Nowadays, it’s tough to live a life that doesn’t somehow involve contributing negatively to our planet and environment. If we shop for groceries, there’s a high chance that some of the products are packaged in plastic that is difficult to recycle, or if we travel any significant distance we’re likely using a mode of transport that at some point relies on fossil fuels. The best we can do realistically at the moment is to reduce the damage we do. While it may not seem like we can make a big difference individually, it may sound like a cliché, but collectively it is possible. Below we look at something we can do in our day-to-day life to live a more environmentally sustainable life.
Walk more
Not only is this great for our health but we also won’t be contributing to the production of greenhouse gases, which is basically using any sort of motorised vehicle at this moment in time. Motor vehicles have allowed us to travel more but their abuse over short distances has made us lazier and had a detrimental effect on our health. We are recommended to have at least 30 minutes of exercise per day in order to lower our chances of cardiovascular disease and walking can be included in this. By walking more where we can, we are lowering the need for motor vehicles on the road, which would likely result in lowering the demand for them, reducing the negative impact on the environment.
Choose your local market over the supermarket
Not only will you be supporting small, local businesses, but their produce is often sourced more locally. This means that it will have travelled a shorter distance, and usually the product is not packed with much plastic packaging because of this. Supermarkets on the other hand, while attractive because of their vast product line and cheaper prices, source their stock from all over the world and therefore require a lot of energy to support their entire supply chain. Products may make up to a dozen journies and stops before reaching the supermarket shelves, and just imagine how much energy this requires if it is occurring all over the world. So bring your reusable bag to your local market to support local businesses and help reduce negative environmental impact.
Reuse and recycle
Think twice before throwing things in the bin. Think first if it can be reused or recycled and not only will you extend the life of the product, but you’ll be slowing down the speed at which it ends up in the landfill. Do you really need the most recent phones or Playstation? Or are you just fine with buying cheap consoles because they are the last generation? Reusing and recycling items not only gives products a longer lease of life but recycling finite materials means there is less need to mine for new ones. If everyone was aware of this impact and had the mentality of reducing waste, we would all live a much more sustainable life.
Reduce meat consumption
Raising animals to be slaughtered and eaten takes up an incredible amount of resources and produces a lot of greenhouse gases such as methane. Moving onto a plant-based diet will not only do wonders for the environment, but also for your health, just like walking. While it is unrealistic to expect everyone to make such an extreme diet change, if all meat-eaters were to reduce their intake by just 25%, this could have a profound effect on lowering the environmental impact globally.