We deal with waste every day and its becoming problematic. It is our responsibility to become aware of our own personal impact to the environment. Even if we hire a good rubbish clearance company to remove our waste, still is our duty to think about the consequences and to try following some good methods and produce less waste.
1. Reuse clothes for cleaning clothes
Some of our old clothes can be usable. So instead of throwing them away, you can reuse them as cleaning rags to wipe up messes and clean surfaces. You can use them all the time, after cleaning, toss them in the laundry and they can be used again.
2. Try buying unpacked food
Fresh fruits and veggies are normally obtainable unpacked in the produce section, and you can also buy package-free products in grocery stores. You can also bring your own reusable bags or containers, to purchase and avoid plastic bags. Most food these days is wrapped in plastic.
Plastic bags need to be a thing of the past, so instead of using keep in mind to bring your own bag. Cotton bags are perfect for loose fruit and veggies. Don’t be nervous to say no to single use plastic. Click here for some simple ways to avoid plastic.
3. Shop local
Local markets habitually use a lot less plastic to cover their foods. So try planning your daily shop to visit the local farmer’s market before heading to the supermarket. It’s a great way to reduce waste, as well as experience a sense of community from shopping locally.
4. Avoid single-use items
Try avoiding items single-use items. Instead replace them with reusable, or multi-purpose options, simply by saying no.
5. No straws
Avoid that extra plastic and try saying no to straws when you drink. When ordering a drink, respectfully ask for no straw. Adults, don’t really need to drink their drinks through straws. One-use straws suck. Try teaching your kids to drink without a straw. And If you don’t want to give up straws totally, you can try and use a reusable straw instead.
Many manufacturers are replacing plastic drinking straws with titanium.
6. Recycle
There are numerous people out there still not recycling. Make sure you’re recycling everything at home, as well as taking that extra effort to make sure items that aren’t collected from your home are taken to recycle at your local dump.
Recycling keeps things out of the landfill with the purpose to transform used materials into new products that can be used again. Recycling right means keeping material out of the landfill, and also decreasing uncleanness in the recycling stream.
7. Stop buying unnecessary items
How to reduce waste? Simply stop buying that much stuff. When you buy new things, you don’t do anything but increase the amount of waste. Just try to buy what you need, and also appreciate what you already have.
8. Repair your old items
Before you buy something new to replace that item that has cracked, see if you can fix it. Do whatever you can do to repair it, and don’t get sucked into this throwaway culture.
Millions and billions of garbage are accumulated every year. In America alone, each individual produces up to 4 pounds of waste material every day. Improper disposal of this garbage is harmful not only to you but also to everyone around you. Waste from landfills can emit greenhouse gases, pollute the soil, and can contaminate your drinking water.
However, in a simple way, such as recycling, you can make a difference. You can recycle your garbage in various ways, including reselling, donating, collecting, manufacturing, etc. Recycling is a lifestyle you can choose that requires a vast amount of dedication and a sense of responsibility.
Here are some tips and tricks that can help you start your recycling journey.
What You Can Recycle
First, you need to distinguish what garbage you can and cannot recycle.
Recyclable
Plastic – Any plastic containers and bottles with the recycling symbol, and inside are the numbers 1 or 2.
Paper Products – Items including phonebooks, magazines, mails, newspapers, food boxes, cardboard boxes, and printer paper.
Glass – Objects like food containers, bottles, and jars, which are emptied and rinsed.
Metal – Mainly aluminum cans, steel cans, tin, and other metals as long as it’s also empty and rinsed.
There are still more items to be included in the list, feel free to read the label or go online for them. It’s good to make it a habit to check if an item is recyclable or not.
Purchase Your Recycling Bins
After knowing what garbage is recyclable and non-recyclable, you can now buy your recycling bins. You can shop in malls or other marketplaces that offer bins in your desired size and shape at affordable prices. Some bins have a recycling logo that would help you to easily distinguish it from your other trash cans.
The basic rule in how many bins you should acquire depends on how many trash cans you have in your household. Also, set up your recycling bins next to your trash cans so that every time you throw an item away, you will be reminded to check if it’s recyclable or not. Remember not to use plastic bags in recycling because they are not recyclable.
Aside from your home, you can also keep recycling bins in your car and your office at work. Wherever you are, you can always sort and recycle your garbage.
Find Your Local Drop-Off Location
Depending on where you live, there may be different rules on what you can recycle and how to prepare your recycled items. Moreover, public drop-off areas are also important information to know together with the local garbage collection schedule.
Some states would allow you to leave your recycled items in the curbside, but if not, be sure to know where the designated areas are so that you can dump your recyclables before garbage collectors pick them up. The collection schedule could either be once a week or once every other week. It wholly depends on where you live.
