On January 1 the first day of the new year this year, I woke up with a very positive attitude, despite microplastics. Although we enjoyed the turn of the year night with friends until quite late, I chose to stick to my diet, not to drink alcohol, not to eat after 8pm, and of course, not to smoke. Having fun, does not require abusing my body, I thought, or putting my health at risk, after all.
So, this morning, I woke up without a hangover. Instead, I had a very positive and optimistic attitude. To the extent that I even went for a swim, despite the sea water cold, but extremely refreshing, temperature. In the clear blue waters, observing the fish and sun reflection on the sea bottom, among other things, I thought, well, about climate change. If climate change is here to stay for the next few decades (depends on us really), I wondered, instead of trying to fight it, why not make it our partner and make the most out of it?
For one thing, the weather is warmer, drier and more moderate. No extreme heat or cold during the year – with the exception of the summers, of course, which are heating up considerably, almost unbearably in many parts of the world. Also, not counting the days that some areas of the planet cope with extreme weather events and catastrophes.
According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a Washington, DC global yearly surface temperature has been in the rise since the 1940s and the global average surface temperature has increased by 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial era (1800 to 1900).
Temperature increases as global emissions of greenhouse gases also increase. According to 2022 Global Climate Report from NOAA National Center for Environmental Information, 2022 was the world’s 6th warmest year on record (1880 to 2022). Further, every month of 2022 ranked among the ten warmest for that month.
Therefore, in general, there is no doubt, that except for extreme weather events that will certainly affect the daily routine of many communities around the planet, in more frequency and intensity, we should expect warm weather and late winters.
With this moderate weather expected, people who travel south to warmer climates, don’t really need to travel anymore, as these areas are now more vulnerable to hurricanes or other extreme weather events due to rising temperatures. These people could choose to stay and enjoy the warm weather at home. That potentially cuts down considerable travel, primarily, air travel. It also brings people closer, as people don’t leave home but make more contacts in the neighborhood, and get to know their neighborhood better.
Cutting down on travel – air or land – may be a considerable intervention to reduce emissions as, according to scientists, they affect the rising temperatures.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, 65% of global GHG emissions come from carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and industrial processes. Transportation was responsible in 2010 for 15% of global GHG emissions, including road, rail, air and marine transportation. They rely by 95% on petroleum-based fuels. Even electric vehicles that charge from the grid, most of that electricity, in most cities, comes from burning fossil fuels. According to NOAA, in 2022, global average carbon dioxide set a new record high reaching 417.06 parts per million. Nearly 50% higher than the average before the Industrial Revolution.
The moderate weather is also encouraging more physical activity outdoors. More walking and biking for local commute and travel of short distances. No need to take the car. Walking and biking encourages more physical exercise, which pollutes less and builds a healthier body. Being healthier, also means, less visits to the doctors, and less need for medication.
Let’s start placemaking, making cities safer for walking
The benefits are obvious. Once in a routine of physical exercise, then more benefits come. Like, walking longer distances, getting to know your local neighbors and shops, stop and talk to people, get more accustomed to where you live.
Become, what Jane Jacobs used to call, the ‘eyes of the street’. The benefits are again obvious. More people walking the streets, less crime on the streets, more local businesses, less need for travel longer distances. More people on the streets of the neighborhood, more urban furniture and public interventions can take place by the community through Placemaking. Therefore, we can grow better neighborhoods and more resilient communities.
According to the World Health Organization all physical activity counts. It can be done as part of work, sport and leisure or transport (walking, wheeling and cycling), preferably on a daily basis. On the other hand, too much sedentary behavior can be unhealthy.
It increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, and type-2 diabetes. According to the WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior, 150 to 300 of physical activity per week and 60-minutes moderate aerobic physical activity per day, offers significant health benefits and mitigate health risks for children, adolescents, adults and older adults. The Guidelines ‘At a Glance’ can be a great handbook to start changing habits this new year.
Moderate weather also cuts down the need for more clothing. Which, reduces our need to shop more, either online or in shops, cutting down on travel emissions for us, and considerable emissions from the production and delivery of products from one end of the globe to another.
Changing our attitude and habits, will also send a new message to the clothing industry to cut down on (over) production and perhaps focus on quality and endurance of products with less synthetic materials, which also pollute our air and water. Rather than spend more to increase production and then try to sell.
According to a report by the BBC, the fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global emissions, as new fashion trends aim for fast fashion, and cheap, mass-produced clothing with new lines being released constantly. GHG emissions are not the only impact of clothing over-production and over-consumption on the planet. Cotton for the fashion industry uses about 2.5% of world’s farmland. Synthetic materials, such as polyester, require up to 342 million barrels of oil annually.
Washing polyester clothes releases microfibers that contribute by more than 30% to global microplastics pollution. Dying of clothes requires 43 million tons of chemicals annually. Clothing production also uses a lot of water. A t-shirt, for example, requires 2,700 litres of water and a pair of jeans 10,000 litres of water. The list goes on.
