Saving the environment is no easy feat, but like how the ripple effect maxim goes, small differences really do help. Here are 10 lifestyle changes you could easily make in order to decrease your carbon footprint.
Recycle, Reuse, Reinvent
The energy it takes to take a crumbled piece of paper or a sprite can and put it in the correct bin is virtually nonexistent. If there is no said container in the building or facility, just put it in your bag until you reach home, or so you can make a bigger difference, make a request to someone who works there that there be one. Recycling and using recyclable materials stops pollution and lessens the size of landfills. Also to reinvent is to create a project (like the art exhibit pictured above) that uses something most people deem as garbage and create something beautiful or inspirational.
Become A VSCO Girl
Despite the cringiness of this step, and the fact that it's just a meme, there are things to be learned from these preppy 16 year old hipsters. Carrying a hydroflask or a similar container around really does prevent plastic waste (and you cannot reuse water bottles too many times because eventually the plastic will liquefy in the heat and will make its way into your digestive track), and how is saving the turtles not a worthy cause? Sea turtles are endangered and often choke on plastic straws because of ignorant people who don't follow Step #1, so carrying metal straws just in case is actually really admirable.
Plant Trees!
Since deforestation has been scarring the fabric of the earth, we have less and less trees every day (insert statistic). Ways to do this besides getting dirty in the soil and planting a tree yourself are to support causes that do this. A free and sweetly simple way to accomplish this without even leaving your computer is to start using the search website ecosia.org instead of google and make it the main site for your browser. For every 50 things you search, the website collects enough funding for 1 tree to be planted by a farmer in an impoverished nation who is planting trees to restore the forests of their land. So not only are you helping to increase the oxygen amount of the globe, you are making a direct difference in someone's life.
Make Your Voice Heard, Sign Petitions, And Strike!
Share everything you know about the impending disaster (the Holocene extinction) with your friends. Don't sweep this problem under the rug, because it will effect you in your middle age, your children, and your grandchildren, if that can even come to pass with the situation becoming more and more dire. Stand up to your governors, senators, and mayors. Suggest things that you see are problems, like the easily avoidable travesty of recyclables going into the garbage bin and ask for stricter laws about that,for instance. Be persistent. Sign petitions and don't forget to share them with all of your friends, peers and associates. Peaceful protesting can also be helpful. Greta Thunberg, a Swedish advocate and nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize is famous for her understanding about the extinction crisis, who is passionate and articulate enough to make a speech on Ted Talk and earn audiences with global leaders, came up with the idea of striking against her parliament. She has led several other school-aged adolescents and young adults into doing the same. There are now "Fridays for Future" in America that you can join to make a difference. Come with a sign and with zeal and don't let lawmakers forget that they are literally killing the planet by sitting in their comfortable armchairs doing exactly nothing about it.
Use Gas-Guzzling Machines Less
Drive your car less. Public transportation is much cheaper than using your gas guzzling machine. If you love driving, invest in a car that uses less fossil fuels, like a hybrid or solar powered car. They may be expensive at first but the savings from being able to get almost twice the mileage without stopping for gas definitely add up and make you richer.
Eat Less Meat and Dairy
Make changes in your diet. While you do not have to feel pressured to fully go vegetarian or vegan, it is good to eat less meat in general. Particularly try to give up beef if you are willing, because the methane gas produced by cows was proven to contribute to the hole in the ozone layer and is a very harmful form of pollution. Try to make certain days of the week vegetarian or vegan days where you do not eat meat or animal products at all. This is also good if you have already decided to "go vegan" but want to do it gradually. Buy fruits and vegetables more locally, as this ensures that they are on farms without pesticides and truly fresh. Not only is this environmentally friendly, since you are supporting small farmers and not the big corporations that destroy acres of land to build their farm, it's also much better for you as it ensures the food is organic and wholesome (it is usually way tastier too). Additionally, you are not supporting the agony that factory farmers cause to the animals they hold hostage and eventually murder with the tiny cages and unthinkable, gut wrenching living conditions.
Pretend there is a Power Outage or that You are Amish for a Day
Experiment in how it must be to live like someone from an earlier time period who did not have electricity, in any way possible. If it is sunny out open the blinds and do not waste electricity. Practice turning off lights in the house in rooms you are not in (simple, kid stuff). If you want to get real hardcore, sacrifice your comforts for a whole day~ most people wait till Earth Day (April 22) to self sacrifice for the betterment of the Earth like this, but I say give it a try once a month~ and use candles, turn off the AC/heat, do not shower, etc. It'll surely make you more grateful and appreciative for your first world comforts after it is done, and be a blessing for your or your parents' pockets when it is time to pay the electrical bills.
