Green Tip No. 1 – Attend Our Maryland Environmental Legislation Education Event

Welcome to Adat Shalom’s Green Tip Corner

Tip No. 1 – Attend Our Maryland Environmental Legislation Education Event

Want to incorporate in your life specific concrete actions to do your part to turn around global warming, slow the profusion of plastic and other waste, and live a healthier and greener life? Want some background information, inspiration, and easy steps to help you make these important decisions and changes? Then this Green Tip Corner is for you.

We aim in each column to provide information that sparks personal change, discussion, questions and good ideas from other members of the Adat Shalom community. We can share our experiences, successes, failures and knowledge to provide mutual support and education. We will include one or two bold faced simple tips you can use. Look for them in each column.

Initial columns will be longer to provide background and framework. Most subsequent columns will be shorter. The column will emphasize cross-cutting themes including Around the Home, the Outdoor Environment, Civic and Political Involvement, Carbon Footprint, Air and Water Quality, and Resiliency. The goal is to spark your interest and involvement and provide enough information to empower you to make the personal changes that interest you.

First, we need some context. Let’s start with climate change, since it poses such an overwhelming threat, and so many of our daily actions affect our carbon footprint. You may despair that individual actions do not matter. And yet collectively, individual actions can contribute meaningfully to the changes we need to undertake to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resiliency. There is no silver bullet, and significant personal changes add up and strategically applied, can motivate companies and governments to change.

Still, we need to understand the big picture. EPA data show that three primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions are transportation (29%), electricity generation (28%) and industrial production (22%). Reducing these emissions will require major changes by industry and governments. But as individuals, and collectively as consumers, we can make a difference. Our individual choices matter.

Consumer demand contributes roughly 70% to the country’s economic activity. Collectively, we can apply some pressure through our purchasing power, although the basic energy infrastructure doesn’t lend itself to the kinds of massive changes that are needed. Since much of the necessary changes can be addressed by government, we must voice our concerns to those in power and also demonstrate our priorities by voting. We can also support and become active in environmental organizations at the local, state, and national level; these can multiply our individual efforts by collective action and education.

TIP #1: Want to learn about climate legislation in Maryland? Want to become an effective voice for the environment?

The Maryland General Assembly runs from January 8 to April 10. It’s a great opportunity to educate your legislators about your concerns over climate change, and ask them to take action to reduce our carbon footprint.

Join the Adat Shalom Climate Action Group to meet with some of our local state legislators on Sunday, January 12th from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. We’ll hear about potential climate solutions that will be discussed in Annapolis the new year. You’ll be inspired, informed, and ready to get involved!