“Exercise your purchasing power as a consumer, volunteer and bring joy to those in need, and share your experiences, tell your stories, and inspire others along the way.”
Blake Mycoskie, Founder of Toms Shoes
Solving climate change will take a big, systemic shift away from fossil fuels. But that doesn’t mean we have no agency. When it comes to you and me, the power to solve climate change is in our hands; more specifically, our wallets.
For better or worse, money is the engine that makes the world turn. We earn income, then spend it on the things we need. Those of us lucky enough to have disposable income might also buy things we want, make investments, and spend on experiences to enrich our lives. Within each of these categories we make choices.
How and where we choose to spend and invest our money matters to the planet. Every purchase we make, from our food to our houses, is worth looking at through this lens. Imagine what could happen if we redirected our resources to products, businesses, and services that help reduce heat-trapping emissions.
As consumers, we speak through our spending, so our wallets are powerful weapons against climate change.
Some examples of purchases that can move the needle:
- Food – eat less beef; waste less food
- Clothing – resist fast fashion; consider responsible brands
- Transportation – use electric vehicles or public transportation
- Appliances for home and lawn – convert to electric when replacing
- Sundries – avoid single-use plastic, consider sustainable options
- Heating and cooling – choose heat pumps when replacing furnaces
Important note – most of these choices save us money while improving the quality of our lives.
The way we spend our money also forces corporations to respond. For example:
- When we ask for more energy efficient homes, developers will build them
- When we stop buying fast fashion, less will be produced
- When we buy more electric vehicles, companies will make more options
- When we invest in clean energy, innovation will accelerate, and renewables will become more accessible and less expensive
Behavior is contagious, so after you make a climate-friendly purchase, tell your friends! We have power in our wallets, so let’s spend like our future depends on it. Because it does.
Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Think about it. Talk about it.