The first thing I always see people say is plant a garden/trees or recycle, but I don’t have land, and I live in a red state that seems to hate recycling. The closest place to take plastic last I checked was over an hour away by car.
I know anything I do would have a negligible effect, but I’m sick of not doing anything.
Also is there anything I can do about the heat without running the AC? I try to leave the windows open, but they’re all on one side and don’t seem to allow for much airflow that way.
Vote, and get involved with activism.
Be mindful of water usage (aka don’t just leave the tap running and wasting a lot of water)
Also is there anything I can do about the heat without running the AC? I try to leave the windows open, but they’re all on one side and don’t seem to allow for much airflow that way.
Open only two windows that are as far apart as possible. Get a large fan and point it towards one of the windows (i.e. so it blows air out) at about 2 meters distance. Leave it turned on during the night to create a cold draft that goes through your apartment.
Eat a billionaire
Mirrored Infrared blocking films on your windows does wonders for cutting down the heat leaking into your apartment during the summer, and leaking out during the winter, you can double up with a clear piece sealed to the frame as well, which creates an air pocket that can trap air and prevents much of the emissive radiation from leaking in.
Im not sure if they exist but you can build little shelf extensions for your windowsills and start growing herbs and edible plants, they’ll also help to absorb some of the heat from sunlight that would otherwise warm up your home.
The solution to airflow with only one wall windowed is by using a fan and air filter to pull clean air in during the night when it’s cooler. Fitting a window seal for an air conditioner but having that attached to a filtered duct fan (get a brushless centrifugal fan, its way better when you need pressure to go through a filter not just airflow) creates a pressure difference to push the hot indoor air out of the far side of your apartment.
If you live in a very dry climate, ‘Swamp coolers’ are especially useful for reducing the impact of those months where the nights are too hot to cool the house.
In terms of your personal impact, reducing your meat intake and avoiding products that are individually wrapped/ fruit that are sealed in plastic despite having their own outer skin helps massively reduce the impact, the same way buying locally grown produce will.
Look for things that are local to you, if you need meat with no alternative, get to know a butcher who knows the farmers themselves, because that will be the least ‘shipped around the country’ meat available.
Ditch the online shopping for everything but essentials, and buy in bulk if you absolutely have to get it shipped to make it worthwhile, it’ll save you money in the long run as well.
How much will it reduce the film’s effectiveness if I can’t put it on the outside of the window? It’s above the first floor, and I can’t really expect my building’s handyman to do extra work for me, as he’s already swamped.
Not the commenter above but can answer this. Film is nearly always applied to the inside of the glass. Most film types, if placed outside, are quickly destroyed by the sun and elements; i.e., will eventually peel or flake up and fall off. Exterior films are a specialized and generally more expensive product, and likely not necessary for the application described here.
I figured, but when i looked it up a couple people were saying to put it outside, but one of those said double paneled windows would crack if it got too hot, so it might just be those cases.
There is a combination of full mirrored rejection film (often not allowed in urban apartments) + prolonged intense sun exposure + certain types of sealed double pane windows which can lead to overpressurization of the interior chamber by both doubling the intrapane greenhouse effect while thermally insulating one side with film. Though IIRC this usually results in the glass perimeter seals failing (like a “blowout” which defeats some of the thermal barrier function of the double pane glass) rather than glass cracking (usually associated more with rapid thermal changes, such as from certain styles of compact vertical ejection window ACs).
But the type of thermal rejection film described above is not so aggressive as that. If the window is double pane and has a lot of direct sun exposure, you could ask an installer or consult with a store that sells these window treatments in your area to get an idea of the risk given local climate and specifics of your window for peace of mind. They might be able to recommend some film specifications as well.
So before I go to my smart-ass landlord about this, are these films easily removable if necessary?
Edit: Also, when you say full mirrored, do you mean the kind that goes transparent at night or are there kinds that stay that way all the time?
Yes, I’m not aware of any designed to be permanent, since most films eventually have to be replaced. The easiest to remove use static cling without adhesive. Those can just be ripped off in one piece, if you needed to demonstrate.
