The organization Rare has published an excellent comprehensive assessment of how individuals can change their behavior to reduce their carbon emissions and thus help mitigate climate change.  Their report found that the 7 behavioral changes that would have the greatest impact on diminishing individual carbon footprints are:

• Buying carbon offsets
• Purchasing electric vehicles
• Purchasing green energy
• Reducing food waste
• Eating a plant-rich diet
• Practicing no-till agriculture (maintaining carbon-sequestering soil)
• Reducing air travel

The changes above are listed by order of impact.  The report found that buying carbon offsets would be the most impactful of these behavioral changes, by a significant margin, followed by buying an electric vehicle and using green energy.

The report also underscores the importance of individual behavioral change as part of the effort to reduce global warming.  It concluded “Given our current carbon emissions trajectory, we need to invest in solutions across the board, from the political to the personal.

Shifting individual behaviors is an integral, scalable component of achieving necessary emissions reductions.”

See Changing Behaviors to Reduce Emissions:  Seven Pathways to Achieve Climate Impact.