In April, our greening world inspires us to care for our planet. With accumulating evidence that climate change threatens the ecosystems that sustain us, we need to look beyond annual litter pick-ups and mulch distributions for environmental stewardship with greater impact. It is abundantly clear that we need to decrease our greenhouse gas emissions. Are we making progress?

If you ask your neighbors what they do to care for the planet, they will probably tell you they recycle. They’ve switched out their lightbulbs for LEDs. Maybe they compost their food waste. All these things are important; many small changes can make a big difference.  

However, we need to do more, faster. Maryland has now committed to 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2031. To meet that goal, we need to go where the carbon is.

We each make countless decisions that affect our contribution to our collective carbon emissions but here’s what makes the most difference:

• Where we choose to live
• What (if) we drive
• How we power our home and its gadgets

In Prince George’s County, about 48% of our emissions come from transportation and 45% come from buildings, including heating, cooling, and major appliances. If more people make those “big three” choices with carbon emissions in mind, we can achieve a greater decrease in emissions to decrease the impacts of climate change.

We might not be able to install solar panels, move closer to work, and replace our gas-burning machines with electric right now. But if we learn about more climate-friendly and efficient options now, we can opt for lower carbon choices when it’s time for a change. The costs of many of the necessary changes can be defrayed through tax credits and rebates available through the Inflation Reduction Act. 

When one of our “big ticket items” suddenly needs replacement, we need to know enough about what the options are to make a climate-conscious choice. Don’t just day dream about owning an electric vehicle, someday. Think about how to set up your life to drive fewer miles. Also, read up about heat pump HVAC systems, water heaters and clothes dryers, induction stoves, electric lawn mowers. More climate-conscious consumer decisions means reduced fossil fuel use and less impact from climate change.

What difference does it make?

How much CO2 emission can you eliminate each year with these climate-conscious actions?

Thanks to Rewiring America for these cool giraffe graphics.

Another way to be good stewards of our environment year round is to advocate for systemic change that makes it easier for us all to reduce and reuse.

The County Council is currently working on legislation to reduce litter and plastic pollution by creating incentives for using reusable carryout bags. Once the Better Bag Bill is in place, all shoppers will be expected to bring their own reusable bags. Retailers will no longer offer single-use plastic carryout bags and will be required to charge for any paper bag or reusable bag. 

Remember, there is no such thing as a free bag. When retailers don’t charge for the bags they provide, they add their costs to the prices of the other items they sell. So we all pay for bags, whether we use them or not.

With the Better Bag Bill in place, people will pay for a bag if they want one, but most people will bring their own reusable bags so they don’t need to buy bags over and over again each time they go to the store. Once we all get used to the new system, there will be less litter, less waste to truck to the landfill, and also less pollution related to the production and transportation of single use bags that we really don’t need. Win, win, win!

Be sure to let your Council Members know that you support the Better Bag Bill to help us all make this simple behavior change and eliminate millions of unnecessary single-use plastic bags each year and the environmental damage that they cause.