In my last article, I discussed what climate change is and how we are a part of that change. In this column I will be sharing how we can make a good change. How us as a race can change our life to be more environmentally friendly.

Simple ways of being more eco-friendly:

• turning lights off after you leave a room
• unplugging appliances your not using at the time
• buy reusable products and try your best to not use plastic
• if your staying for a while at a coffee shop, ask for a mug instead of a disposable cup
• take shorter showers or turn off the water while brushing your teeth

Big ways decreasing your use of fossil fuels could be not using your car as often. Possibly biking or taking public transit to work. My sister Cassie and her husband Derek are incredibly good at that. Derek skateboards to work while Cassie bikes to work You could also use public transit as an option.Changing up your diet to be healthier and to be environmentally friendly can also make a huge difference in your eco-foot print. There are many eco-friendly diets that one can try, such as pescatarian, one who eats fish as a substitute for meat, flexatarian, one who tries to cut down on the amount of meat they eat, vegetarian, vegan, Mediterranean, and more. All of these diets focus in cutting the consumption of meat in our daily lives. Diets that contain dairy products, meat and more have a bigger carbon foot print in our world rather than veggie, fruit, or nut based diets. That is because the raising of cattle takes gallons of water and acres of land that could be used to grow crops. Also the waist that cows create adds more methane to our atmosphere. Methane is the most dangerous of green house gases.  However, you do not need to go full on vegan or pescatarian, you can simply just substitute fish for meat. Or you could designate a day of the week as a vegan day. Meaning just for one day you would not eat animal products and eat nuts, veggies, fruits, and grains. Just a little can go a long way.

For more information on what you can do to help the environment visit these websites: global citizen.org, ox.ac.uk, health.usnews.com, and peta.org