Claire Saunders - The Ultimate Survival Guide: Save Our Planet

The Ultimate Survival Guide

Save Our Planet

Claire Saunders

Copyright 2020 Claire Saunders

All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

This book is dedicated to my husband, my son, my family and my best friend. You have all supported me through my journey despite my occasional preaching and crazy ideas. I couldn't do this without you!

Contents

About me

I changed to a vegan diet in 2015, due to health reasons. I was suffering terribly with IBS and discovered that reducing my meat and dairy consumption could help ease my symptoms.

As an avid supporter of the old adage that knowledge is power, I researched the impact that animal products have on my body. This type of research will inevitably lead you to discover exactly where your food comes from, and the conditions in which these animals are kept. Its not pretty.

Moving further forward in my research, I started to learn about the impacts of animal agriculture on our planet.

It was all terrible to watch, read and know about. But now I was vegan, so everything would change right?

Well, not exactly. Animal agriculture, while being the leading cause of climate change, is not the only cause.

Fast forward to summer 2019, when I found myself watching Our Planet on Netflix (like you do!) and having the terrifying realisation that we have royally screwed ourselves over! Single-use plastic, deforestation, overfishing, animal agriculture, mining fossil fuels, the list goes on.

By 2040, we are going to see some of the worst effects of what we have done to our precious home, and we cant change that, because the damage has already been done. This terrified me, and led me to start making changes in my own life, and also preaching to others about the damage they were doing with their plastic water bottles and crisp packets! (this approach doesnt work by the way!)

I have learned that the most effective way to encourage others to make changes, is to make changes yourself. Live your own values, and you will influence those around you, especially when they see how much better it makes your life and how much happier you are. It has a ripple effect; I influence my friends and family, who influence their friends and family, and so on.

So here I am with what Ive learned, all neatly packaged in this book for you to do with as you wish. I hope that it will inspire you to make some changes in your own life, to reduce the impact you have with your lifestyle and, in turn, to help inspire those around you to do the same.

Introduction

I ts common knowledge by now that we are in a dire situation when it comes to climate change and the state we have gotten ourselves into. The temperature of the planet has already risen by 1 celsius and is still rising. The extremes in weather that we are experiencing will get worse before they get better, even with the changes we are already making.

So why dont we make radical changes and issue cease and desist messages for deforestation, landfill usage, intensive farming and fossil fuel mining?

Well, its a lot to do with how we are made up. Human beings have an inbuilt fight or flight mechanism, but this is only activated by immediate dangers that we can see or hear. If a tiger is standing in front of you, you know you either need to run away or kill it before it kills you. Climate change is something we have been told is going to affect our future. But we cant actually see it. Only its effects.

We also have an innate need to see results from our actions. Many of the changes we are making today will make a difference in the future, but we cant necessarily see the results now. There is no immediate reward for living more sustainably, so its hard for us to understand why we are doing it.

But the facts are all saying the same thing: our inaction thus far has made an impact, and not a good one. We are slowly killing our eco-systems and our planet.

Ultimately, the one thing we need to be aware of is that without us, the planet will survive - thrive even. So the actions we need to take to save our planet, are actually more about saving us. Humanity is essentially on a tipping point, and the choices we make now will determine whether we create a better future for ourselves, or wipe ourselves out.

The bright side is that there is still time to make a difference. But we have to act now, and we have to act fast. We ALL need to do our part.

As humans, we have to accept that there are really only two things we can control in life: our own thoughts, and our own actions. But we can use our own thoughts to decide to make a difference, and we can use our own actions to influence others.

Im not talking about demanding action from others, screaming from the top of buildings that the end of the world is nigh! Trust me, it doesnt work! You will find that despite your passion for this subject, people around you will argue, get defensive and accuse you of being an extremist if you try to push them.

The best way to influence others is simply to live your values. Make small changes that lead you toward your goal - whatever that may be - eat less meat and dairy, buy less single-use plastic, reuse products you would normally throw away. Humans are curious creatures, they will ask you about your changes, why have you done that?

This is where your influence will make an impact; by leading by example, letting others see how it improves your life and explain why you are doing it. If they choose to follow - great! If not, there is NOTHING you can do about it. Accept it and move on.

If you want to know how to make changes in your lifestyle that will help to not only improve your immediate impact on the planet but also to make a difference to the bigger picture, this book is for you.

In this book, Id like to take you on a journey. Together we will discuss what we have done to damage our planet and the effects it is having, and learn the ways that we can change our habits for the better, and start to make a difference that will ripple across the world. Learn how you can vote with your money, and influence bigger companies.

It only takes one person to start a trend, but together we can change the world...

What are we doing wrong?

I n order to put things right, we first need to know what we have done wrong. You cant fix something if you dont know its broken, right? The following are the leading causes of climate change on our planet and the impacts they have. Some of them, you will likely know about, others, maybe not.

Global Warming

Many things have contributed to global warming, also referred to as climate change. Mainly carbon emissions from travel, power plants and livestock raising.

Global warming isnt a new phenomenon, its been happening for decades, but only now are we starting to realise the damage weve done, and that it is already taking its toll. The ice in the poles is melting at a faster rate than we thought possible, raising sea levels to dangerous points. This freshwater mixing with the oceans is causing an upset in the balance of nature that isnt able to adapt fast enough to the change. The temperature of the seas is rising, killing off the life that depends on it.

Its not just the extreme heat that causes problems either; global warming causes temperature extremes at both ends of the scale. Snowfall and freezing conditions are more frequent in winter, storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, are all becoming more common because of what we are doing to the planet. The problem is that these conditions are not conducive to growing food, so we will all suffer in the long run.