Be sure to inquire to your local government or information desk about these rules and instructions before you start recycling. Print out the vital information and instructions, and post them somewhere visible so that you can’t forget about them.
Other Actions to Consider
Recycling your garbage helps in reducing your household waste and lowering your carbon footprint. But besides recycling, there are many other activities and practices you can do to help the society and the environment more. Remember to reduce, reuse, and recycle the items in your household instead of immediately throwing them out.
You can avoid buying or using single-use plastics to reduce the waste you produce. Another trick is to use recyclable bags instead of paper and plastic bags. Utilize your jars for your leftovers instead of plastic containers. You can also create your garden fertilizer by using food waste and other compostable garbage to set up a compost pile.
However, for wastes such as expired medicines, one should not, in any way, recycle and reuse expired or unused medicines as they can pose a risk to one’s health and safety. Throwing it anywhere is also harmful to the environment.
There’s a specific disposal process you must follow, which includes mixing the medicine with cat litter or referring to the FDA’s Flush List. Visit BuzzRx to learn more about proper medicine disposal.
Takeover
The way you live can impact the world and the environment. By recycling, you can help lessen waste, conserve resources, and not contribute to the pollution already prevalent in our world. No matter how tedious recycling can be, remember that it will be developed into a good habit that will help improve the society, environment, and especially yourself.
This article was developed via a partnership with BetterHelp.
Have you been noticing yourself procrastinating or trying to put thoughts of the climate crisis out of mind, even though you care greatly about it? This procrastination of action is a very common response to the crisis, and it’s actually the reason that many people do not take action or work towards change in the world.
Inaction in activism is something that has been discussed for decades when talking about important issues, from climate change to abuse to world hunger. It’s also common in our day-to-day lives, such as in college and school environments.
Read on to learn more about why we procrastinate real change and what you can do to beat it.
What is the Procrastination Response?
The procrastination response is a very human response to stress and overwhelming feelings. When something feels too much for our brains, we shut it off and ignore it. Without something pushing us in a direction, this often becomes overpowering, and we forget our path or simply don’t take action.
You can see examples of this in society. When something huge happens that is all over the news, people start to take action because it’s at the front of their minds. However, as action dies down or things begin to get more difficult, people become stressed and focused on other areas of life. Part of this is an attention span, but part of it is something else.
Why Do We Procrastinate?
This procrastination response happens because of stress, anxiety, and attention. It can also be caused by a trauma response. Here are some regular life examples of ways that procrastination can take hold:
Maria wants to clean her house. It is a bit dirty. However, she’s feeling super stressed by the mess and doesn’t know where to start. Instead of cleaning, she ignores it and puts it off for a few months until it gets so bad that she has a panic attack due to the mess.
John has an important project due at school. He wants to do a good job, so he initially does a lot of research. However, after he does the research, his passion isn’t as strong, and he has difficulty putting his thoughts on paper. He crams the project on the last night before it is due, and due to not feeling prepared, he ends up skipping school the next day and getting a 0 on the assignment.
Alex wants to volunteer abroad. They have done a lot of research and have determined that it is possible. However, they need to save up money for their plane ticket. Alex has never been so good with money, and they become overwhelmed with the financial aspect, causing them to not volunteer.
As you can see in the examples, each person has a desire to complete the objective, whether it’s cleaning, activism, or a project. It’s the same way with climate activism and taking action in our own lives to help the world.
For many people who feel passionately about saving the planet, there is a lot of stress and collective fear that comes along with it. After all, the climate crisis is scary and comes with some scary outcomes if changes are not made. This fear, coupled with the pressure to make changes now, causes many people to give up hope and simply not try.
Other people may continue to tell themselves, “I’ll sign up for the next protest” or “I’ll donate next month,” and then feel shame when they don’t end up doing it. It’s a vicious cycle that can leave people feeling hopeless. The good news is that there are ways to beat it!
How To Beat Procrastination in the Fight for Climate Change
If you’re feeling overwhelmed in your fight to end the climate crisis and help spread the word, here are some ways you can reduce that feeling and start to take action.
1. See a Counselor
First of all, it’s hard to be an advocate for something when you’re dysregulated. Even though the majority of people are going through this crisis together, it’s important to take care of your mind and body so that you can feel healthy and clear-minded when you get back into it.
We see a lot of studies about work-life balance, which means taking care of your body and mind so that you can work hard and be present in your job. This principle applies to the things we’re passionate about, as well.
2. Set a Schedule
Since humans need direction to take action, it’s important to learn how to be your own boss and your own director. Instead of waiting for someone else to plan a demonstration, plan one yourself. Figure out the details as you go.
