Five ideas to mitigate climate change

Mitigating climate change is a key priority for us, and that’s why we are working to become carbon neutral at Iberostar by 2030. As part of this goal, we are also committing to reducing our energy consumption by 35% across all of our hotels by that year. 

During Earth Hour, the world switches off the lights in a symbolic moment to reduce our energy consumption and lower our carbon footprint. Once the lights are back on, we can keep this momentum going. There are many ways in which you can make a positive impact and join us in curbing climate change from home. Here we are sharing some of our favorite ones, which are also very easy to put into practice.

1. Make your energy consumption more efficient

Just by turning down the heating and air conditioning a few degrees in your house, you significantly lower your energy consumption and in turn lower your carbon footprint. 

Additionally, you can optimize how you use everyday appliances and electronics, by using their default settings optimized to reduce energy consumption. For appliances like washing machines and dishwashers, make sure that you run them at full capacity or close to full capacity so that you are making the most out of it. Here you can find many accessible tips to make your home energy efficient.

2. Reuse as much as possible 

Reducing your waste is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint too. It takes a lot of resources and energy from the environment to produce something new, from the clothes you wear to your phone or the furniture decorating your home. Keeping things in use as long as you can is a very impactful way to reduce your carbon footprint! Here are our favorite ways to do so (link to article on reducing your waste).

Consuming collaboratively, like sharing tools with your neighbors, or passing along things that you don’t want, for instance, swapping books with a friend, are also great ways to get more use out of things.

3. Try environmentally-friendly protein

Having more plant-based meals (as well as seafood) and reducing our meat consumption is one of the most impactful ways in which we can reduce our carbon footprint in our day-to-day. In fact, we could reduce global CO2 emissions by up to eight billion tonnes per year with dietary changes alone. 

Switching up your diet a bit can also be fun and creative: you can look up plant-based versions of your favorite recipes or discover new responsible seafood products you didn’t know about.

4. Support initiatives making an impact

The number of projects making a positive impact to mitigate climate change keeps growing and growing, a movement we are very excited to contribute to by committing to carbon neutrality by 2030! Whether they are initiatives to reuse more, reduce and offset our carbon footprint or make products in a way that minimize emissions, they all help drive change. By spreading the word about them and supporting them, you are directly contributing to protect our planet and build a better world for nature and people.

The design process affects 80% of the impact on the environment, including its carbon footprint, so choosing environmentally-friendly products goes a long way, even more if you keep using them for a long time! Try to do a bit of detective work and look for these kinds of products whenever you can.

5. Go the extra mile at home

If you are looking into making a bigger change and become a climate change champion, consider getting more efficient appliances and electronics at home. Particularly if you have had those items for a long time. Check the energy efficiency labels of each product before making a decision. 

You can also look into renewable energy providers in your area to have your home running on renewables, which have zero emissions.