The Climate Crisis is Everyone's Crisis: 10 Simple Actions We Can Take to Fight It

Summer gets warmer, winter gets colder, fires, floods, desertification, air pollution – the climate crisis is at its peak. For International Earth Day (on April 22), KKL-JNF offers 10 simple actions that each of us can do to save our planet.
  1. Keep hard copy printing to the minimum – paper production wasted a lot of resources and creates pollution. 50% of our printing can be reduced by printing on both sides of the paper, and 100% can be reduced by using digital forms instead.
  2. Recycle cornflake packages too – paper makes for a quarter of our litter, and most of it comes from packages – make sure that all paperwork, newspapers, junk mail, and even cornflake packages will find their way to the recycle bin.
  3. Keep the car tires inflated – an average Israeli family spends 1000 ILS each month on gas for its car. Keeping the car tires inflated can save 10% of the gas expanses and the pollution it causes.
  4. Drive green – driving in a steady speed and avoiding sudden speeding can save as much as 25% of the fuel consumption, and a lot of pollution with it.
  5. Turn off the lights and unplug devices – electric devices left on without being used are just wasting electricity. This is more than just a waste of money, as the production of the wasted electricity causes a lot of pollution. It is recommended to hook all the chargers, computers, plasma screens, televisions and receivers to a single switch, and whenever the devices are not in use – which allows turning them off with a single, simple action.
  6. Saving light bulbs – regular bulbs not only waste more electricity, but also turn 95% of their energy to heat rather than light. Saving light bulbs save 80% of the electricity consumption, reducing pollution.
  7. Keep the country clean – when traveling in the forests, parks and the beach, be sure to bring garbage bags with you, and clean up any dirt you create.
  8. Use real glasses instead of disposable cups – millions of disposable cups are thrown to the trash each year, creating unrecyclable litter and polluting the environment. Use real glasses instead – and if you attend an event where disposable cups are used, mark your cup and use just it when you feel like drinking.
  9. Save water – Israel is located in a desert, and water saving is necessary. Remember that water desalination comes with a price of establishing polluting desalination facilities. Use water savers on taps, make sure the water isn't running when you brush your teeth or shave, and keep the water tap off in general. The average resident of Israel uses about 165 liters of water each day, and water savers can save half of this amount.
  10. Plastic bags – a resident of Israel uses about 2 plastic bag a day in average, which adds up to about 58,400 plastic bag throughout his or her entire life. This is equal to the size of 14 basketball fields, or 9 roundtrips to the moon.

Dr. Doron Merkel, KKL-JNF's chief scientist: "The climate crisis has implications on each and every one of us. We should remember this when shopping, visiting forests and parks, driving or at home. The fight against the climate crisis starts with reducing greenhouse gas emissions and upgrading to green energy sources. But our personal behavior is also important. Therefore, in the spirit of the International Earth Day, I call everyone to mind their behavior, and consider its environmental implications so that we can all keep living here."