Someone said to me today 'you're really getting into this 'eco' thing, aren't you?'.
Well, yes. It's rather important to me. It makes me sad to think that my friend's children and grand-children will suffer because our generation didn't want to compromise on our way of life to offer them a better one. There's a plethora of articles out there predicting just when the world will become uninhabitable or when we will start to run out of things we take for granted. Mostly they're read by people who already have some awareness of these things and are probably not the ones causing the most environmental damage. I guess this article will be one of them! I hope that some of my friends will read this, but I doubt very much the ones living the least sustainable lives will click that link from my facebook page or twitter feed. (If you are one of my friends and you did click that link, I thank you and let it be known that I think the world of you and your friendship!)
I decided that to help those that perhaps haven't read my blog before or chatted about some of the changes in my own life, I'd compile a little list of ideas that you could start adopting in everyday life. Everyone knows that building an eco-house or only eating your own home-grown organic food is great for the environment, but lets face it - the majority of people aren't able to do this! It doesn't mean you can't do your bit though. There are many ways you can slowly start living a life with less impact and start improving the fortunes of our future world. If we all do a little bit, maybe just one change to our habits a month, we can give our descendants a fighting chance of a good life.
This list is in no particular order. Some have more immediate results than others, while some require more effort on our part than others. The way I look at it, if you're doing none of them at the minute, then any change is going to help and inspire others to do likewise.
- Saving energy around the house and at work. Start switching off appliances at the wall. Turning off lights and portable heaters when you're not in the room. If you can do something manually, then don't use an appliance for it!
- Start eliminating plastics. Buy goods or food loose where possible and favour stalls and shops that use paper bags or allow you to take your own. Natural packaging tends to be more sustainable and easier to recycle. Paper, fabric or glass are preferable to plastic! When you need to replace a plastic item because it's worn out or broken, see if you can replace it with one crafted in a sustainable material. Typing the work 'eco' or 'sustainable' in front of a word often helps find things on the internet!
- Avoid processed food. If you have time one day, take a look at some of the things in your food cupboard. Have a look at the ingredients and ask yourself if you really know what all those additives and unpronounceable ingredients really are. Every time you buy one of those branded, processed foods you're giving big manufacturers power to control your health as well as your purse strings. If you don't have time to cook fresh every day, then be prepared to have the same meal a few days in a row and batch cook. It'll save you money and you'll know exactly what you're eating. If you can't do this all the time, then try changing your habits gradually.
- Don't support companies that offer free toys and gimmicks. All those free-bees have to be manufactured and are completely unnecessary. If a company has to bribe customers with the offer of free toys, then they obviously don't get enough custom by way of superior customer service or value for money. It also shows that the company concerned doesn't care for the environment, as it's willing to manufacture unnecessary products to increase their own profits.
- Buy vintage or pre-owned. Every time you buy something new it has to be manufactured somewhere in the world. A factory is spewing out pollution and natural resources are being used, all because someone somewhere has a fancy for something 'new'. Naturally there will always be some level of manufacturing necessary, but all too often people buy new when they don't really need to. Clothes, furniture, household items and gifts - all can be bought second-hand. The damage caused by these things has already happened and can't be undone, so use them until they can no longer serve a purpose (then try to upcycle them into something new!!)
- Like modern style and can't cope with vintage? Buy handmade!. If you can afford it, you can easily support small, local and sustainable businesses by buying items that are handmade. A quick search on the internet and you'll find many gifts and homeware items that are natural and eco-friendly. Buying from local fairs also means that you can reduce travelling distances, and therefore the need to have pollution causing planes, cargo carriers and lorries bringing them across the world to your door.
- Be happy with who you are. That's right. If you're reading this and wanting to do something amazing for future generations, then you're a wonderful human being! You don't need validation from anyone else, so stop worrying about what others think of you. Keeping up with trends and following fashions stops us being individuals; being an individual means you can wear your charity-shop bargains with pride, display our homemade creations for all to see and get on with enjoying the natural world in all it's glory. Lose the plastic nails, fake tan and oh-so obvious 'status' symbols. The real you doesn't need them. If you can make your home clean, safe and comfortable then you have everything you need to be happy. We're not celebrities, no one cares if our shoes are last season. Seriously, no-one! If you're friends don't want to be friends with you if you're not 'on trend', then they're not friends and they'll probably not even be in your life a few years from now. If they care about you they'll accept you, even if they think this 'eco-friendly thing' is a bit weird!