If you’re not a “leader” personality, you can still plan ways to take action in your own life. Set a schedule for the little things you’d like to do to help the environment, whether that’s taking out the recycling daily or donating glass to a glass recycling factory.
You can also plan to donate to your favorite climate organizations monthly or plan a trip to volunteer in a foreign country, plus a plan for saving up money along the way.
3. Reward Yourself for Action
As reward-motivated creatures, humans also need to feel that their actions make a change. With climate change, it’s pretty common for people to feel that nothing will change from just one person trying to make an effort. It can feel hopeless.
However, with small rewards, you can show yourself the change that you make, even if it’s something tiny. You also want to remind yourself of the reasons you’re fighting for change and know that the true award is knowing you did your best and feeling satisfied with your efforts.
4. Reignite Your Inner Spark
Finally, the best activism comes from that inner spark that inspired you to take action in the first place. Often, this is a wave of rightful anger, which comes from seeing injustices or a lack of action being taken. This wave of anger is healthy, as it prompts you to continue working.
Remind yourself of this feeling by using healthy doses of media, conversations with family, and even a collage of your dreams. Don’t depress yourself by watching tons of traumatic videos. However, do something that makes you want to take action. Write a journal page about your anger and sadness. Scream into a pillow. Write a rant on Facebook that only some close friends can see.
These are healthy ways of releasing emotion, and they’re also healthy ways to be an activist and get your voice out into the world.
Conclusion
If you’d like to learn more about procrastination in any area of life, you can check out this site from BetterHelp today. They’ve also got tons of information on resources for getting help with anxiety, depression, procrastination, and more.
Global warming and climate change have been at the forefront of news headlines nowadays. This brings to attention the need to protect the environment. When it comes to going green, every step matters and you can do your share with through your condominium unit.
Whether you own a condo unit for personal use or as an investment, you should think about how to transform your space and make it green. Get started with basic maintenance care when you read this post. Then, incorporate 8 lifestyle changes and remodeling tips listed below to reduce your carbon footprint and make your condo eco-friendly.
Parquet wood floors are back in vogue
1. Switch to LED Lights
This is one of the simplest changes that you can adopt into condo living. LED lights are the new standard for modern and eco-friendly lighting at home. If you are still using incandescent and fluorescent lights or lamps, you need to consider getting new LED lights.
Light-emitting diodes (LED) are more energy-efficient and can last up to 20 years. They are, therefore, a good option to use for condo lighting if you want to minimize your carbon footprint. They are also practical since LED lights are affordable and last a long time, giving more value to your money.
2. Install Eco-Friendly Air Conditioners
The traditional air conditioners are notorious for consuming large amounts of energy that also hike up utility bills. If you want to save on power and optimize cooling within your home, it is best to find eco-friendly air conditioners. It can help you save up to 90% off your current energy bill.
But it is not just your air conditioner that you should consider replacing with eco-friendly ones. Make sure you choose other energy-efficient appliances, too.
3. Use Natural Cleaning Products
Going organic when it comes to your diet is one of the best ways to develop an eco-friendly practice at home. But when you cannot fully commit to altering your diet, it is best to start with the products you use. For example, you can switch to green cleaning products. This will not only benefit the environment but anyone living in your condo as well.
When you use natural cleaning products, you are exposed to fewer amounts of harsh chemicals. The fewer chemicals you use, the less harmful it is to your health. Also, if you have small kids, the use of chemical cleaning products should be a no-no!
The best part is that natural cleaning products are often less expensive than chemical-based ones. If you are not sure which to choose, research on brands that manufacture or specialize in natural cleaning products.
4. Furnish Your Condo with Reclaimed Materials
Have you inherited antiques from your grandparents? Do you have any unused furniture lying around? Instead of opting for new furniture items and accessories to decorate your home with, it is best to opt for those made of reclaimed materials instead. This will help reduce the waste dumped in landfills and maximize the shelf life of these materials. The use of antiques and old furnishings can also add an interesting decorative flair to your home.
Reclaimed wood materials are one of the most common recyclable materials that are used for home and interior decorating. You can repaint them to make them look brand new and fit into your interior décor theme.
5. Spruce Up Space with Plants
The addition of plants to your condo is a great way to enhance its aesthetic appeal. At the same time, add color and vibrancy to interior space. But there is also an eco-friendly benefit to incorporating plants as decoration–it improves indoor air quality.
Some of the plants that act as an air purifier are:
Aloe Vera
Areca Palm
Elephant Ear Philodendron
Lady Palm
Bamboo or Reed Palm
Rubber Plant
English Ivy
Before you move into your condo, get one or more of these plants for a healthy home for you and your family.
