Climate Action Manual
Personal Dimension
Slacktivism effect
Fallacies from big companies
Real Actions that work
Every person can make a difference if they commit to do things differently.
Reduce Car Use
Shift your Diet
Fly Less
Use Green Energy
References
"Zero-waste living" as complete climate identity
Social media shows zero-waste lifestyles as a sufficient response to the climate crisis. The performance of individual purity becomes more important than the real problemThe Deception Household waste is less than 3% of the carbon emissions around the world (EPA, 2023). Avoding plastic straws while flying 2 times a year is like a licensing effect that a small action reduces the need to generate change from another bigger possible action (Mazar & Zhong, 2010). The Ideologies The main ideology behind this kind of behavior is cosumer-identity environmentalism. Green aesthetics replace political action
Try to not use planes at all
A single return transatlantic flight emits an approximate of 1.5–3 tonnes CO₂, equivalent to months of car driving. Train travel emits 80% less per km. This is the single highest-impact personal choice available.
Reducing car usage
Living car-free saves approximately 2.4 tonnes of CO₂ per year (Wynes & Nicholas, 2017). If a car is necessary, switching to electric cuts lifetime emissions by an approximate of 50–70% depending on your light bill.
Use Renewable Energy
Home energy accounts for an approximate of 20% of personal emissions (IEA, 2023). Switching supplier to renewables or even installing solar panels in a house is a very important personal action that a person can do.
The "personal carbon footprint" was invented by BP
In 2004 BP launched a campaing that included a personal calculator to estimate the carbon footprint of each different individual, shifting the attention and blaming the people for the climate crisis instead of the big organizations that produce most of the carbon emissions in the world. The campaing implies that the length of a shower and the diet a person follows are the real problems. The Deception Indvidual choices are important for the carbon footprint but are almost insignificant compared to the emissions of big companies. 71 % of emissions come from 100 companies (CDP, 2017). Blaming citizens for the climate crisis redirects the pressure away from these corporations and the governments that control that 71% of emissions. The Ideologies The main ideology behind this action is called neoliberalism, which dictates that personal choices and the market will solve everything and regulation is unnecessary.
Eat less animal products
The food industry accounts for 34% of global emissions. Beef produces 20× more GHG per gram of protein than other plant base product. Reducing meat is the second highest impact action a person can do.
APA References CDP (2017). Carbon majors report. https://cdn.cdp.net/cdp-production/cms/reports/documents/000/002/327/original/Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf
EPA (2023). Inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions
IPCC (2022). Climate change 2022: Mitigation of climate change. Cambridge University Press.
Mazar, N., & Zhong, C.-B. (2010). Do green products make us better people? Psychological Science, 21(4), 494–498.
Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987–992.
Wynes, S., & Nicholas, K. (2017). The climate mitigation gap. Environmental Research Letters, 12(7), 074024.
Climate Action Manual_Personal Dimension
Daniel Treviño Herrera
Created on May 28, 2026
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Transcript
Climate Action Manual
Personal Dimension
Slacktivism effect
Fallacies from big companies
Real Actions that work
Every person can make a difference if they commit to do things differently.
Reduce Car Use
Shift your Diet
Fly Less
Use Green Energy
References
"Zero-waste living" as complete climate identity
Social media shows zero-waste lifestyles as a sufficient response to the climate crisis. The performance of individual purity becomes more important than the real problemThe Deception Household waste is less than 3% of the carbon emissions around the world (EPA, 2023). Avoding plastic straws while flying 2 times a year is like a licensing effect that a small action reduces the need to generate change from another bigger possible action (Mazar & Zhong, 2010). The Ideologies The main ideology behind this kind of behavior is cosumer-identity environmentalism. Green aesthetics replace political action
Try to not use planes at all
A single return transatlantic flight emits an approximate of 1.5–3 tonnes CO₂, equivalent to months of car driving. Train travel emits 80% less per km. This is the single highest-impact personal choice available.
Reducing car usage
Living car-free saves approximately 2.4 tonnes of CO₂ per year (Wynes & Nicholas, 2017). If a car is necessary, switching to electric cuts lifetime emissions by an approximate of 50–70% depending on your light bill.
Use Renewable Energy
Home energy accounts for an approximate of 20% of personal emissions (IEA, 2023). Switching supplier to renewables or even installing solar panels in a house is a very important personal action that a person can do.
The "personal carbon footprint" was invented by BP
In 2004 BP launched a campaing that included a personal calculator to estimate the carbon footprint of each different individual, shifting the attention and blaming the people for the climate crisis instead of the big organizations that produce most of the carbon emissions in the world. The campaing implies that the length of a shower and the diet a person follows are the real problems. The Deception Indvidual choices are important for the carbon footprint but are almost insignificant compared to the emissions of big companies. 71 % of emissions come from 100 companies (CDP, 2017). Blaming citizens for the climate crisis redirects the pressure away from these corporations and the governments that control that 71% of emissions. The Ideologies The main ideology behind this action is called neoliberalism, which dictates that personal choices and the market will solve everything and regulation is unnecessary.
Eat less animal products
The food industry accounts for 34% of global emissions. Beef produces 20× more GHG per gram of protein than other plant base product. Reducing meat is the second highest impact action a person can do.
APA References CDP (2017). Carbon majors report. https://cdn.cdp.net/cdp-production/cms/reports/documents/000/002/327/original/Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf EPA (2023). Inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions IPCC (2022). Climate change 2022: Mitigation of climate change. Cambridge University Press. Mazar, N., & Zhong, C.-B. (2010). Do green products make us better people? Psychological Science, 21(4), 494–498. Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987–992. Wynes, S., & Nicholas, K. (2017). The climate mitigation gap. Environmental Research Letters, 12(7), 074024.