9 ways You can reduce your environmental impact
Start small
There’s a variety of ways in today’s society to reduce your environmental impact, often its easiest starting small and reduce your carbon footprint with time. The easiest and best way to start is to stop purchasing products that cause harm to the environment.
Easier said than done right. Within our everyday shopping, simple changes can help significantly. Using products that aren’t wrapped in plastic or providing your own reusable bags is a great start. If you are keen to go one step further, check some of the products you use, your shampoo, conditioner and deodorant, all can be organic and be made from natural ingredients.
As I have specialised in deodorant and in the skincare industry, I have become aware of the impact’s deodorant can have on the environment. Starting with air pollution from the ingredients released when you spray deodorant, to the packing and transport of that product. There are even scenarios of water pollution caused from washing off products when showering, that result in unneeded chemicals in the ocean.
Switch to renewable energy
The growth of renewable energy over the last decade has been enormous and rightly so. Investment in renewable energy is at an all-time high, this is due to small business and households looking to reduce their impact on the environment.
Along with government incentives. Depending on where your living. Switching to renewable energy can be more affordable that you think and does not require a large upfront investment. Often your energy plan will allow you to switch to 50%-100% of your energy bill to renewable energy generated by the company.
This is a great way to transition over and support and carbon neutral future. Furthermore, the recent rise in electric vehicles and alternatives to traditional petrol engines is another great way to increase sustainability. Whist the affordability of these items are still on the way down, purchasing them will help achieve this.
Focus on recycling
Start focusing on recycling and ways you can even compost food scraps and things to prevent unnecessary landfill. Although what may seem like an insignificant impact, if everyone did it, change would occur dramatically. Recycling food waste into your compost has many positive environmental impacts starting with the increase in quality of soil in your garden produced from the compost.
Consider transport alternatives
This is a great way to reduce individuals’ impact on the environment Using public transport or even riding your bike is not only good for the environment but also mentally, as exercise realises endorphins in your brain that makes you happy.
I like to think of it as a bit of a win win. Whilst at times this may seem tedious or impractical, often it is cost effective. Carpooling is another great way to reduce individuals’ environmental impact and something that has been on the decline in recent years.
Start drinking tap water
Whist some cities in America have poor water quality, the vast majority the water we drink is perfectly safe. There is no excuse why you shouldn’t be drinking tap water. The amount of plastic waste from water bottles each year is massive. If tap water is something that you cannot bear the taste of, consider some type of filtration system in your kitchen. Drinking tap water saves energy that goes above just the plastic bottle you dispose of, it also reduces all the transport needs to get that bottle in the fridge and cold.
Try out shower heads that reduce water flow
This is a great way to reduce water consumption and save energy and money on your bills. Whilst water seems like a unlimited resource. The energy to get that water hot originally isn’t unlimited and therefore can have significant impact on the environment. Using shower heads that reduce water flow can seem like a large price to pay, however these shower heads better optimise the pressure of the water and therefore the noticeable difference is minimal.
Eat only what you need
This one is a tough one and very hard to judge the amount of food required when shopping especially in a large family. However rather than trying to be conscious with what you buy. It’s better to be conscious with what you throw and.
This way will give you a good indication of foods that aren’t being eaten or used as thought and will prevent the further purchase of these products. Additionally, when purchasing food, some products have significantly larger greenhouse gas emissions that others. Often products in the meat and dairy industry their negative impact on the environment is not recognised in the price of the product and still remains affordable.
Support local
Supporting local is a great way to ensure products you buy have minimal impact on the environment as they often haven’t needed to travel as far, additionally its likely the individuals producing items that are sold locally have not produced these at the cost of the environment. This cost is often not factored into items produced by large corporations and therefore they can be completive around pricing.
Try going paper free
In today’s day and age, going paper free should be something the majority of us can achieve. Cutting out items that are no longer needed from our personal and business life can have a significant impact on the environment.
Say no to plastic straws
This is a great movement that is already underway and as a result is forcing café to supply biodegradable alternatives. Saying no to plastic strays will further support this.
