It’s that time of year again. New Year’s. Another year, another chance to make some resolutions to hit the gym more or eat healthier. Let’s be real, it can be a challenge to make drastic changes over short time spans. I get it. So why not try some smaller changes this year? If you are looking for some simple ideas that can make a big impact, look no further!
It can be overwhelming to make conservation minded choices a part of your daily life, but I am here to bring you some easy environmentally friendly choices. Some things, like bringing canvas bags to grocery shop or refusing single use plastic utensils, seem pretty straight forward. These options are great and are fairly easy to adopt in your daily life, but I wanted to expand on these basics for you guys. Here are some of my favorite ways to reduce, reuse and recycle:
- Buy second hand: whether its clothes, furniture, cars or equipment for your favorite hobby or sport, you’d be amazed how many great things you can find at thrift stores or in your local community through buy/sell/trade groups or even local buy nothing groups. If you choose to buy new, offset this purchase by finding new homes for things you may not need.
- Make the switch to energy saving fluorescent or LED light bulbs! If it seems like too much of an investment to change all of your bulbs at once, start with the bulbs you use most frequently.
- Take shorter showers! Most of us don’t realize that when showering we are using water, but that a significant amount of energy also goes into heating that water. Shortening your showers by just a minute or two can make a big impact.
- Bring a reusable mug and silverware if you anticipate buying food or coffee out. If you drink coffee daily, this can lead to a significant waste reduction, and most coffee shops even give a slight discount! I even carry reusable bamboo silverware and a reusable straw with me to help increase the impact.
- Reduce or eliminate your reliance on meat. Eliminating meat from your diet just one day a week can save almost 500 gallons of water. If you’re ready to take the full plunge into a vegetarian or vegan diet, all the better!
- Carpool, bus or bike to work to reduce your impact, and often times save some money. Depending on your commute, some of these options might be easier than others, but looking for ways to reduce your waste on a daily work commute can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions tremendously.
- Look for community recycling events to dispose of those items you don’t quite know what to do with. Got a Styrofoam stash or a jar of dead batteries eating up space in your house? These are perfect events to get rid of them.
- Reduce waste in online shopping. The past few years online shopping has skyrocketed in popularity, so much so that many people rely on it for most of their shopping. Did you know that you can choose shipping options on many popular sites such as amazon to reduce the amount of packaging and group items in an order together? Often times it doesn’t impact your shipping time and can reduce the amount of packaging that you then have to reuse or find a place to recycle.
- Buy palm oil free or certified sustainable palm oil products to support tropical forests and protect Orangutan habitats. It’s pretty shocking how many products contain palm oil if you read the labels. Many foods and every day essentials use the oil for unexpected purposes.
These are just a few simples steps you can take to live a more environmentally friendly life. What are your ideas? I’d love to hear what you are already do or what you are incorporating into your routine this year! Together we can make a difference, one step at a time!
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