Let’s take action
There are steps we can all take through our personal lives, as well as through our workplaces, schools and community groups to advance One Planet living. You can:
- Learn about the key sustainability issues in your community
- Evaluate your personal ecological and carbon footprint
- Create a One Planet Action Plan to guide your own actions, or create one for your business, school or community group.
Learn more, below.
Test your knowledge on reducing your personal footprint for Earth Day (and every day).
Check out our Kahoot (click here). Play with friends and family.
Download the supplement to go with the quiz (warning: contains answers) and learn more about one planet living.
This Quiz has been developed by BCIT’s Centre for Ecocities, with the support of OneEarth Living, and the Real Estate Foundation of BC.
Create a One Planet
Action Plan
Create a One Planet Action Plan to embed One Planet Living into your business, school, community group or other organization. Think of the One Planet Living Principles as a compass that helps you make sure that your actions are contributing to all aspects of sustainability. Explore ideas about how you can contribute to advancing sustainability across all ten Principles, using the ecological and carbon footprint to pinpoint key priorities for reducing our environmental impacts.
Here are the key steps to create a one Planet Action Plan:
- Get buy-in. Once you’ve decided One Planet Living is the right approach for you, you need to get your key stakeholders on board.
- Explore key sustainability challenges and opportunities in your organization and across the community. How do you plan to achieve One Planet Living?
- Create your One Planet Living Action Plan using the guidance documents linked below, and publish it on oneplanet.com. Get inspired by other schools, businesses; prioritise while being ambitious.
- Implement your plan and embed it into your operations and projects. Learn from others in your community – including through One Planet BC peer-to-peer networking sessions.
- Monitor progress to ensure you are achieving your intended goals and outcomes.
- Report on your progress. Publishing regular progress reports can help promote transparency and demonstrate your continued commitment.
For a step by step guide on developing an action plan for your organization, click here. Detailed goals and guidance documents provide advice and ideas on the goals, actions, targets and indicators you could set for your One Planet Action Plan.
Get inspired by other One Planet Action Plans on our community page.
Tip: You can also create a Personal One Planet Action Plan! Figure out priorities for reducing your footprint using the lighter footprint app, and then create your own personal One Planet Action Plan.
My own plan
There are plenty of actions you can start taking today to make a difference in your own life.
You can use the lighter footprint app to figure out what your personal biggest impact areas are, and get suggestions for action. In BC, the burning of fossil fuels is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions and ecological footprint impacts in our communities.
Here are actions that have a big impact:
- Reduce your dependence on fossil fuels – in our homes and from our vehicles.
- Prioritize active transportation: walk, bike, take transit or car share, or use a vehicle that runs on renewable energy.
- Use renewable energy to heat your home and consider switching to an electric heat pump.
- Get more efficient. By reducing the amount of energy we use, especially fossil fuel energy, we can reduce our impact. This could mean turning down the thermostat in winter or using one vehicle trip for more than one errand.
- Consume less and better; repair or buy second-hand when you can. Research shows that buying more stuff doesn’t make us happy. The planet will thank you for buying less and investing in better-quality products.
- Reduce wasted food, increase how much plant-based you eat and grow locally.
- Support change where you live and work. You can make ripples happen if you take action in your neighbourhood, your workplace, your sports club or your faith community. OneEarth’s guide has 7 action packs for neighbours to take – be inspired to build from there.
- Make your voice heard. Write to your local government representative and ask what they’re doing about climate change or tweet businesses that aren’t meeting your expectations.
Explore resources
There are lots of outstanding sustainability resources, organizations, and initiatives that support One Planet Living.
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- Below is a listing of some of these arranged by the One Planet Living Principles.
- Click on each principle to see the list, and you’ll be able to see ones that are Local as well as ones that are BC-wide or National.
Community members are a great support in your journey – we all have lots to learn and share. It may be a person working in your local government, a researcher who knows a lot about solar panels, the gardener down the street, a student with a great idea, or someone you meet through a Buy Nothing Group online…
…and you can connect with One Planet BC team members.
As you develop and implement your plan, figure out how can you have the biggest impact for the planet. This graph shows the ecological footprint priorities for British Columbia. Connect with BCIT’s Centre for Ecocities for more details about the community you live in.
We are grateful to live, work, and be in relation with people from across many traditional and unceded territories, covering all regions of British Columbia.