Feeling fearful and depressed about the latest dire climate reports from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change and our own National Climate Assessment? Feeling angry and hopeless about our nation’s lack of progress on climate change?

Don’t despair. Channel your inner green ninja and check out this menu of climate-friendly actions that fight climate change and draw down atmospheric CO2. Please consider adding a couple of actions from this menu to your already-complicated life. You’ll feel better, I promise. This menu is ranked, from greatest (No. 1) to least (No. 10) impact on CO2 emissions.

1. Upgrade that old refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer or furnace with an energy efficient model. Be sure to get the coolant properly drained from your fridge or freezer; it’s a potent greenhouse gas.

2. Don’t waste food. Use leftovers creatively, buy groceries thoughtfully, recycle your organic waste. It will be turned into compost, which helps sequester atmospheric CO2 in our soils. (Sequestering CO2 helps draw down atmospheric CO2 by storing carbon for centuries in soil.)

3. Support the education of girls worldwide. An educated girl generally has fewer babies, decreasing overpopulation pressure on our planet. She is able to keep her family and community healthier, and is better able to deal with the effects of climate change.

4. De-carbonize your power supply as much as possible. Sign up for Windsource from Xcel to power your home, support Boulder’s municipalization efforts, install solar panels on your home.

5. Add more plants to your diet. Eat more fruits and veggies; enjoy more meatless meals.

6. Plant trees, lots and lots of them. Also shrubs, flowers, vegetables and grasses. They all help soil microbes sequester atmospheric CO2 in the soil. Trees shading your home cool it in the summer, protect it from cold winter winds, and cut energy consumption.

7. Maximize your home’s efficiency. Get a home energy audit so you’ll know how to get the most savings; weatherize doors, windows and outlets; replace tungsten/compact-fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs; consider adding more insulation; install a swamp cooler instead of an air conditioner.

8. Improve your soil’s health. Mulch flower beds, add compost, plant cover crops, disturb your soil as little as possible, raise your mower so your grass stays a little longer, and, above all, keep a living root in your soil year-round. All these actions help your soil sequester extra atmospheric CO2.

9. De-carbonize your transportation choices. Replace your older vehicle with a fuel efficient hybrid, electric vehicle or scooter; ride your bike, take the bus or walk more; explore the United States instead of vacationing abroad.

10. Maintain political pressure. Write and call elected officials, sign petitions, march, pay attention.

I bet most of you have already mastered several of these climate-friendly actions. Thank you. You are already a valued green ninja, an asset in the battle against climate change. Consider adding a couple more climate-friendly green-ninja actions to your days, so you’ll feel righteous and powerful instead of despondent. Working together, we green ninjas can draw down atmospheric CO2 and beat back climate change. Yes, we can!

Elizabeth Black lives in Boulder.