TIP OF THE WEEK: Cleaner chemicals could reduce climate change

Editor's note : OrilliaMatters is partnering with Sustainable Orillia to publish weekly tips. Check back here every Tuesday night for new advice. For more information, see the Sustainable Orillia website .

To reduce our impact on the climate and avoid disaster, we need to do more than throw away single-use plastic, eat less meat, and plant more trees. The most effective ways for individuals, policymakers, and companies to reduce our carbon footprint may surprise you.

Let's see what you know about the climate impact of materials and waste management in Orillia and around the world.

The Project Drawdown group < www.drawdown.org > has evaluated the most effective solutions to climate change.

Rank these four solutions below which you think would have the greatest impact on reducing climate change.

1. Build with "greener" cement mixes
2. Use water more efficiently
3. Clean chemicals in our refrigerators and air conditioners
4. Increase domestic recycling

Don't try to look straight ahead ...

Here's how Project Drawdown ranks the options from highest effect (1) to lowest effect (4):

1. Clean chemicals in our refrigerators and air conditioners
2. Building with "greener" cement mixes: only 7% as efficient as n.1 (refrigerator cleaner & air conditioning chemicals)
3. Use water more efficiently (5% of # 1)
4. Increase in household recycling (3% from # 1)

Recycling, less water use and switching to cleaner cement would help curb climate change. However, the chemicals used in our refrigerators and air conditioners store thousands of times more heat than CO2. Hence, containing these chemicals is essential to stop global warming.

If we prevent refrigerant leaks from occurring and switch to cleaner chemicals, it would mean about 90 gigatons of CO2 are kept out of the atmosphere, according to Project Drawdown Analysis.

(Thanks to Project Drawdown and Drew Kann , Will Houp, Judson Jones, and Sean O'Key ).

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