At work, moderate weather allows people to be outdoors more. To walk, or bike to work. Also, to even open a window at the office – if operable windows are available – increasing natural ventilation and refreshing indoor air. As a result, productivity increases at work, and allows people to leave work on time, and spend more free time outdoors, with family and friends, enjoying the good weather in the neighborhood.
According to the World Green Building Council, staff costs, including salaries and benefits, typically account for about 90% of business operating costs. Therefore, increasing air quality at work may appear a modest improvement in employee health or productivity. However, it can have a significant financial benefit for employers.
Often more, than any other financial savings associated with efficiently designing and operating an office building. Improving indoor air quality (IAQ) through high ventilation rates and low concentrations of CO2 and pollutants, may improve productivity by 8-11%.
At home, more sunshine days means we can solar heat water for showers, without consuming energy. Also, if we have south facing windows, we can passive solar heat the living space from the sun. We can also use the warm outdoor air to refresh and ventilate our home indoor air by opening windows, without the need for a mechanical system and without consuming energy.
Moderate weather also encourages less need for heating, therefore less emissions from burning fossil fuels. Also, moderate weather encourages more outdoor activity. More engagement with the outdoors, may lead perhaps to adopting new habits, such as gardening and growing our own vegetables and managing our organic waste in a composter in our garden. The benefits are obvious, considering the pollution and land appropriation for landfills, the pollution from emissions and particles in the air from garbage truck traffic in our neighborhood streets, not to mention noise and the potential for traffic jams and accidents. Also consider how we contribute in reducing the chemicals harming the rivers and lakes from industrially produced fertilizers (remember ‘The Silent Spring’?). Organic fertilizers will benefit our garden, our neighborhood and our city. And of course, the nearest river or lake or sea.
According to the US Department of Energy solar water heaters can be a cost-effective way to generate hot water for home use. They can be used in any climate and the only fuel they use, sunshine, is free. They also have some smart suggestions about further energy-saving strategies to lower heating bills, if a back-up system is required. As a matter of fact, some hotels are not only heating water for showers from the sun, but also heating pools and heat water for the kitchen, from solar systems.
According to the University of Georgia, a well-tended, fruitful garden can supply a family with a variety of nutritious, healthful fresh vegetables. Gardening can be a rewarding hobby, and a way to improve physical fitness. Fresh garden vegetables can supplement quality fresh, frozen or canned vegetables of bought food at the local market, or supermarket.
Composting is nature’s way of recycling. Many cities around the world encourage citizens to compost and provide the infrastructure for individual or municipal composting. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency composting is one of the most powerful actions one can take to reduce trash, address climate change, and build healthy soil. By turning food scraps and yard trim into compost, we transform our waste streams into a beneficial, value-added soil amendment and use it to protect the environment and create resilient communities.
Having a composter at home involves minimal effort, equipment, expense, and expertise and can be fun. You benefit by building healthier soil, preventing soil erosion, conserving water, and improving plant growth in your garden and yard. If you wish to compost but you lack the space, it is possible to join local municipal or community composting programs. It is worth finding out and start composting!
A more moderate weather, may also change our psychology, and make us more contemplative and aware of nature around us. Perhaps this will make us also more attuned to the surrounding ecology and more sensitive to our daily routine. To be more balanced, more accommodating to other people, and perhaps running our lives with more intention. Be more present and appreciative of the ‘now’, enjoy, respect, and honor the ‘now’ and the good that it has inherently, even if we are obliged to deal with a crisis or a problem. Because, like the climate crisis, every crisis has its inherent solution built-in its DNA. This is where we need to focus and find the positive in the negative.
I invite you to read how I chose to start the new year by reducing microplastics in the sea and seashore in my marine-dependent community with one simple move. It is easy and I encourage you to do it too.
Obviously, there is a lot more to be done to address the climate crisis. But, walking on the moon took one first step. Walking the talk, will lead to more appetite for more, and more initiatives will be born. Once we are in the ‘solution’ – rather than the ‘problem’ – mindset, the rest will follow. Once we tackle the low-hanging fruits, it is easy to come up with more solutions. Solutions that do not require investing in expensive and complicated technologies. The solutions are simple, and inherent in us. We don’t need more to solve the crisis.
So, join me in closing this year with the right foot(print) and the right attitude for our lives, our loved-ones and for the planet.
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Elias Messinas a Yale-educated architect, urban planner and author, creator of ECOWEEK and Senior Lecturer at the Design Faculty of HIT, where he teaches sustainable design and coordinates the EU Horizon program SINCERE, which aims to optimize the carbon footprint of cultural heritage buildings, through innovative, sustainable, and cost-effective restoration materials and practices, energy harvesting, ICT tools and socially innovative approaches. www.ecoama.com and www.ecoweek.org
