quo of your consumption levels. Especially in your way of dealing with food, electricity and transportation.
There are many ways on how to start (I highly recommend checking out the profound input and in-depth explanations from Dr Jonathan Foley for inspiration). Here are some:

Reduce your emissions at home. Look into the options of switching to fully renewable energy (there are plenty of green pricing programmes helping you to make a decision), adopt more high-efficient lighting (e.g. LED bulbs only) and energy-efficient appliances (e.g. when making a choice regarding washing machines & refrigerators. Jesus, they soak so much!).
Reduce your food waste. We are still throwing away so much food. Try to make a weekly plan of meals to cook, shop exactly the quantity you need and not more. And while you shop, shop locally!
We are more than spoilt with all the boxes filled with exotic fruits and veggies in our stores. However, we should start questioning ourselves if it is really necessary to buy those four kiwis from New Zealand, two avocados from Mexico and that 700g Argentinian steak (check the carbon footprint of the supply chain here). Instead, check your country’s calendar for seasonal fruits& veggies. Sure, you might have to relinquish a certain fruit but can therefore enjoy it excessively, once the season starts again (e.g. I can’t wait for pumpkin all day every day again!)
Also, regarding leftovers, treat them as great news! Either, surprise yourself about the innovative meal you might come up with, or freeze them. Or give them away (when I see friends I often bring little food gifts).
Eat less meat. Correct. I am not your authority person and am saying no meat. I am saying less meat. This means that you should be conscious of when to consume and where to consume meat. If you remember, deforestation and the enormous emission output mostly take place for agricultural reasons and cattle expansion for the outcome of your burger. Sure, please go and enjoy a steak in a high-end restaurant but also challenge yourself and do a meat-free month. And if you start craving meat, there are many meat alternatives already, which are great and absolutely delicious substitutes. Know, that a more vegetarian lifestyle comes with great health benefits and offers an absolutely astonishing variety in cuisine. Take a look here.
Travel consciously. Do you really need to fly back and forth inside your own country or take the car for a 10km trip inside your hood? Personally, when it comes to planes, I have set myself an annual upper limit of flights and also established a rule of thumb for destinations within Europe:
If the train is three times as long as a plane or costs three times as much, I am deciding to go for a car or plane.
From fast fashion to slow fashion. I know the new collection of Zara and this beautiful new store looks great. Though, go and ask yourself:
Do I really need it?
Each year, 85% of all disposed textiles are either sent to landfills or are burned. Counteract, and adopt the principle of reduce, recycle and reuse:
Sell, buy and exchange fabulous things at platforms and therefore join the circular, slow fashion movement.
While you are thinking about spending money, you can also support the next big things and invest your money or time in the climate tech-related innovators of tomorrow. Correct, giving ambitious people your time is very precious and helpful! Contact founders of your interest and use your potential leverage to help them succeed. People appreciate the support, especially when they are kickstarting their business. If not financially, you might have options to connect them with experts, support their efforts on social media or help them out differently.
Donate to organizations and initiatives, which are working towards a greener and healthier future (see also how you can voluntarily support them by clicking here to find some initiatives).
Start something yourself. Seriously, if you have a passion, dream and idea on how to help to create an economy that can operate within the planetary boundaries, why not starting something yourself?
There are so many options you have to get started. Depending on the set-up which you are looking for, if you are planning to go single and find people on the way or start with a team straightaway you might consider joining accelerator and incubator programmes, or these two. In case you have a team and look for funding, check out these Impact VC’s (here are some I consider great). There are a lot of opportunities. Go ahead and inform yourself! And while you’re doing this. Inform others.

How to save my butt

Yes, you heard it. Last but not least, also this will be your task.

Inform others and help them to get engaged. My butt, in this case, is equivalent to all the ones around you. Be a role model and take others by hand down the road. Meet up on a Saturday afternoon and come up with weekly (or monthly) challenges like a plastic-free July or vegetarian August. Elaborate on ideas together, it’s always easier to keep yourself accountable if you have someone else next to you. Teamwork makes the dream work!
Team up. You can initiate local cleanups on a Saturday afternoon. Your beaches, forests, parks and lake areas need help. Also, engage or organize charity events to support (biodiversity) communities in need.
If you notice the misconduct of other people, voice it. A lot of people around you are unaware of their actions (or do not care if not being told differently). Seeing someone leaving their garbage behind? Use the opportunity to make them aware of it in a kind and open way and give them advice.
Last but not least, join political dialogues and lobby political leaders (in writing them or meeting them). I just reached out to a politician of my interest to have a 30 minutes chat about the frustratingly slow progress in Germany’s energy transition. We as individuals and as a collective group already have the possibility to create a lot of change if we let other’s know we care. Our political leaders are the ones with the power to initiate and manifest laws and grant programmes to accelerate the fight against climate change. Therefore join the political dialogue.
Address your local and national government and ask about their intentions regarding action plans against climate change and funding intentions for more innovation in cleantech.

So, I think that’s it. This is the challenge we are facing. A challenge for me, for you, for us and this beautiful thing that we call our planet.
People, the 2020s and 2030s will be essential and decide about humanity’s future on earth. This pale blue dot provides your butt and mine with an absolutely beautiful place to live at.

We have an opportunity here and I think we should do everything to take it. Can I count on your butt?

Disclaimer

Folks, this article should only serve as inspiration, not harm anyone and was written out of a passion for climate tech and the solutions (which should be) out there. Over the last months, I was frequently asked: “What should I do about climate change? How can I become active in doing something?” To be precise,
I am not an expert. I am just an interested person. And I do my research. This article aims to present some common understanding of where we are today and how every single one of us matters in taking action. Of course, stats might vary with time and several of you might consider some not mentioned sectors and solutions more important. But based on my understanding and research I decided to focus on the ones mentioned in this article. And I am happy to know that there are even a lot more in the making (woohoo!). So, please feel free to reach out and tell me all about it.