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Individual Action, Global Impact: Your Questions Answered

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Scientists agree that a rise in greenhouse gases due to human activity is disrupting climate around the world. Climate is changing unevenly and likely more rapidly than many countries’ capacity to adapt.

Just as the burning of fossil fuels in one nation affects climate around the globe, reducing carbon dioxide emissions in one part of the world could benefit the entire Earth. Gabe Klein and Ranjeet Walunj are on opposite sides of the world implementing local activities they hope will have a global impact. Klein heads the Department of Transportation in Washington, the U.S. capital, where he has started programs to encourage people to bike more and drive less. Walunj is a founder of The Sapling Project, a Mumbai-based nonprofit organization that offers residents in urban areas the chance to plant a tree for free.

Following a webchat with Walunj and Klein, America.gov addressed unanswered questions about individual actions.

Question: What can we do in the short term to combat climate change?

Answer: “Plant as many saplings as we can,” Walunj said, “and take care of the planted saplings until they grow into small trees.” Other energy reduction efforts, such as using energy-efficient light bulbs, consuming less water and taking public transportation, add up as well. “Every single action has a very large role to play” in the global climate, Walunj said.

Q: Can climate change be significantly affected by planting trees or changing transportation habits?

A: Yes, but it is a matter of degree. If humans built no new machines that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (such as automobiles and power plants) and allowed existing devices to operate as usual over the next 50 years, scientists estimate that the average global temperature would rise 1.3 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

If humans continue to build carbon dioxide-producing machines — a “business as usual” scenario — then average global temperature is likely to rise more than two degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels by 2040. Many believe that mitigating climate change means preventing average global temperatures from rising two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

Energy consumed by the transportation sector is a large contributor to climate change. But with energy-efficient transportation options and appropriate pricing, marketing and accessibility, Klein said, “people make the right choices.”

Q: Is it realistic to think that we can get a large number of people who drive cars to switch to bikes as a primary mode of transportation?

A: “Absolutely,” Klein said, “look at Paris, Montreal and other cities where bicycling was not big prior to the launch of a large bike-sharing program.” The key is to provide people with easy access to bikes and to build safe routes for people to travel.

Q: Many grassroots organizations have trouble making their causes well known to the public. How were you able to market The Sapling Project and receive support?

A: Social media played a prominent role in promoting The Sapling Project, Walunj said. Apart from blogs, Facebook and Twitter, “our friends from mainstream media also gave us good coverage. The Sapling Project continues to get promoted thanks to word-of-mouth publicity by participants, volunteers and core-team members.”

Q: How much does it cost to plant a tree? Where do you get these funds?

A: The Sapling Project gets its trees from local nurseries. The cost of each sapling varies by city, but a 2-to-3-foot sapling usually costs between 15 and 20 Indian rupees (about 30 cents to 40 cents), according to Walunj.

Funding comes from volunteers at The Sapling Project and from friends. When volunteers distribute saplings, recipients often donate a small amount as a token of their appreciation. Walunj is also discussing sponsorship opportunities with corporations, which would enable the project to distribute more saplings in more cities.

Q: How do you give residents an incentive to participate in your projects?

A: Everybody wants to improve the environment, but people usually put their own needs ahead of global challenges. “If you want to drive behavioral change, you have to make it really simple and really inexpensive,” Klein said. “Except for the activists and the very passionate, most people will not do something just to save the environment.”

To get people excited about biking or walking to work, Klein stresses the money saved by not using a car and the health benefits, an important argument in a country where many residents are obese. Feeling good about walking to work because you are helping the environment is only an “ancillary benefit” for most people, Klein said.

Walunj takes a similar approach. Instead of discussing climate change or global warming, Walunj and his colleague Satish Vijaykumar appeal to people’s emotions to convince them to plant a tree. “I tell them that I have a selfish motive,” Walunj told America.gov. “I have a daughter who’s 6 years old, and I’m doing it for her.”

The Sapling Project makes planting a tree as convenient and inexpensive as possible, according to Walunj. The sapling is free, and the recipient only has to care for it for two years. After that, the trees take care of themselves. “We are not saying that we are doing something great,” Walunj said. “It’s those people who are actually planting the trees, they are doing something that is great for the nation.”