(Originally published as part of the Faith in Action Climate Series at St. Mary’s Anglican Church in April 2023.)

Often, taking climate action sounds expensive: get solar panels, insulate the house, buy an electric car. But did you know you can have an impact and save money at the same time?

Here are examples of environmental actions that can help the planet and your wallet. The graph shows possible actions, and the impact of each in kilowatt hours per day (1 kWh/day is the amount of energy it takes to run an incandescent light bulb for 24 hours).

1. Stop flying (35 kWh/day).
2. Put a sweater on and turn down your heat by 4oC (7oF), turn off the heat when no one’s home, and do the same at work (20 kWh/day).
3. Bike, walk, and take the bus instead of driving. When you do have to drive, drive slower, more gently, and carpool (20 kWh/day).
4. Buy less stuff and avoid packaging (20 kWh/day).
5. Eat vegetarian six days a week (10 kWh/day).
6. Keep using old computers and cell phones, don’t replace them early (4 kWh/day).
7. Wash laundry in cold water and hang on a clothesline to dry (1 kWh/day).

These actions are drawn from “Sustainable Energy – without the hot air” by David JC MacKay, and the exact savings depend on your habits prior to taking a given action.
• Just switching from the dryer to the clothesline makes a difference. But switching from meat to vegetarian six days a week will save you money on groceries, and can have the same impact as putting solar panels on your roof!
• Cutting out one short return flight per year (e.g., Fredericton-Toronto) will save 35 kWh/day; cutting a longer flight per year (e.g., Fredericton-Paris) saves 10x that much (385 kWh/day)!

These are just a few examples. The more actions we commit to, the greater our impact will be. It just takes commitment and a sense of enlightened self-interest, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. But as environmentalist Bill McKibben says, the best thing an individual can do to fight climate change is stop being an individual. Tell your friends and family about what you are doing to save money and they might do the same!

By working together as a community, we can make a brighter future for all the beings we share this planet with.