6. Be Eco-Conscious in Your Choice of Kitchen Sink
If you need to renovate your kitchen, make sure to choose eco-friendly sinks. As the most important part of your kitchen, choose stainless steel or kitchen sinks that are made from copper recycled materials. This will add a modern look while making it eco-friendly. Sinks made of renewable materials are also great options.
Pair it with low-flow faucets to conserve water easily. Another alternative is to install a low-flow aerator with existing taps. This will significantly reduce the flow rate of 4 gallons per minute to just 0.5 gallons. That’s a huge volume of water saved.
7. Invest in a Smart Home System
A smart home might seem like an expensive investment. But when you live in a condo, you will find cheaper systems that will make your life more efficient and eco-friendly, too. A smart home system will adjust the control of various appliances and equipment, such as lighting, heating, and cooling.
With its data-driven system in place, control of indoor temperature, lighting, and the like are automated. By adjusting to the optimal level, you won’t waste energy heating or cooling your home. It also helps to ensure that no unused light is turned on (as it automatically turns the light off when you leave a room).
This is a simple step that you can take to transform your condo into an eco-friendly space. While the one-time investment might be big, it can help you save more in the long run (in terms of lower energy bills).
8. Repaint Furniture, Not Replace Them
This is another simple step that you can do if you want to promote sustainability in your condo unit. Does any piece of furniture look old? Is your cabinetry looking a little dated? Don’t throw them away just yet to get new ones!
Make sure you look at the possibility of repainting or re-facing any furniture or cabinets in your home instead of replacing them with a new one. This is true for appliances or furniture that are still in good working condition.
What steps are you taking to make your condo eco-friendly? Why not give these tips and try and let us know what benefits you gained from doing so?
Everybody knows that college is not just about long lessons, wise teachers and interesting acquaintances. Sometimes it’s get harder to be in a harmonious and amicable mood when everything starts to fall apart, and students are trying to fix it but at the same time making the situation much worse.
The most common reasons of stress in college are as follows:
Different conflict situations with teachers and other students;
There are some ways and tips how to live without stress at college, which can help you tackle with stressful situations by yourself.
1. Think about your time management
Try to do all the complicated lessons first and don’t leave your homework until midnight. Start with compiling a task list every week. Write down at least three important, short-term goals that you want to achieve. No matter what kind of your goals are, stick to them and do your best to achieve them! You can do more and you will feel better without delaying things “later”. Make small changes in your life and self-organization —find a place for each thing. Self-pity is a waste of time.
2. Acquire colorful and bright stationery
It will always make you smile in any way. Notebooks with your favorite flowers or animals will bring you peaceful mood and it will help you to be concentrated on pleasant thoughts. Buy some nice pens, pencils and other stationery and you will feel the difference and motivation to do something with these cute things.
3. Eat only healthy and wholesome food
“We literally are what we eat”, says chief editor at Pro-Papers. If you feel stressed, instead of reaching a pack of biscuits or the nearest fast-food chain restaurant, try to eat something healthy and it will help you manage the stress.
For example, avocado and bananas are loaded with potassium, a vital mineral which can keep blood pressure within normal parameters. Feeling low? Eat some almonds, pistachios or walnuts and your immune system will be boosted by vitamins and zinc!
4. Sleep well, at least 8 hours per night
Lack of sleep can cause bad mood, concentration problems and a general severe fatigue. It also affects our ability to perceive and memorize information, which can cause a strong stress when you have to learn a lot. If you have good sleep, it increases your attention, self-confidence, memory, social skills, and appetite. Use a weighted blanket in order to reduce stress and anxiety.
5. Think of your new hobbies
Do you know the best way to put an end to all the stressful situations? Knitting and painting increases the activity of the prefrontal cortex and improve your creativity skills. Scientists have found that gardening improves mental health and physical health, as well as reduced levels of depression.
Cooking is a rather meditative exercise and a great way to deal with stress. Everything that you need to do — is to find your own hobby and get the benefits from it!
Music not only affects our mood, but also inspires, relieves stress, calms and even heals. Gentle music with a harmonic tune will help reduce the level of the stress hormone cortisol, which causes damage to our mind and body. Just turn on the new album of your favorite band and start relaxing after nervous day at college.
7. Go to shopping
Sometimes all we need to feel happy is a new dress or new sneakers, isn’t it? According to psychologists, shopping is one of the most effective ways to help relieve depression.
The main thing is not to get nervous about some little things. It’s undeniable that these little things cause a serious stressful condition which is too destructive for our nervous system and mental health. Avoid contact with people who are sources of negative emotions, thoughts, moods. If you think, “I will never finish on time,” stop thinking that way. Better imagine your success — visualize how you will feel, shaking the hand of your professor, how he says that you have done a great and important job.
Your hard work will pay off as soon as you leave the tears and regrets behind you. Do not accumulate anger and negative, make a decision, shake off the burden of negative emotions and go on. When you arrange your priorities properly, you will become more organized and have your stress relieved by focusing more on your success. Only then, you are likely to become a confident student for whom studying is just a piece of cake.
Going green is no longer just a fad, as it’s become a way of life for many. So, when it comes to making your home green, there are plenty of ways to go about it. Below are easy ways to make your home eco-friendlier.
How to Finance Going Green
Going green may help the environment and keep climate change at bay, but it’s not exactly free. The cost of the project depends on how you go about things. You generally don’t have to spend too much for small things, like DIY projects and reusing products. But if you plan on doing something more extravagant such as the aforementioned solar panels, you might not have enough to afford it.
You can easily acquire the funding you need by looking to personal loans. This is a loan you can use finance pretty much anything you need. Despite having the freedom to fund anything you need; however, you need to have a good credit score before applying. This is what ultimately determines how much you’re eligible to receive.
Go Solar
Solar panels are one of the most common renewable energy sources, and a great way to heat your home, save money, and protect the environment. They come in a variety of styles and sizes. They can also accommodate most types of homes, making them more accessible than ever before.
Photovoltaic models are the most popular, however, they can also be costly. That’s why you need a strategy that works with your budget.
Swap Out Your Cleaning Products
As much as you love the smell of a clean home, the products can be harmful to the ozone layer. Thankfully, there are plenty of non-toxic options you can use. Instead of traditional glass cleaner, you can use white vinegar.
Alternatively, instead of using abrasive bleach products to clean your tub and sinks, you can use baking soda. Both products are safe for the environment and your plumbing fixtures.
Build a Rain Garden
Rain gardens are the perfect way to keep your lawn lush and also preserve water. In a nutshell, a rain garden utilizes water from lindab guttering to nurture your lawn from within. There’s plenty of DIY instructions online, making it a fun weekend project.
Create a Compost Pile
It might look like garbage to you, but your leftover veggie peels and orange rinds are just what your garden needs to grow. In addition to vegetable and fruit scraps, you can also use grass clippings to enrich your soil.
Keep in mind that meat bones and oils aren’t good for the earth, so be sure to dispose of these properly in a sealed trash can to keep your pets and other wildlife safe.
Choose Eco-Friendly Paint
When it comes time to repaint, look for environmentally safe paints. Paint can contain VOCs, which release harmful chemicals into the air. Look for ones that are clearly labeled low or with zero volatile organic compounds.
Buy Native Plants and Shrubs
Native plants are ones that grow naturally without the help of humans. They don’t require fertilizer, which means they require less maintenance and are also less hazardous to your pets and other wildlife. They also require less water, which means less water is used overall.
Repurpose
Remember the days when you would load up on plastic bags at the grocery store, come home and then throw them out? Unfortunately, a large percentage of these ended up in a landfill for years, if not forever. Even if you recycle, you should try to use less plastic overall.
If you do opt for plastic, find ways to reuse it. Plastic grocery bags can be used for trash liners, and plastic storage bags can be washed in the dishwasher and used again.
Are you on the fence about making the change from leather shoes to vegan ones? Or, perhaps you’re not entirely sure what vegan shoes are? If you’re looking for more reasons or maybe a compelling reason why you should switch, you’re in the right place.
To start off, anything vegan means that no animals were harmed in the making of the product. In this case, no animal products are used in the making of vegan shoes. And it doesn’t have to mean that you’re a vegetarian by nature to buy them. If you care for the environment, you should give them a try.
Below are the benefits you get from buying vegan shoes:
1. Zero Animal Cruelty
Perhaps the number one reason why people buy vegan products is that no animals are involved in making the items. No animal skin or animal glue was used in manufacturing.
The same cannot be said of leather shoes produced from cows, goats, sheep, and pigskin products. The method of harvesting the animal skin is also not so kind to animals.
On the other hand, shoes from veggie sites such as Topveganchoice.com are made from plants and fungi. Choosing plant-based items is saying no to animal cruelty and exploitation.
2. Environmentally Friendly
Its common knowledge that leather production is a big harm to the environment. To start with, animal farming itself causes a lot of pollution, besides leaving a large carbon footprint. Leather processing makes the situation even worse. To add insult to injury, if the manufacturer is careless enough to release the dyes into water bodies near the factory, the full cycle of pollution has been completed.
Vegan fashion has a very minute carbon footprint. In addition, no chemicals are used in creating plant-based leather, and you can live sustainably with no harm caused to the environment.
3. More Affordable
Let’s be honest, dress shoes can be expensive for both men and women. A vegan pair? Super affordable. Here’s why the price is lower:
Leather raw materials come from traditionally farmed animals, which means costs were used in farming. Plus, skin processing has many procedures – an added cost to the final product.
On the other hand, vegan shoes have a lower cost of production. Also, the manufacturing steps of plant-based items are fewer, translating to low and affordable items.
4. They Last Longer
While leather lasts, it doesn’t stand the test of time when subjected to weather extremities. But plant-based shoes do.
Some materials for making these items include bio-based polyurethane, recycled rubber, hemp, corks, and Goretex. The processing of these products is also dedicated to making a final product that is sturdy and long-lasting.
Leather may look good when you buy it, but give it a few months, and you won’t recognize the shoe you once fell in love with. Remember, they do not react well to the environment and will wrinkle and warp when exposed to weather extremities.
Unlike leather, plant-based items won’t crease or warp when exposed to water. They look a lot better a few years down the line.
5. Fashionable
The truth is that fashion is environmentally unsustainable most of the time. Once a piece of clothing is no longer fashionable, the item is thrown away.
But plant-based fashion is taking a different path. Designers are hopping on the sustainability bandwagon and the result is timeless fashionable vegan products.
The trend can be seen already in big stores offering plant-based products. Plant-based products will soon become the new normal as the world attempts to reverse the effects of global warming.
Conclusion
As you can see, there is no end to the list of benefits of vegan shoes. If you care about animals and about the rapidly increasing global warming, you have every reason to try these amazing shoes.
With modern life being so hectic and demanding, it’s easy to forget that there’s an alternative. Going green can relieve a lot of the pressure on you in terms of environmental concerns, but it can also be a more relaxing and rewarding way to live. Many people think that in order to make the transition to a more green lifestyle, you need to spend more, but that just doesn’t have to be the case. If you’re savvy with your spending, you can go green without breaking the bank. Here are 10 tips for going green on a budget.
1. Make use of any cash available to you
First and foremost, you need to make sure that whatever sources of income are available to you are in use. That means any income you’re getting, any cheques or back payments you’re owed, and any debts you can call in should all be present and accounted for in your bank balance. External financial aid can also be a good way to shore up some money; even £500 loans can help with the costs associated with going green if you’re struggling for a little cash.
2. Cut down on your meat
Meat can be incredibly expensive, especially if you buy the high-quality stuff (which you should if you’re conscious of your health). You can swap meat and animal protein for plant-based alternatives, which will save you a significant amount of money both in the short- and long-term. Beans, chickpeas, and other pulses can all be readily used in place of animal proteins, and they’re often better for you as well, especially if you find that you consume a lot of red meat.
3. Ditch your car
There’s a growing school of thought that says you should ditch your car and cycle as much as you can instead. Of course, if you have a lengthy commute, this may not be possible, but you could always cycle to the train station and hop on a train with your bike (assuming this is allowed, of course). By taking public transport or walking to your destination wherever possible, you’ll be saving on costs, looking after the environment, and improving your physical health, too.
4. Cook more meals at home
By swapping your takeaway meal for a home-cooked alternative, you’ll be saving more money than you might think. Buying the ingredients and spices to make your favourite meals is almost invariably cheaper than buying the meals pre-made, whether that’s as a takeaway meal or as a ready meal from a supermarket. Cooking has also been proven to boost mental health, so start planning some plant-based meals today. You won’t believe how cheap they can be!
5. Stop buying water bottles
Bottled water is one of the biggest contributors to plastic pollution in the world. You don’t need to continuously buy bottled water; instead, try buying a single plastic bottle and re-using it, or better yet, buy yourself a reusable bottle specifically made for the purpose. The environment will thank you, and so will your wallet; bottled water can actually be pretty expensive, especially if you plump for the big brands. Fill up on tapwater instead; you won’t regret it!
6. Go paperless
This one shouldn’t cost you a penny; many companies will, in fact, incentivise you for doing this (or disincentivise you for not doing it). Ditch paper wherever possible in your life. Go paperless with your bank statements and any other bills you receive on a regular basis. Don’t ask for a receipt unless you absolutely need one, and if you do, ask for it to be emailed to you rather than sent on paper. There are plenty of places you can ditch paper in your life, and it won’t cost anything.
7. Drop the tumble dryer and the AC
Many electronic devices in your home could be taking up monstrous amounts of electricity, thus using power you don’t really need. Instead of a tumble dryer, try drying your clothes on a drying rack. While this is common behaviour in the UK, there are still many people who prefer to dry with a tumble dryer, so try it without. Similarly, unless you’re absolutely baking hot in the warm weather, try living without your AC for a while; you’ll save money on electricity this way!
8. Buy as much as you can second-hand
A lot of the goods we buy can be bought second-hand, reducing the cost massively. Doing this is also kinder to the environment, as you’re reusing something that someone else has already recycled. Cars, musical equipment, entertainment (like video games), and clothes are all great examples of things you can buy second-hand, and we’re sure that there are plenty of other specific examples in your life. The next time you’re out shopping, ask yourself if you really need to buy what you’re buying new.
9. Sell things you don’t need
When you go green, you’ll probably find that there are appliances or other items that you used to rely on but no longer need. You can and should sell these things, because you’ll make a little extra cash and also send the item to someone who actually needs it. Don’t just leave it lying around your home accumulating dust, and don’t throw it away; instead, sell it, and if you absolutely can’t sell it, make sure you responsibly recycle it. You’ll almost always find someone who has a use for your old stuff, though!
10. Add timers to your heating and hot water
Think about the times during the day when you’re most in need of your heating or hot water. There are going to be moments when you don’t really need these things to be on, but they’ll be on anyway, draining resources unnecessarily. If you can, install a thermostat that can be programmed, so you can tell your system when to switch on the hot water and the heating.
European residents must do their part to protect the environment, just like all other global citizens. Climate change is real, and thousands of scientists continue sounding the alarm that we need to change our ways. Future generations may have to deal with all kinds of shortages if we can’t figure out methods to reduce our wasteful tendencies.
We’ll talk about a few things the average European citizen can do to help the environment right now. Most of these actions won’t require that much behavior modification, and you can feel good when you do them.
When you buy household cleaning products, check the labels to ensure they don’t contain anything that harms the planet. You can find household cleaners that specifically say they won’t cause damage when you use or dispose of them.
Rather than dumping potentially harmful chemicals down the drain or somewhere outside, you can often contact your town or city’s government and locate waste disposal centers that will take them and deal with them. You might collect all the leftover chemicals and receptacles you have and take them there once a month or so.
Bike to Work or Take Public Transportation
If you can, take public transportation to work, when you need to go to the grocery store, or if you have another errand to run. If you don’t live somewhere with buses or trains nearby, then you can ride a bike to reach the places where you need to go.
You might have to take your car somewhere occasionally, such as if you’re picking up something that’s too large to carry with you on a bike or to take on a train or bus. If you can reduce the number of times you drive, though, every time you save yourself a trip, you are helping the planet.
If you bike or walk somewhere, you’re also getting in some much-needed exercise. Many of us live much more sedentary lives these days, so walking or biking helps you get your steps in and burns some calories. That can save you money you’d spend by joining a gym.
Purchase an Electric or Hybrid Vehicle
Every year, more hybrid and electric vehicles come out as well. If you can get one of those instead of one that runs exclusively on gas, that’s very helpful to the environment.
If you have a gas-running car, you can trade it in, which will lower an electric or hybrid vehicle’s cost.
You can also buy a used or certified pre-owned electric or hybrid car. That should save you some money if you can’t afford a brand-new one.
Every year, European nations continue building more electric charging stations to help with this transition. The switch can’t happen instantaneously, but if you can join this gradual movement, you’ll know you’re taking a concrete step toward reducing your carbon footprint. That will reduce foreign oil dependency as well.
Use Long-Lasting Lightbulbs
When you go shopping, you can look for long-lasting lightbulbs instead of the old-fashioned models. It might not seem like that will make much of a difference, but an energy-efficient lightbulb can last far longer than the traditional kind.
Buying the energy-efficient kind with the coils will save you money since you will not have to replace them as often. You can usually count on these bulbs to last you for several years rather than a few months like you would get with the old-fashioned, solid version. Also, since you have to throw fewer of them away, they make less trash in landfills.
Shop Wisely
You can get in the habit of bringing cloth bags with you when you go grocery shopping or shopping for small items. You can reuse those bags again and again.
You can keep those bags in the car with you if you go run some errands. If you happen to forget the bags, you can also ask for paper bags in stores instead of plastic ones. Many stores no longer carry plastic bags anyway, but you can insist on paper ones when you buy things in the stores that do.
These small actions can help conserve our resources, and you can set a good example for your friends, neighbors, and kids as well.
By 2075, the United Nations estimates the global population will peak at 9.5 billion, an extra 3 billion mouths to feed by the end of the century. Meanwhile, while we produce about four billion tonnes of food annually, it is estimated that 30-50% of this never reaches our plates. Of the food that does reach us, some western societies throw away up to a third of all food purchased. This has enormous implications for the global environment, from wasting the water used to grow the food to adverse effects on climate, land and biodiversity.
The drivers behind the phenomenal levels of food waste are complex and include public behavior, food pricing, logistical and storage issues. However, given the significant level of waste that happens within the households of societies like the UK and US, it is useful and informative to consider those behaviours that drive this level of waste.
