5 (Easy) Ways To Be Sustainable
I don’t know about you, but I always felt like it was impossible to make a sustainable impact by myself. How could one person make any difference at all in helping the environment?
Well, the truth is that it is hard for one person to make a huge impact — unless they have their own plane and fly out to Paris for escargot every weekend. In that case, all they’d have to do to be more sustainable is…well, stop flying to Paris every weekend.
But for us regular folks, a positive difference can be made collectively.
These 5 small changes will not be a burden to you, and I know this because I have easily made these changes myself:
1. Wash Clothes In Cold Water
When you use the “Cold Water” or “Eco-Friendly” setting on your washing machine, you save up to 90% of electricity that would have been used to heat up the water. I promise your clothes will be as clean as if you used hot water!
2. Eat Less Meat
I know, I know. BACON. How can you possibly stay away?
Well, I’m not asking you to become a vegetarian or even close to that. But reducing your meat intake can be really beneficial for the planet (and your health!)
Even if you decide to skip out on eating meat one day a week, you can make a huge difference!
Skipping a single quarter-pound hamburger can save more than 400 gallons of water and the energy it takes to power a smartphone for six months. Do it every week for a year, and the greenhouse-gas savings are equivalent to biking 1,000 miles instead of driving. (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-09-22/meatless-mondays-small-diet-changes-have-big-climate-effects)
3. Buy A Reusable Water Bottle
Ditch those plastic water bottles! Americans throw away up to 50 billion plastic water bottles a YEAR. That’s way too much plastic that cannot all be recycled or reused.
Instead, buy a reusable water bottle! It’s such an easy change to make that will also end up saving you money since you won’t have to keep buying water bottles.
4. Recycle/Reuse
This is a pretty obvious one, but I’ve seen a lot of people avoid this easy lifestyle change.
You start off “Reduce-Reuse-Recycle” by avoiding wasteful purchases in the first place (reduce). For example, instead of using plastic or paper bags for your groceries that will just be thrown away later, purchase a few reusable grocery bags that can be used over and over again. If you must use plastic bags, reuse them for other purposes in your house to make the most use of it before it is thrown away. And if you must use a paper bag, you can reuse it and eventually recycle it.
5. Take Shorter Showers
After a long day, I admit that sometimes I just want to stand under the hot water for the rest of the night.
But taking shorter showers is sustainable and can definitely help you save money on your electricity bill. Similar to washing clothes in hot water, hot showers use up a lot of energy which is bad for the planet.
This lifestyle change is pretty easy to make, and it can be fun too. Sometimes, I set a timer on my phone while I’m taking a shower to see if I can beat it!
Overall, these changes are really easy to make and mark a jumpstart to being a more eco-conscious person.
All I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to change your entire life to be more sustainable. A small change here and there can really help the environment if everyone does it, and doing something is better than doing nothing. You’ll probably end up feeling some health benefits and saving money, too!