Wondering what you can do to help save the planet? It may sound huge, but there are many small changes you can make to your life to save the planet.
Check out this handpicked list of 30 easy ways to make a difference. There are important changes anyone can and should make to help mitigate the effects of the many years of abuse the planet has suffered.
Use A Clothesline
You can do your clothes a huge favour and turn off the dryer. Hang the clothes outside in order to naturally dry. The material will even last longer, it will be fresher and smell great and you’ll also be saving on the power usage.
Wisely Choose Your Diapers
Choose cloth diapers wherever possible – this helps the environment and is also very kind to your baby’s skin. If you really need the convenience of a disposable diaper, you should use an environmentally friendly brand.
Always Recycle Glass
Unrecycled glass takes millions of years to decompose. You should ensure you recycle your glass. This can minimize related water pollution by about 50% and related air pollution by about 20%.
Have A Vegan Day
You do not have to surrender meat for life, but you should consider committing to one meat-free day per week. In essence, it takes about 9463.529 litres of water to make one kilogram of meat. Every hamburger coming from animals on the ex-forestry ground has also been found to destroy forests.
Do Not Pre-Heat The Oven
Unless it’s extremely important, for instance, if you’re making bread, you do not have to pre-heat your oven. You can even set it away once you’re ready to start cooking.
Do Not Pre-Rinse The Dishes
Addicted to using your dishwasher, then you should cut out pre-rinse. With the best detergent, the dishes would be very clean and you would save an average of 75 litres of water per load.
Switch Off Your Computer Overnight
When you switch off your PC each night, again you’d minimize the power usage. This will save you about £10.8 per year. It may seem like a small amount, but it would be better in your pocket than the energy company’s right?
Use Light Bulbs That Are Energy Efficient
Energy-efficient light bulbs are the simplest way to minimize the amount of power you consume in your home. This won’t just help save the planet, but would also save you money.
Launder Sensibly
For the good of the planet and your own pocket, you shouldn’t wash half loads. You should wait until you have enough to do the load and cut back the laundry in half. Moreover, you should also think of the water temperature.
Do Not Waste Napkins
We have all done this – gone to a place and taken more napkins than you needed, only to throw them away without using them. If everyone in the United Kingdom used fewer napkins each day, the current figures show that it may save enough space in landfills.
Use The Entire Paper
If you write something on a piece of paper, save the paper and use the rest of the sheet for other notes. England’s business wastes 20 million tonnes of paper each year! Essentially, you should try having a paperless business. Whenever possible print on both pages and never forget to recycle the paper.
Don’t Discard Newspapers
Always ensure you recycle all your old newspapers. About 69% of the newspapers printed in the UK are thrown away each day. Recycling once each week can help save about 500,000 trees.
When Brushing Teeth Turn Off The Tap
Every time you brush your teeth, consider turning off the tap to save 19 litres of water each day.
Choose A Shower
Opting for a shower can make lots of difference. Baths use twice the amount of water the shower uses. This doesn’t just save water, but it also saves on costs related to heating the bathwater.
Re-Consider Your Water Usage
Bottled water is important when on the go, but you should buy only one bottle and then refill from the tap or the works water cooler.
Personalize Gift-Wrapping
A gift wrap is a waste of resources and paper. Re-use tags, bows, and gift-wrap. Or be creative enough and make your gift wrap – use magazines, maps, or old newspapers.
Use Cruise Control
If your vehicle has got cruise control, then you should use it. You really paid for the cruise control alongside the vehicle anyway. This helps improve the mileage by about 15% that ultimately saves gasoline and the environment.
Plant Your Own Tree
There are many benefits to planting trees in the garden. This is great for the environment, both air and land, it can greatly shade the home and reduce air-con utilization.
Reduce Your Shower Time
Reducing your shower time will help save over 38 litres of water.
Share A Shower
Feeling a little amorous and wish to clean off with your partner? There is a high chance you feel the same. So, you should consider sharing a shower together to save water.
Buy Local Products
If possible, purchase local produce. This helps save air pollution that’s incurred by transporting goods for extended distances.
Do Errand Batches
Rather than do every errand as it happens to you, you should instead do them as a batch. This saves time and also reduces the costs of fuel.
Recycle Wire Hangers
While wire hangers are made of steel, you can’t recycle them in a normal sense; but, most dry cleaners would gladly take them off your hands for reuse.
Let Your Grocery Roam Free
Your produce doesn’t have to be confined in a plastic bag, let it roam free.
Unplug Devices To Reduce Electrical Waste
Unplugging your laptop charger or phone when not in use will help reduce electrical waste.
Shop Virtually
Ditch your motorcycle or car and shop online instead and support companies with eco packaging.
Reuse, Recycle
Instead of tossing every plastic bottle, you should repurpose the glass or plastic.
Do Not Use Plastic Bags
Plastic bags aren’t biodegradable and recyclable. These sit in the landfills where they end up infiltrating food sources and polluting the ocean.
Use e-Tickets
You don’t just save £6.5 per flight using an e-ticket, instead of the paper ones, but this saves wastage on paper.
Use Cotton Buds Made With Paper
You can purchase cotton buds with a plastic or a paper spindle. If 10% of UK household’s utilized paper-based ones, it can save more than 567811.768 litres.
References
McGrath, M. (2019, July 23). Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736
Volcovici, V. (2021, August 9). To save the planet, focus on cutting methane – U.N. climate report. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/save-planet-focus-cutting-methane-un-climate-report-2021-08-09/
How to reduce your carbon footprint. (0001, January 1). The New York Times – Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos. https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint