When headlines loom with warnings of potential climate peril, or you hear of a problem with pollution or toxic chemicals somewhere around the world, it can feel hard to overcome and have any kind of impact.
Choosing to do something rather than nothing can be a powerful feeling of strength, especially if you’re feeling the weight of the world’s problems. Here are seven choices you can make today that will do your part to positively impact the environment. When we make small changes and sustain them long-term, we make a very positive impact.
Eat More Meatless Meals and Plan Food Strategically
Research shows that raising meat for human consumption makes a major carbon emissions impact, but there is good news. You don’t have to give up meat entirely to reduce your impact, though of course, it doesn’t hurt! By trying a few days a week without meat, substituting in plant-based proteins, you can lower the total impact per pound of food you eat as far as CO2 emissions are concerned. Also, planning just a little more carefully so that no food ends up in the rubbish bin is a way to save on emissions. Millions of pounds of food are wasted every year mostly because people didn’t know exactly how much everyone would eat at a given event or in a normal meal, and making the choice to effectively use leftovers and waste very little has a powerful impact.
Use Less Water and Reuse What You Can
Whether you run dishes less often, make sure every load of laundry is full, or take fewer and shorter showers, reducing how much water you use can be a powerful way to save the resources that are used to purify drinking water in your community. Creative individuals also focus on how they can reuse water, using things like rain barrels to save water and use it to water plants in a garden rather than using purified water for this task. Becoming aware of your water usage can sometimes be enough to consciously reduce your consumption.
Evaluate Renewable Energy Incentives and Participate
In many parts of the world, there are tax breaks and government incentives to participate in more sustainable, energy-efficient living, whether it be how electricity can come from solar panels or through high-efficiency home appliances. By noticing and choosing these programs, you save some money and also save on energy costs, long-term.
Creatively Reduce Fossil-Fuels Transportation Costs
Whether you aim to use public transportation rather than private cars or find ways to share your private car with others from your workplace or family, you can notice the next small step to reducing your CO2 emissions because of transportation. Learn more about energy-efficient means of travel, like traveling by train, and consider taking a longer “slow holiday” that has you travel efficiently rather than quickly flying places.
Avoid Single-Use Plastics
From carry-out containers to straws, plastic water bottles to bags for groceries, many of the plastic items in our lives are useful for only a few minutes before they are immediately tossed or recycled. While recycling can be a beneficial process for some items, single-use plastics are so prevalent that aiming to reduce their use is really the best way to stem the tide. Shop for reusable bags, containers, water bottles, and straws and carry them with you. The small change of carrying the things you need with you is as easy as the choice to carry one’s wallet and keys; making this change can save a variety of plastic items every day!
Use Electronics for Longer
This may seem like a pain, but electronic waste, or e-waste, contains many harmful chemicals that over time can leech out of the devices. If you can keep your phone or computer one more year rather than upgrading to the next exciting innovation, you are cutting down on the total amount of electronic waste in the world and reducing demand for rapidly-obsolete electronics. If you have the interest, consider learning how to upgrade a computer through additional components, or purchase a refurbished model that has had key elements replaced without throwing away an entire computer.
Create Small, Non-Polluting Diamonds as Memorials
Many of us want physical reminders of those we love the most, and this has been true for millennia; enormous mausoleums and monuments commemorate the amazing people that have been lost over the years.
However, in an age of reducing environmental impact, it makes sense to create small, low-energy-impact commemorations for those we care about. Turning pet or human remains into diamonds is a beautiful way to meaningfully keep a loved one close without having to invest in large-scale monuments that are expensive to upkeep and require land that must be maintained. Your Heart in Diamond jewellery is easy to ship without using excessive transportation resources. It allows you to prioritize quality and beauty, immortalizing the memory of a loved one. Even small choices, ones that don’t take away your quality of life, can have an amazing impact on the environment when we all do them together. Why not begin implementing some small changes and inviting our friends and family to join in? These small steps raise our consciousness and help us prepare the Earth for those who will come after us. These choices add meaning and purpose wh