I wasn't sure where to post, but this seemed like the best overall fit.
DH and I already did the single biggest thing we can do to help reduce carbon output...no kids (a decision I made by the late 1990s, based largely on environmental ethics). However, there are plenty of areas to improve in, and I've gotten lazy about them the past 10 years.
Reviewing our lifestyle, travel is a big problem. We live in the 'asphodel fields' of the U.S., with almost no natural beauty or outdoor recreational opportunities (or even public land) for 3.5 hours' drive in every damn direction. We can't move (we have tried repeatedly) b/c of limited job locations in DH's specialized job. And now we are supporting family and can't move to most locations that might be available due to cost limitations. Plus, the rest of our friends and family live scattered ALL over the country, including on both opposite coasts and the far northern border.
So, we fly. A lot. Mostly for work, but also a couple times per year for recreation. I had not thought before of purchasing offsets based on our flights, but this thread has inspired me to start doing this, at the very least for long recreational flights.
In the meantime, the calculators show our carbon footprint ~30% less than the average 2-person household in our area, but I'm sure we can do better in non-travel areas.
Goal 1: Reduce purchase of consumer goods.
We already don't buy much, but these discussions have me rethinking our buying habits anyway. In the past few years I've cut way down on book buying (somewhat of a 'gazinga pin' for me), and cds/dvds (which are becoming obsolete anyway). I've never been much of a clothes buyer, but could still cut down somewhat there. Recently I was planning to buy a couple of new bookshelves for my office, but now I'm thinking I should just read more aggressively and get rid of more books, rather than buy more shelves to store them! I'm also planning to cut down somewhat on purchasing plants (gardening is my main hobby, but ugh...shipping costs...water needs in a dry climate...and as all gardeners know, lots of new plant experiments don't work out and amount to lost money anyway). Etc.
Goal 2: Driving.
I work from home, and we've been a 1-car household for about 7 years, which is inconvenient but has trained me to 'save up' errands and try to efficiently do lots of them in one clockwise (right hand turns only, less idling) trip around the city.
The vast majority of our driving is husband's 18 mile commute to work and my 18 mile commute to the gym. (Bikes are not an option where we live. Too dangerous in this particular bike-hostile city and too many of our friends have been seriously injured or killed biking over the years). My goal here is to dramatically reduce our tendency to 'just run to the grocery store for a few things for dinner', which is only a 2 mile trip, but probably happens 3-4 times per week b/c we are disorganized about meal planning.
Also, we have a lot of nice weather here, and if I just need a few things for dinner there is no damn reason I can't just walk to the store with a backpack and an ice pack if I am too lazy to meal plan!
Goal 3: Reduce meat and other high carbon foods (see attached graph).
This is my big one for this winter, along with cutting overall grocery costs and eating lower on the food chains.
On the positive side, we already don't eat lamb (at all), or much beef (I eat it maybe 1-2x/month, husband about 4-6x/month) or pork (1-2x per week, usually as bacon or sausage). We eat no farmed fish. We do eat a fair amount of eggs and husband eats a lot of dairy. We regularly eat turkey (higher carbon footprint than chicken, which I didn't know), wild-caught fish, and chicken. We do not eat vegetarian dinners. Husband also eats lunch (I don't) and often has meat then.
My first goal for 2019 is to explore vegetarian protein substitutes and then to develop at least 4 vegetarian meals that we really like and can work into our weekly dinner (and maybe husband's lunch) rotation. If this goes well, I might try to shift even more meals over to vegetarian. This will have the added bonus of forcing me to meal-plan a bit more and, thus, cut down on those emergency car trips to 'pick up a few things' at the grocery store!
Secondary goal for 2019 is for husband to get us a deer or two this year, which will mean we don't need to buy beef at all. Husband might also be supplying us with rabbits (depending on whether he flies a hawk this year). That would cut down our big-ag meat purchases, as well.
Phew, as pessimistic as I feel, I'm glad for the enthusiasm of Malaysia41 and everyone who is participating in these climate-change related threads. You guys have inspired me to recover my 'go down fighting' mentality, as opposed to my prevailing 'fuck it, it's hopeless' mentality.
Thanks all.