Do you know that a small change in your lifestyle choices can save our planet from becoming uninhabitable? A minimal change in the way we buy, eat, drink, and produce waste can play a critical role in saving our planet from impending existential threats such as climate change and plastic pollution.
To make sustainable living easy for everyone, here are seven simple tips for a happier and greener life.
Grow a plant
Forests are called the “lungs of the planet” because they consume carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. They help in keeping the environment clean and fresh for all living beings. Unfortunately, the area of the forest is shrinking due to unsustainable deforestation. This is increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which in turn is causing global warming. What is the first, yet long lasting step you can take to save our planet? The answer is simple: Plant a tree.
Adopt a minimalist lifestyle
Why buy more when you can live a better life with little. If you look at the things in our lives, we use most of the things that are unnecessary. Every year, we spend millions of dollars on unnecessary purchases. We don’t need to have a wardrobe full of clothes when we can live comfortably with a few pairs of dresses. One of the best ways to live a sustainable life is by only buying the things that are absolutely necessary.
Avoid single-use plastic
Plastic is everywhere. Whether you go to Mount Everest or deep into the ocean, you will find plastic lingering there. Every plastic good that has been made at any point in time is somewhere in this world, haunting the future of our planet. It takes millions of years for plastic to decay. This is creating serious trouble, particularly in the oceans. Every year, 8 million metric tonnes of plastic are added to the oceans, and it is killing marine life (World Economic Forum). One of the most important environmentally friendly lifestyle tips to save the ocean is to replace single-use plastic with recyclable plastic and use other sustainable materials.
Use reusable items
Have you ever thought about where all the waste goes that we produce every day? It goes into the landfills. The sad part of this waste story is that the landfills around the world are filling up. They are dangerous for the environment. Due to extreme pressure and temperature, the chemicals from the waste buried in the landfill reach underground water and contaminate it with harmful chemicals. These dangerous chemicals also seep into the oceans endangering aquatic life. There is a dire need to reduce this waste to achieve minimal waste levels, ultimately leading to zero waste. You can simply contribute to reducing waste by using reusable items. A small change in your lifestyle can have a huge impact on saving the planet. Switch to reusable water bottles such as Frosty Glass Water Bottles manufactured by Diagonal Horizon replacing traditional plastic water bottles.
Reduce your energy consumption
How many times do you leave your room without switching off the lights, AC, fan, and other electrical appliances? This wastes a lot of energy resources. Similarly, other household electrical appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, and hoovers consume a lot of energy when they are produced and used. While buying these appliances, make sure that they are energy efficient, don’t use them unnecessarily, and if possible, use them on a sharing basis to save energy. You can adopt a sustainable lifestyle by switching off all the electrical appliances when you leave your room.
Turn off the tap
This is the simplest sustainable lifestyle tip that you can adopt to save the planet. Although 80% of the earth is covered with water; drinkable water is running out. Millions of people around the world don’t have access to clean water. While brushing teeth, washing face, and cleaning dishes, we keep the water tap open, which wastes a lot of water. The easiest sustainable lifestyle tip is to turn off the tap when you are not actively using it.
Save food
Food waste is a big problem. The World Bank says that approximately 30 to 35% of the food produced is never eaten. They go to waste. On the other hand, more than 8 million people sleep without food every day. This is heartbreaking. We can adopt a sustainable lifestyle to reduce this wastage of food by buying only the amount of food that we can eat. Secondly, we can also share the extra food with food banks so they can distribute it among those who need it the most.
Are you doing some of these things to save the planet? If not, adopting the above discussed sustainable lifestyle tips will not only assist you in doing your part in saving the planet but also will enrich your life in a sustainable way. Reducing the waste and making the world a better place to live is only possible if all of us make small changes in the way we work, eat, drink, and live.