We are all increasingly aware of the importance of doing our bit for the environment, but the simple truth is that if we all made some small changes to our everyday habits, it would add up to big changes not just for ourselves, but for world.
Surround yourself with plants.
Perhaps the easiest and most beneficial thing we can do is to surround ourselves with plants and animals. Beneficial? That’s right, plants work hard at removing carbon dioxide from the environment especially at night. But what’s more, is that surrounding yourself with nature is one of the best ways to reduce stress, according to the American Heart Association.
Energy Efficient Homes
Electricity bills usually amount to the biggest bill for most households, so taking the green route is not just good for the environment but also good for your pocket and there are so many small ways you make a difference. For example, modern CFL bulbs use up to 75% less power than the traditional bulb and live up to 10 times longer. For the small extra investment you’ll be using less electricity and saving a bundle in the process.
Another great way to cut electricity bill is to unplug the home appliances that you are not using. Sure, modern appliances are more efficient than anything from 10 or 15 years ago, but if it’s on stand-by, it’s using power. Unplug it for an estimated saving of 10% on your bill.
And then there is home heating, whilst newer houses are built to higher standards such as Passivhaus, older homes waste a lot of energy. Passivhaus of course means they are carefully constructed to ensure a minimum amount of energy is used to heat and cool the house whilst maintaining air quality. But older homes can benefit from a deep energy retrofit that uses modern methods to strengthen the building seal for a greener home.
Is Green Eating a Part of Your Lifestyle?
If you are careful about what you eat, bring reusable grocery bags when you go food shopping, recycle your tins, plastics and bottles, is that enough? For most the answer is yes, but if you want to go a bit further, than consider eating green.
Eating green doesn’t mean giving up meats altogether, it just means you are committed to mostly eating a diet of locally grown, organic plants and vegetables. It’s not always possible, so you have to choose your battles. But as your food is grown naturally by local producers, it has less impact on the globe and reduces your carbon footprint.
Better than Recycling
And I kind of glossed over an important point there, recycling. It’s only one of the 3Rs and arguably the least important one. Reducing the amount of stuff we consume and increasing the amount we reuse will naturally lessen the importance of recycling. So if you want to help protect the environment focus buying less things or at the very least, things like single use plastics.
The list of small changes we could make that would add up to a big difference for our planet could go on forever but perhaps the most important things we can do is to educate the next generation to do better than us because it’s their world we’re saving.