While we prepare for the worst, it’s imperative that we also work for the best: a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that both slows the rate, and lessens the extent, of climate change.

Your efforts will help almost every living thing on Earth (including your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews) and contribute to the general reduction in human pain and suffering–possibly even your own.

If helping every living thing isn’t sufficient motivation, then realize that some efforts have a dual purpose and may actually make you happier and contribute to your financial security.

Here are my tips for the mainly self-interested:

• Get a decent, good-fitting bicycle and start using it for trips around town (E.g., grocery shopping, errands, visits with friends). Bikes make nearly everything more fun, save you money, help you stay fit, and reduce GHG emissions.
• Embrace minimalism, or at least don’t buy anything unless you need it. If you need something, try to find a high quality version and get it secondhand (eBay, Craigslist, Goodwill). The emissions associated with the mining, manufacturing, transportation, and packaging/marketing of things are part of what got us into this mess. Changing your perspective about things can lower your stress by simplifying your life and saving you money.
• Don’t buy a ginormous house, and don’t buy a house far away from where you work. Unnecessary utility costs, taxes, general upkeep, and long commutes don’t promote happiness.
• If you must own a car, get an amazingly practical one. A car is just a tool, after all.
• Minimize air travel. It’s expensive and unhealthy.
• Do things outdoors, and pay attention to the animals and plants you encounter. Come to appreciate the complexity of the ecological web, and internalize that you can’t see most of what’s going on. The health benefits of vitamin D, and a fresh dose of air and perspective are tough to overstate.

Doing all of these things will likely make you happier, healthier, and wealthier.

Tips for the altruist (do everything listed above, and):

• Vote wisely and contribute to candidates that support carbon-free energy, carbon pricing, recycling, wildlife habitat preservation, and long-term mass transit infrastructure planning.
• Cut down on red meat consumption, or go vegetarian (doing so may also be healthy).
• If you decide to want a child, or children, consider having only one, or adopting.
• Divest from dirty utilities, coal and gas syndicates, and GMO firms. Invest in renewables, sustainability leaders, and small organic farms or Community-Supported Agriculture (there’s also some thought that these investments will achieve higher returns over the long run anyways).
• Donate to environmental advocacy groups and closely monitor their activities.