- Go meat-free. Surely the most contentious item on the list! Easy for me to say, but with population reaching crisis numbers, an omnivorous diet simply isn't sustainable. Regardless of your view on animal rights, the meat and dairy industry contributes MASSIVELY to global environmental problems. If you're interested in how, then I suggest you search out the 'Cowspiracy' documentary and check out the facts and figures. These days living on a plant based diet is easier than ever before. We have dairy free cheeses, milks, puddings, chocolates, protein filled meat substitutes and an alternative to most things you could want for a 'normal' diet. You can even get fake egg for baking and hundreds of internet pages telling exactly where your protein will come from! Follow this blog for weekly vegan recipes!
- Make your own if you can. With a little bit of looking, you can find DIY, all natural recipes for everything from household cleaners to face-creams! Pinterest is a treasure trove of excellent ideas!
- Lower your expectations. Modern life is full of instances where we expect things to be instant, easy or affordable. Sometimes things are worth waiting for or doing without entirely. Look at things and ask 'do I want this or do I need this?' Life is just as good when things are waited for, saved for or worked for.
- Do something for nature.Biodiversity is vital to our planets existence. Every living thing contributes something to our world, whether it's the way it lives or the food chain it's part of. Whether your house has three acres or a single window box, you can do something to help wildlife. Ditch the chemicals and go organic. Don't be so precious about your lawn and don't be offended if a nettle appears in your patch, embrace your weeds for they are loved by bees and vital pollinators. Gardens aren't for show, they're living spaces where things thrive and survive. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it has to die! Let it be and get on with your day. You'll soon find that a natural balance appears and suddenly your garden is beautiful anyway. If your neighbours complain at your weedy plot tell them you're doing it for nature and to mind their own business! Consider putting up a bird feeder, sowing some wild seeds or making an insect hotel!
- Think about your actions. While carrying out an ordinary routine, take a moment to think about the suggestions above and decide the impacts your actions are having. Are you using something that requires manufacture and when you're done with it can it be recycled?
- Find out what your environmental footprint is. Using the WWF footprint calculator you can gauge how you're doing in general. It's not an exact science, but you can get a rough idea about how sustainable your lifestyle is. I thought I lived a fairly sustainable life, but I found out that if everyone lived as I do we'd still need 1.49 planets to meet demand! I still have some way to go, even after all these changes I've adopted.
- Teach your kids not to be wasteful and appreciate what they've got. They are the ones in whose lifetime the natural resources will start to run dry. If you bring them up to follow a few of these suggestions their lives will surely be easier in the future and they won't have to make such big changes to their life somewhere down the line.
- Start buying things which can be re-used instead of being disposed of after a single use. There are alternatives you wouldn't eve consider out there. Ladies, did you know that there are re-useable sanitary products for that time of the month? and what do you think babies wore before disposable nappies? Yes, it all requires a little more effort, but take a moment to think about how many used items end up in landfill (or worse, our oceans) every year?!? If you have, or are having a baby, have a little read of this article and consider a re-usable alternative.After all, it's their future we're all working to protect.
- Chose the natural world over commercial entertainment. Leave the shops, theme parks and artificial amusements behind and start exploring what Mother Nature has to offer. Get out in the fresh air and start exploring. Many organizations have activities to introduce all generations to the natural world, so check out your nearest National Trust, RSPB or local nature reserve has to offer this summer!
There are many other ways of doing your bit and these are just a few of the considerations I've made on my personal journey so far. I'm sure I will share more thoughts in the future. By far the easiest thing you can do is keep an open mind and start paying attention to the decisions you make.
Every single thing we do has an environmental impact. It's up to you whether they are positive or negative impacts. Only you can be brave enough to turn the negative ones into positive one, so please share this post with your friends and start making a difference today!
The internet is cram-packed with articles on all manner of environmental concerns. Some are warnings of impending doom and some make fun of those trying to make a difference against such hopeless odds of success. Here are a few I've read in the last few months that are worth a little look :
