* The mantra: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is still a useful concept to use to approach your shopping habits. In all of your shopping, you should look for products made from post-consumer reclaimed material. This way, no new materials will be necessary and much less energy will required to produce the end product.

* Look for products that have a longer lifespan. Throw-away, single-use products are energy- and materials-wasteful and their use should be severely limited. If a particular product can be used twice as long as another, its overall emissions impact is cut in half. Look for higher quality, longer lasting products whenever you can.

*  Be more selective when shopping online. Consider what it takes to pack and deliver any product to your your home. Does it need to be transported a long distance (shipping accounts for about 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions)? Does it come wrapped in a lot of wasteful packaging? As a general rule, purchasing food and other items that are made locally generates less carbon emission, because these products don’t need to be transported long distances or stored and repackaged at a retailer. Also, for each online purchase, again consider: Do I really need this product at all? Amazon.com, the online shopping powerhouse, has recently committed to its own Climate Pledge: to become net carbon neutral by 2040. It is being joined by hundreds of other companies making the same pledge: Visa, Verizon, Best Buy, Hewlett-Packard, among others. Let these and other companies know that you want them to take real actions to stop climate change.

*  Use Eco-labeling to choose products. In response to growing consumer demand for a way to identify products and services that are environmentally friendly, eco-labeling has emerged as a vital new tool for consumer choice. As the public becomes more willing to use its buying power to positively influence business, tools for consumers to use to differentiate among the overwhelming choices in the marketplace become necessary.

The U.S. EPA’s EnergyStar program is one of the most widespread of the eco-labeling programs, designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, predominantly household appliances, computers, TVs, etc.:

US EPA ENERGYSTAR PROGRAM

* The U.S.-based Green Seal labeling program also provides certification for thousands of products  that meet the highest standards of environmental sustainability, such as paper products and cleaning supplies.

GREENSEAL

* The Eco-labeling Index provides a comprehensive list of all of the eco-labeling programs in the U.S.

ECO-LABELING INDEX

* Purchase your food locally, sustainably, and more plant-based. Food production, processing, transportation contributes an estimated 20 percent of global carbon emissions. By purchasing food locally, like from farmer’s markets, you can remove most of the emissions associated with the transportation of your food. By insisting on sustainably grown products, you’ll also lower the overall carbon emission from the food product consumption. And by eating less meat overall and more plant-based food, you’ll not only achieve a healthier diet, but also lessen the carbon footprint of your food. Use the link below to find your closest farmer’s market:

FARMER’S MARKET LOCATOR

* A climate change food calculator, provided by the BBC, can show you how your food choices have an impact on the climate, based on the effect of foods on climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of land and fresh water used across all stages of their production, including processing, packaging, and transportation.

CLIMATE CHANGE FOOD CALCULATOR 

* Let companies know that climate change is important. You can make your voice heard by contacting any businesses customer service department and let them know that you will be making your purchasing decisions based on the company’s climate change policies. Businesses are paying increasing attention to the clear customer importance of climate issues in their economic decision-making. To contact the customer service department  of most U.S. businesses [and actually speak to a human], use the link below:

U.S. BUSINESSES CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENTS