It’s true what they say – if everyone does a little, it amounts to a lot. This is especially the case when it comes to reducing the impact we all have on the environment. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that what they do won’t make a difference – but this isn’t the case! If more of us made small changes to reduce our food waste or fuel consumption, we’d see the difference. In this article, we take a look at a few ways we can reduce the impact we have on the environment.
Always, always recycle. Seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Call2Recycle estimate that twice as many Americans recycle now in comparison with 20 years ago, but a lot of people simply don’t realise what they can and can’t recycle. This means we end up throwing away materials that should have actually been recycled. You should always check your local recycling facilities, but here’s a list of what can be reused and recycled. You might be surprised at what can be recycled!
Let’s think about how we do our weekly grocery shop. Every week, I seek out the same produce – tomatoes for a pasta sauce, bananas for breakfast, and bell peppers to drop into a stir fry. I rarely deviate from my standard produce schedule because I know what I like. But have you noticed that sometimes your fruit and veggies are just lacking flavor? That’s because when we shop for out of season produce, we end up buying vegetables that have travelled around the world to make it to our shelves and aren’t even in season. Of course that’s going to have a knock-on effect to their quality. Vox have produced a great guide to assessing different types of fruit and vegetables, so take a look before you do the next grocery shop. Buying in-season produce is so much better for the environment and they taste noticeably better, too.
It’s not just about living green day-to-day, though! We obviously don’t think about this every day, but as pointed out by Golden Charter in a recent article, the average cremation uses up around 181 litres/40 gallons of fuel. With cremations set to increase by almost a quarter by 2030, there’s no doubt that the fuel consumption will also skyrocket. However, if more of us chose eco-friendly funerals, we’ll collectively be decreasing the amount of fuel burned during cremation and stop harmful chemicals like formaldehyde from entering the earth.
Eco-friendly living doesn’t have to be difficult if you do your background research. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “well unless everyone does this, my contribution is useless”. That isn’t true! By making considered choices, even the little things we do will help.