Climate change and global warming are at the forefront of everybody’s minds. As a result, more people are searching for the best ways to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
The modern-day lifestyle makes it almost impossible to be completely carbon neutral. Most of the things that we do nowadays use some form of non-renewable energy or require the manufacturing of raw materials.
We drive fuel-drinking cars around, we get items shipped directly to our homes from all over the world, and we purchase brand-new clothes that we probably don’t need. Each of these things contributes to global warming by releasing carbon into the air.
But don’t worry! You don’t need to completely transform your lifestyle, sell your car, and avoid treating yourself to new things in order to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
Best Ways to Live an Environmentally Friendly Lifestyle
There are plenty of ways to reduce your carbon emissions and be more environmentally friendly in your everyday life. Making small changes to your routine can make a huge difference in the world.
Here are six easy and effective ways to make your daily living more sustainable. Even if you aren’t able to implement all six of these sustainable practices, making just one or two small changes to your lifestyle will make all the difference to the environment!
1. Ditch the Plastic Straws
Millions of straws are used and discarded every day. Most plastic straws cannot be recycled and are not biodegradable because of the chemicals they contain.
Because they can’t be reused and don’t naturally break down, straws are dumped into landfills, where they stay for several years. If they don’t end up in landfills, they are deposited into the oceans, disrupting aquatic habits and causing the deaths of thousands of sea animals.
If you prefer to drink from a straw or you need to use one for medical reasons, switch from a plastic straw to the best biodegradable drinking straw that you can find.
No matter which beverage you’re drinking, you won’t need to worry about the negative impacts on the environment. Biodegradable straws are durable, non-toxic, and decompose on their own.
2. Unplug Your Electrical Items
Unplugging your electrical items when you’re not using them can significantly reduce the amount of electricity that you use in your home. As obvious as this might sound, it’s something that many of us forget to do.
Not only will you save money on your utility bills you will also reduce the amount of non-renewable energy that you use each day. Of course, this is assuming that you haven’t already switched to using 100% renewable energy in your home, such as if you have solar panels on your property.
3. Turn Your Lights Off
Another obvious way to cut your energy usage and leave more sustainably is to turn off your lights when you go out of the room or when you leave the house.
Unless you are using 100% renewable energy on your property, leaving the lights on increases the amount of non-renewable energy that is required to power your home.
4. Walk Whenever Possible
Admittedly, most of us can’t live without our cars. They get us from A to B, quickly and easily, and are a lifesaver when you’ve got a lot of heavy things to transport from one place to another.
While it’s almost impossible for most people to live without their vehicles nowadays, many of us are using them for unnecessary journeys. We might jump into the car to go to the corner shop but he’s just down the road for a drive to our destination when there is a direct public transport route.
If you want to live in more environmentally friendly lifestyle, ditching your car as much as possible will significantly reduce your carbon footprint. Set yourself a daily step target and walk to your destination or travel via public transport to reduce the amount of fuel that you are consuming on a day-to-day basis.
Reducing the amount of fuel that you use through driving will also save you a lot of money, especially with the ever-increasing fuel prices!
5. Eat Sustainably
There are lots of great ways to start your sustainable eating journey and make your food habits more environmentally friendly.
The first thing that you can do is minimize your food waste. Avoid filling up your basket at the store with unnecessary items and making impulse purchases so that you don’t end up with a bunch of wasted food by the end of the week.
It’s especially important not to overspend on perishable food items, as they can quickly go out of date before you have a chance to eat them.
For those of you who enjoy gardening, consider growing your own produce at home. Create a vegetable patch in your back garden, buy some seeds, and get growing! Vegetables are easy to grow and take just a few months to sprout into colorful, nutritious plants that your whole family can enjoy.
The food in your back garden doesn’t need to be transported across the world like the produce in the grocery store. So, by growing your own veggies at home, you can reduce your carbon footprint.
Plus, it’s much cheaper to eat home-grown foods than it is to buy from the store. It’s a win-win for your wallet and the environment!
6. Recycle Your Cardboard and Plastic Waste
Millions of trees are cut down every year to make paper-based materials. While you might not be able to stop using paper products completely, you can recycle your used paper to be more environmentally friendly.
Any type of cardboard or paper waste that you produce at home can be placed in your recycling bins and taken to specialized recycling facilities. Instead of ending up in landfills and oceans, this paper can be processed into new, usable materials.
The same applies to your plastic waste. You can throw plastic bottles, cans, and food trays into the designated recycle bins so that they can be recycled and reused.
