What if 1 in 10 People Changed Habits to Fight Climate Change?

Calculations show individual actions can have a big impact when multiplied across millions.

Published on Feb. 12, 2026

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The Associated Press looked at four everyday behaviors in the U.S. - eating beef, driving gasoline cars, heating homes with natural gas, and buying new clothes - and calculated the emissions reductions if just 1 in 10 Americans changed each of those habits. The results show tens, and in some cases hundreds, of billions of pounds of carbon pollution could be avoided each year.

Why it matters

Climate change is often viewed as an issue too big for individual action to matter, but this analysis demonstrates how personal choices can add up to significant emissions reductions when multiplied across millions of people. Small changes in common behaviors like food, transportation, home energy, and shopping can make a real difference in the fight against climate change.

The details

The AP gathered data on the carbon footprint of each habit and calculated the impact if 1 in 10 Americans made a switch. For example, swapping one beef meal per week for chicken would cut about 525 pounds of CO2 per person annually. If 25 million people did this, emissions would fall by 13 billion pounds per year. Driving an electric vehicle instead of a gas car saves about 7,400 pounds of CO2 per person per year, and if 23.77 million people made that switch, it would avoid 175 billion pounds of CO2 annually. Replacing a gas furnace with an electric heat pump saves 1,830 pounds of CO2 per household per year, and if 6 million households did this, it would avoid 11 billion pounds of CO2. And if 34.2 million people bought secondhand jeans instead of new ones, it would avoid 1.5 billion pounds of CO2.

  • The Associated Press analysis was conducted in 2026.

The players

Dave Gustafson

Project director at Agriculture & Food Systems Institute.

Dillon Fitch-Polse

Professional researcher and co-director of Bicycling Plus Research Collaborative at the University of California, Davis.

Leah Stokes

Associate professor of environment politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Constance Ulasewicz

Consumer and family studies emeritus faculty and lecturer at San Francisco State University.

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What they’re saying

“Beef is a commonly consumed item that has one of the largest carbon footprints per pound. It is probably one of the largest individual choices that people make with regard to what they eat that has a direct impact on personal carbon footprint.”

— Dave Gustafson, Project director at Agriculture & Food Systems Institute

“If a large percentage of people changed a little bit of their travel, then all of a sudden the benefits are huge.”

— Dillon Fitch-Polse, Professional researcher and co-director of Bicycling Plus Research Collaborative at the University of California, Davis

“People's homes are kind of like little fossil fuel power plants that people operate, and they just don't realize that's what they're doing. That's really the collective action thing is for people to understand that there is fossil fuel infrastructure right under their noses in their own homes.”

— Leah Stokes, Associate professor of environment politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara

“What you can do is not throw in the trash. So it's repairing your clothing so you can extend the life, and buying from a secondhand store.”

— Constance Ulasewicz, Consumer and family studies emeritus faculty and lecturer at San Francisco State University

The takeaway

While no single individual action can solve climate change, this analysis shows that when millions of people make small changes in their everyday behaviors, the collective impact can be significant. By making simple switches in what we eat, how we get around, how we heat our homes, and what we buy, we can all play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fighting climate change.