Five ideas how to help in climate change
Plant your garden, balcony, or kitchen windowsill in a climate-friendly way
Plant wild, native plants that capture CO2, provide shade, and feed insects. It requires little effort, looks great, and is a small contribution to help in climate change. If you share the results with your friends or on social media along with tips for others to follow, the impact grows with every little climate-friendly garden. Don’t have the opportunity to plant anything yourself? Then look up a recipe for a “seed bomb” and start a guerrilla action to create insect-friendly wildflower meadows in your city.
Use the Klima-Taler app for challenges
Download the free Klima-Taler app. With the app, you can collect Klima-Taler when you save CO2. Your travel distances are automatically measured when you ride a bike, walk, or use public transport. The app then calculates how much CO₂ you have saved compared to traveling by car. For every 5 kg of CO2 saved, you earn one Klima-Taler in your app account.
You can exchange Klima-Taler for rewards in participating communities. The app also offers many other ideas to get involved in climate change. Check if your city is already part of the Klima-Taler network. If it is, you can participate in your city’s challenges and exchange Klima-Taler locally. If your city isn’t part of the network yet, you can inform your local climate officer about this opportunity. Here you can find a template letter for that.
Host a clothing swap party
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global CO2 emissions. Every year, 100 billion garments are produced, but around 60% are thrown away within a year. Almost everyone has clothes in their wardrobe that are never worn. Hosting a clothing swap party ensures that garments are not produced in vain. The longer clothes are worn, the better their carbon footprint.
For every item you swap instead of buying new, you save 3 to 4 kg of CO2, 2,500 liters of water, and avoid chemicals and microplastics entering water systems. With your idea, you might also reach people who haven’t thought much about climate-conscious shopping yet and show them how to help in climate change. Simply invite friends and neighbors to bring clothes to swap. Trying them on together and discovering new favorite pieces for free is definitely fun!
Take on a tree sponsorship
Trees are natural carbon sinks. A fully grown tree can absorb about 10 to 20 kg of CO2 per year – and in large reforestation projects, this adds up quickly. Some cities and municipalities offer the opportunity to sponsor an already planted tree. As a sponsor, you take responsibility for watering the tree during extreme droughts, or for installing a watering bag provided by the city.
Tree sponsorships can also involve funding the planting of a new tree, for example through “Plant a Tree” or a local provider. Your tree improves soil quality, prevents erosion, and helps stabilize the water cycle. A planted and well-cared-for tree can have a positive climate impact for decades. By sponsoring a tree, you ensure that it grows, is maintained, and survives.
Organize a bike action day
Short trips consume disproportionately high amounts of fuel and result in particularly high CO2 emissions. In the first 5 km, a car can use up to 60% more fuel per kilometer than when the engine is warmed up. In contrast, cycling is emission-free, requires no fuel, and produces no fine dust. In German cities, about 50% of all car trips are shorter than 5 kilometers. This represents significant potential to get involved in climate change.
If you want to encourage as many people as possible to use bikes for short trips, invite your friends and neighbors to a bike action day. There are no limits to your creativity. You could organize a short bike tour with “climate stops” to share the joy of cycling, or help repair bicycles that have been unused in basements for a long time. Any idea that sparks enthusiasm for cycling is a good one. You could even make your bike action day the starting point for a cycling challenge (see also the Klima-Taler app).
How to bring the Klima-Taler to your city
If you want to inspire as many people as possible to get involved in climate change, get support through the Klima-Taler app. You can have the greatest impact if your entire city or community becomes part of the Klima-Taler network. To do this, the officials responsible for mobility, environmental, and climate protection—such as the climate protection manager (also called climate adaptation or mobility manager)—need to bring the Klima-Taler to the city.
You can support this by distributing letters or sending links along with the invitation to get involved in climate change. When many citizens address the city officials, your good idea is more likely to be heard.
Conclusion how to help in climate change
To get involved in climate change doesn’t mean giving up—it can actually be fun with good climate protection ideas, such as clothing swap parties, tree sponsorships, or urban gardening. This is how to help in climate change: it becomes especially motivating with gamification, as used in the Klima-Taler app. Collecting Klima-Taler and exchanging them for rewards is enjoyable, challenges are exciting and motivating, and fun badges for achieving goals increase the satisfaction of success. This way, you can create real impact locally. The Klima-Taler shows that climate protection can be simple—and much more fun when done together.
Do you have questions how to help in climate change? Get in touch with us!
We look forward to meeting you and exploring to get involved in climate change with a playful approach with Klima-Taler app in your community.
Markus Schulz
m.schulz@changers.com
