One of the easiest ways we can combat global warming on a day-to-day basis is embracing minimalism and changing our diet. It turns out what is bad for your body – excessive consumption is also bad for the planet.
As I entered retirement, I found more time to reflect on my impact on the world. I have never liked the fact that my lifestyle caused so much suffering in the world. As I write this, people throughout the western US and Canada are losing their homes to intense fires caused by global warming; poor farmers in Bangladesh are losing their land to sea level rise. I contribute to this harm because I have eaten meat almost every day for decades. I consumed without considering the impact on others.
Before retirement, I had ideas about what I should be doing and how I should live my life, but never had the time to implement those changes. Finding a few minutes per day for meditation was difficult while I was putting in 45 to 50 hours per week, every week, immediately before retirement. My thinking, both on and off work, was filled with how to write computer code that would no doubt be obsolete in ten years. Living with compassion, leaving behind something a bit more permanent, like a better planet was not possible when all I pursued was a paycheck. Ten years from now my family will not marvel at the code they do not understand, written for companies they have never heard of, but they will recall time spent with them and I will be better at being more mindful about how my life impacts those around me, and on the other side of the globe.
And in the end, I can look back and know that for my last few years I have been the change I wanted to see in the world. I lived simply so others can simply live.
Now, I strive to live simply so that others can simply live. The easiest place to start making a positive change is in the kitchen. By choosing eggs, dairy, and beans as primary protein sources, I have significantly reduced my carbon footprint. According to the UN, eggs produce only 12% of the greenhouse gases generated by beef per 100 grams of protein.
While I still enjoy a burger and a beer, or a great steak, or BBQ as much as the next person, I now reserve these indulgences for special occasions, limiting my beef consumption to one meal per month. On other days, I’ll be eating eggs, dairy, fruits and vegetables and bread. I am certainly not depriving myself. I am hardly suffering, and in the few days I feel down I am comforted by the fact that bourbon is vegan. Now, if anything, my life is far richer. Spending more time with those I love while making changes in my own life to make the planet a better place for the poor is a joyful experience.
To solve the problem with global warming, we need change from the bottom up, from the people to the powerful. At 66, I have reached the age where I understand that the societal changes we need to make will take time. That is not because the changes are not required right now. Obviously, they are. But making that change requires more than a protest. It requires us to become that change.
When we become the change we need to see in the world the power of our example and the power of our spending must cause the entrenched money interest to re-examine their own impact on the world. Our choices on how we live our lives will make dumping greenhouse gases into the air less and less profitable. When that happens, those who oppose policy changes required to save our planet will themselves see the wisdom of reducing global warming.
So, be the change you want to see in the world. Embrace minimalism and make mindful choices that benefit the planet and enrich your life. Eat pizza (or lasagna!)