The quality of data around food waste, as with much of waste data, has historically been poor. To this end, WRAP commissioned groundbreaking research in the UK in 2006/7 to act as a baseline to their Love Food Hate Waste campaign. This came up with the alarming statistic that 1/3 of food bought by a UK household was thrown away. Until this time, there had been no comprehensive research, either by food manufacturers, retailers or interest groups, suggesting the importance of government, or some other dis-interested party, taking a lead on the issue.
Back to Basics
There may be a link between the amount of time spent preparing food, and the skill and effort that goes into this, and the amount of food waste produced. This has led to a loss of confidence in the kitchen, with individuals losing basic skills that allow them to cook with leftovers, understand food labeling, including Best Before and Use By, even basic storing. WRAP had found little evidence of best practice storage advice so carried out the research themselves – leading the (surprising for many) conclusion that fruit such as apples and pears are best stored in the fridge wrapped in a plastic cover.
However, this has masked a larger trend of less time spent in the kitchen, due to demographic changes. This of course begs the question – how should we use this when trying to reduce food waste? Should we encourage people to cook from scratch as a principle?
Although waste prevention and recycling are clearly separated within the waste hierarchy, there are apparent links between the two when considering food waste. There is an urgent need for legislation to enforce separate food waste collections, not only to ensure it was diverted to anaerobic digestion or composting, but also as it led to greater self awareness around food waste. WRAP research has clearly showed a fall in food waste when separate food waste collections were introduced.
Role of Packaging
Historically, packaging has always been a high priority to the public when asked about priorities for reducing waste. However, as awareness of food waste has grown, a more nuanced position has developed among waste managers. While excess packaging is clearly undesirable, and, within the UK for instance, the Courtauld Commitment has helped reduced grocery packaging by 2.9 million tonnes of waste so far, there is a realization of the importance of food packaging in preserving food and hence reducing food waste.
Making food easily accessible and affordable by many, it could be argued, is one of the crowning achievements of our age. Over the last century, the proportion of household income that is spent on food has plummeted, and there is a direct link to malnutrition and food prices, particularly for children. But does cheap food mean that it is less valued and hence greater wastage? Is the answer expensive food? The evidence from WRAP in the UK is that food waste is still a serious economic issue for households, and underlining the economic case for reducing food waste a major incentive for households, especially as food prices are not entering an era of increase and instability, providing added economic urgency
Political Persuasions
Different political persuasions often differ in the approaches they take to changing behaviours and food waste is no different. In the UK, the Courtauld Commitment is a voluntary agreement aimed at encouraging major retailers to take responsibility mainly for packaging, later growing to encompass food waste, voluntary and so far has seen a 21% reduction in food waste post-consumer.
Meanwhile Wales (in the UK) effectively banned food waste from landfill. Scotland has ensured that businesses make food waste available for separate collection – again it’s only once you see it, you can manage it. Campaigns like the UK’s Love Food Hate Waste have been successful but measuring food waste prevention, as with all waste prevention, is notoriously difficult. But, people are now widely aware of food waste as an issue – we even see celebrity chefs actively talking about food waste reduction and recipes involving leftovers or food that is about to go off.
There is clearly a balance between food waste and food safety, with a commitment to reducing food waste throughout the retail and catering world, not just at home. By engaging environmental health officers to help deliver this, a potentially conflicting message can be delivered in a nuanced and balanced way. Indeed, environmental health officers in Scotland will be responsible for ensuring that Scottish food businesses present their food waste for separate collection.
Role of Communication
It is worth considering how the message should be communicated, and by whom. The community sector are more trusted by the public than government and the private sector are more effective at imparting personal, deeply held beliefs – the sort of beliefs that need to change if we are to see long term changes in attitudes towards consumption and hence waste production.
Furthermore, communications can engage wider audiences that hold an interest in reducing food waste that is perhaps not primarily environmental. The health and economic benefits of issues and behaviours that also result in food waste prevention may be the prevalent message that fits with a particular audience. So whilst the main aim of a training session might be food waste prevention, this is may not be the external message. And this has wider implications for waste prevention, and how we engage audiences around it.
Municipal authorities tasked with waste prevention will need to engage with new groups, in new ways. They will have to consider approaches previously considered to be beyond their powers to engage new audiences – should they be partnering with public health authorities with an interest in nutrition, or social housing providers that are focused on financial inclusion.
Should waste prevention even be a discipline in itself? After all, across material streams it is a motley assortment of behaviours with different drivers. Furthermore, with the knots that one can tie oneself in trying to measure waste that doesn’t get generated, – therefore doesn’t exist – should we integrate waste prevention in to other socio-economic programmes and position it as an “added benefit” to them?
Note: The article is being republished with the permission of our collaborative partner be Waste Wise.
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