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Hopefully the new administration will put policy in place for businesses and hold them accountable: GoingZeroWaste.com Founder

Kathryn Kellogg, GoingZeroWaste.com Founder joins the Yahoo Finance Live panel to discuss New Year’s resolutions you can make to help climate change and seven things you can do daily to reduce your carbon footprint.

Video Transcript

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AKIKO FUJITA: COVID-related restrictions led to a 6% drop in global greenhouse gas emissions last year. But with the vaccines expected to ramp up activity significantly, there are growing concerns those declines may be reversed. On "Tipping Point" today, we're talking about actions you can take to reduce your carbon footprint.

And Kathryn Kellogg is the founder of GoingZeroWaste.com. She joins us from San Francisco today. Kathryn, let's talk about this because the declines that we saw last year, a lot of that is aviation. People weren't traveling as much. There's a lot of people watching this at home saying, what can I do that will actually make a significant dent in this?

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KATHRYN KELLOGG: Absolutely. So, of course, we need policy, and I'm really excited about the new administration coming in to hopefully put policy in for both businesses and holding them accountable. But there are of course things that we can do, and one of the first things, of course, is reduce our animal product consumption.

The average American eats a little under 3/4 of a pound, according to the USDA at a 2018 study, which is a lot of meat. And one of the main things all nutritionists can agree on is that we need to be eating more vegetables. So try and go to your farmer's market, maybe join a CSA, so you can eat locally, a little more seasonally, and just adding more plants to your plate. As a bonus, at the grocery store, vegetables are some of the cheapest options out there.

So try and load up, especially when it comes to beans that have a lot of protein. And you're able to have a little bit better impact than relying so much, since a lot of the American diet relies on meat, wheat, and dairy. So by cutting out a few of those products, adding in a few more fresher products, we'll be able to have a more positive impact on the planet, and hopefully, maybe even meet some other of your New Year's resolutions, like eating a little healthier.

ZACK GUZMAN: Kathryn, you're putting me in a tough-- you're putting me in a tough spot here because you know, I run a meat Instagram page.

[CHUCKLES]

It's been one of my hobbies here. When we talk about it though, it is interesting. We had the founder of Joro on the show, an app that lets people kind of track their own carbon footprint here with individual decisions, like you're talking about, maybe cutting back on their meat consumption or eliminating it. When you look at this, is that mainly the issue that maybe Americans out there don't know that some of these decisions might be leading to some climate change issues, or is it just that maybe they don't want to make these individual small changes, which can account for some major changes on a global scale?

KATHRYN KELLOGG: So I grew up in Texas. So I totally understand where you're coming from. And I think that the main issue is everyone views it as very all or nothing. So it's really intimidating to start.

And a lot of people think, oh, if I want to help the planet than I have to go vegan and I can't do that. And it's all about just taking those first initial steps. If you don't want to go vegan tomorrow, fine. What if you can just start participating in meatless Mondays. And just try and experiment with a few new dishes. You don't have to be all or nothing. You just have to get started.

AKIKO FUJITA: And Kathryn, one of the other things that you recommend is buying second-hand. That kind of caught my eye because we've seen a number of platforms that have emerged on the back of this trend to sort of think more about what you purchase. How do you-- how do you advise people to sort of go about that? You know, we're talking about clothing platforms, but certainly second-hand is not limited to that.

KATHRYN KELLOGG: Of course, so IKEA opened their very first second-hand store at the end of 2020 last year, I believe. Nordstrom is now putting second-hand shopping into their positions in the mall. Of course, there are large places, like Rent the Runway, where you can rent clothing instead of having to purchase it. There are places, like ThredUP and swap.com where you can go and shop, browse hundreds of items, and get all of these second-hand.

So I definitely think we're going to be seeing a huge boost in the second-hand marketplace this year even more. And of course, one of the most eco-friendly things you can buy is something that has already been bought. No new resources are needed in the creation of that item.

So by buying something that's already in the waste stream, you're going to be able to prevent something going to the landfill. But of course, repairing and using what you already have are some of the most eco-friendly things you could do. So instead of rushing out and buying anything, maybe take a minute, make sure you actually need that item, you actually want that item, and it will add value to your life, and use what you already have.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, as Akiko was kind of mentioning there in the open, obviously, the pandemic's been terrible when you think about it on a holistic approach, but the one benefit, the one silver lining maybe you could point to has been the impact on the environment. And I suppose, as we open back up and return back to normal life, some of these things might reverse themselves, but particularly when we think about the inroads made in the electric vehicle space, more and more people becoming aware of that with the rise of Tesla and everyone else in the space. When you look at that change, how big is it compared to some of these other things you're talking about there in maybe reducing meat consumption when you look at the data and say how impactful that shift actually is?

KATHRYN KELLOGG: When it comes to looking at electric and hybrid vehicles, unless you have a very, very high emitting vehicle, one of the best things you can do is keep what you already have because of course, a lot of emissions are made in the creation of an item. So I actually have a really old car, and the best way I've known to reduce my emissions-- of course, it passes its emissions test-- but the best thing for me is to keep it, and use it, and make sure I'm carpooling, and focusing on driving less.

So I have really not gone much of anywhere in 2020 because I've been sheltering in place. So if we can find more ways to maybe, if you are working from home, try and work from home two to three days a week. And that way you can avoid having to drive into the office and you can save emissions that way rather than just running out and going out and buying a brand new car.

AKIKO FUJITA: Kathryn, one of the easiest changes, maybe on your list of things there because those-- some people may not want to change up their diets, is the energy supply. Looking at what you're actually using in your house in switching up the energy. What specifically can some of our viewers do on that front and how much is the savings, ultimately?

KATHRYN KELLOGG: So, on average, 10% to 15% of a homes' electric bill comes from something called Phantom electricity. This is when you have something plugged in and charging, but it's not actually charging. So, for instance, you have your laptop charger plugged in, but it's not hooked up to your laptop. You have your phone charger plugged in, but it's not hooked up to your phone. These things are still drawing power, and it's wasting energy, and of course, it's costing you a lot of money. So one of the simplest things you can do is to simply unplug your items when they're not in use.

ZACK GUZMAN: Well, Kathryn, you know, back here in Texas, being back here now, trying to make good on that cutting back on the meat consumption. Today, we're having a smoothie. So I appreciate you coming on. Kathryn Kellogg, GoingZeroWaste.com founder, thanks again.