I recently went off-the-grid to learn more about sustainability and become one with my inner tree hugger. During this excursion, I learned of some simple tasks that each of us can do in our everyday lives to preserve our environment and live more sustainably. You may think that many of these are little, meaningless tasks, but I can tell you that if everyone picked a few and put them into practice, it could spark a huge change within our culture.
Living sustainably is something that everyone can do. You — yes, you — could be the deciding factor between a future filled with lush, green landscapes and a future masked by smog and natural disasters. Here's how:
1. Use a Reusable Water Bottle
More than 22 billion plastic water bottles are tossed into landfills each year; that averages out to over 60 million per day. If you were to switch to a reusable bottle, not only would you save money, but you would also save the planet.
2. Take Shorter Showers
I hate to break it to you, but your shower should not be your personal sauna. You don’t need to stand in there for hours and soak in the steam. By cutting down your shower by four minutes, you can save over 3400 gallons of water each year.
3. Turn Off Electronics
You might unplug the cord from your phone before running out the door, but what about the cord that’s still in the socket? Although it’s not using energy to charge your phone, it’s still taking in some energy. This is called "vampire electricity" and it’s easy to fix, as long as you take the time to unplug everything when it’s not being directly used.
4. Use Tote Bags
The next time you’re buying groceries, consider splurging on the tote bags rather than using the standard plastic ones. It’s estimated that over 100 billion are thrown away each year, and the worst part? They take millions of years to decompose. The plastic bags you’re using now will likely be around even when humans aren’t.
5. Air-Dry Your Clothes
As a college kid, I sympathize with those who think this tip is a waste of time. I know it might be easier to just throw your clothes in the drier for an hour, but letting them air-dry outside or on a drying rack will save energy and make your clothes last longer.
6. Ride a Bike (or Carpool)
I understand that it is not feasible for everyone to go car-less, but you should try to cut down on automobile usage as much as possible. Cars can emit up to their own weight in carbon emissions annually, so by carpooling or using other forms of transportations such as bicycling (or maybe even unicycling), we can greatly cut down our individual carbon footprint.
7. Go thrifting!
It’s inevitable that you will outgrow clothes, either physically or stylistically. On average, each person throws out an average of 65 pounds of clothing per year. This adds up to almost 14.3 tons of clothing overall. We often throw out clothes that could be donated or given away. Donating to a thrift store, as well as shopping there, will save your wallet and the environment.