The idiom is “reduce, reuse, recycle” in that order for a reason. Even if plastic recycling is difficult in the US, reducing and reusing are doable by just about anyone. This can be using less one-time plastics, eating less meat (make sure nutritionally balanced), drive less, reuse those shipping boxes for other stuff such as for paper waste, buying from local farmers (if you can afford it)… something along those lines
For home, living in an apartment is actually one of the best things one can do for the climate, since living in an apartment in a city is much, much more energy efficient than living in a suburb… not to mention cutting down on car-related costs. For ppl living in a home, methinks AC is more of a boogeyman… having good home insulation is a much better solution (as a well-insulated home uses less energy!), and the best part is that it is bipartisan so red states would happily do it too. If renovation is not possible, stuff like blackout curtains, window blinds, … are cheap insulation options
IMO these are still negligible effects on an individual level, but these are not nothing, and if everyone does these the world would be a much better place. For more meaningful actions, probably organizing
Do political organizing.
One private jet ride for a CEO will negate anything you do on your own.
Can’t say this enough!
The personal carbon footprint idea was created by the fossil fuel industry to shift the burden off the producers, onto the consumers. It’s a scam.
Your individual climate actions are practically meaningless. Your political activism to demand industrial action is where people need to focus their climate concerns.
I live in a blue state that loves recycling but they still don’t accept plastic film and multilayer packaging, so I recently signed up for Ridwell after lots of research.
God this reads like an ad, but I’m really just some guy.
As an individual anything short of some kind of eco-terrorism (not recommended) won’t really have an effect. It’s the collective action of lots of people not eating meat and stuff.
Assuming you’re in the U.S., which state? If it’s in the south I’d highly recommend trying to save up and find a way north. In 25 years some of those states will be literal hell. Better to move on your own terms than be forcibly relocated imo(worst case scenario).
Something i don’t see posted much is to enjoy the present as much as you can. Go on walks. Admire trees/nature. Visit people who live further away. You know, things we wont really get to do in the future. Our futures have been taken, don’t let them take our present too.
Buy fewer things. Try to avoid plastic. Walk instead of drive. Stop eating meat. That’s about it.
Eating less meat, especially red meat, is the most impactful thing you can do as an individual.
nothing really. so chill out about it. get some nice indoor plants or a window box?
nothing you can do, individually, can change the climate. trying to do so is an exercise in futility, and the cost of your own well-being and comfort, by not running AC isn’t going to make the world better. you aren’t going to derive value out of your life by making yourself suffer ‘for the climate’ anymore than you would be for god.
what you can do is just support and vote for local candidates in your city that have climate-friendly policies for your city. who want to plant trees, reduce traffic, promote housing density/development, and offer more green energy solutions. maybe volunteer for these things or like community garden/tree stuff. a lot of environmental orgs need help.
- Stand upright
- Lean way over
- Bend far at waist
- Kiss ass goodbye
As long as 80% of emissions are created by 1,000 or so giant companies, all with their respective governments captured, there’s really not much you can (legally) do.
Got a source? I see people cite something like this often but it’s not at all in line with all the ghg accounting I’ve seen from EPA and others. Buildings, transportation, and industry are each 30% and agriculture is 10%.
Avoid red meat and using AI.
A window fan or two (one blowing in, the other blowing out) might help with the heat. Wouldn’t do anything for humidity.
Also getting fewer children. If I were a demographic planner I’d say 3 is the max.
The long-term ‘ideal’ population graph is a triangle at the top, rectangle at middle and bottom, ie. few elderly and a modest working population and equally big youth. That necessitates a median birth rate of about 2.1 kids per 2 parents.
Why is that desirable?
With an entirely triangle-shaped pyramid, the population will grow either quickly (leading to issues with infrastructure and housing) or be stable (but that implies death rates are high, which isn’t very desirable).
An onion-shaped pyramid has a large working population, but few young, and that means the societal costs of ageing will rapidly grow into a problem.
Inverse triangle is the same, but even worse: there’s no large working population, few young, and a lot of elderly.
So, the only long-term stable form is triangle-rectangle.
Plugin solar is starting to role out and may be worth looking into depending on if it’s legal in your area.
