This includes global warming resulting from an increase in the emission of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other causes of pollution. Global warming then refers to an overall increase in temperature around the world.
So how can we, as individuals, try to prevent our carbon footprint and live more sustainably? Below are a few tips on sustainability and better living.
- 1. Upcycle your furniture
- 2. Recycle your clothes/buy second-hand
- 3. Unplug your electronic devices when you aren't using them
- 4. Save water
- 5. Dry your clothes by hanging them instead of using a dryer
- 6. Reduce food waste
- 7. Abstain from drinking bottled water
- 8. Start composting
- 9. Walk instead of using a car
- 10. Calculate your carbon footprint
- 11. Check your gas cap
- 12. Take your own shopping bags
- 13. Plant a tree
- 14. Switch to shampoo bars
- 15. Start using a bamboo toothbrush
1. Upcycle your furniture
This can be done by recycling certain items you want to use or just repurposing your old furniture. You can also buy second-hand furniture from Charity stores to sustainably decorate your home.
2. Recycle your clothes/buy second-hand
The fast fashion industry has to be one of the most wasteful industries and the environmental cost to produce and distribute new clothing is ridiculous.
The best alternative to this is to buy second-hand clothes yourself and to recycle your own gently worn clothes by either selling them yourself or giving them over to companies or stores that sell them regularly.
3. Unplug your electronic devices when you aren’t using them
Despite the fact that your electronic device is switched off, it can still be drawing power and even more so on “sleep mode.”
4. Save water
This is one of the things we’ve been hearing since we were children but the importance of it is still very much existent.
Managing your water and paying attention to every drop allows your city to be more resilient during natural disasters, storms, and droughts and it also saves energy. If affordable, you can get a rain barrel or rain garden to collect and purify water for you.
5. Dry your clothes by hanging them instead of using a dryer
This can reduce carbon dioxide output.
6. Reduce food waste
7. Abstain from drinking bottled water
Most landfills already contain a myriad of plastic bottles and the number of oil barrels used to manufacture these bottles are alarmingly high.
Furthermore, it takes almost a thousand years for most of these bottles to biodegrade.
8. Start composting
This creates rich soil, generates energy from methane, and reduces the money spent on transporting organic waste to landfills.
The best thing about this? it can be done with any lawn clippings and food waste.
9. Walk instead of using a car
Not only is this good for your health but it also reduces pollution caused by other transportation forms.
10. Calculate your carbon footprint
This can be done online and helps you determine your own individual need to start living sustainably.
11. Check your gas cap
If this is cracked or broken, it can cause gas to leak out in the form of vapor, harming the environment.
12. Take your own shopping bags
We all know how damaging plastic is to our environment and most of this plastic comes into our homes because of shopping bags.
Instead, take your reusable shopping bags the next time you need to buy anything.
13. Plant a tree
14. Switch to shampoo bars
This avoids the plethora of unwanted and environmentally harmful plastic bottles and chemicals we usually get along with our shampoo.
15. Start using a bamboo toothbrush
Above are just 15 of the things you could do to reduce your carbon footprint as an individual. However, there are a hundred other ways to save the environment and it is all a search away.
We may not be here to witness the damage we are causing, but our future generations will. Do your part in making the world a better place for them.