3 Small Steps You Can Take Right Now towards a Greener Lifestyle
Change can be really daunting. Even if you’re willing to change some of your habits to make them more sustainable, it might seem impossible to change what you’ve been doing for years. You might be worried that changing a habit won’t make any kind of difference—the polar ice caps will just keep melting, right?
The problem with that line of reasoning is similar to the voting fallacy: if everyone thinks their vote is insignificant and refuses to vote, it defeats the purpose of voting. Sure, your single vote might not change a particular outcome, but your vote contributes to the many, and many do make a difference.
That said, moving towards a greener lifestyle means making small changes and building up habits (and sometimes breaking habits) little by little. If you’re ready to see what small steps you can start taking today, read on!
Recycling is one of the things you can do to reduce your waste. Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi
One: Reduce your waste
One of the most powerful things that we can do as individuals is to reduce our waste. Reduce, reuse, recycle. You’ve probably heard that many times, right?
Waste is a huge contributor to climate change because greenhouse gasses such as methane are released as organic and solid waste breaks down in the landfill. In addition, another environmental problem posed by waste is the matter of where it goes: is it buried in landfills, sent overseas for another country to deal with, floating around the oceans, burned off, composted, or recycled?
Only about 30% of all waste was composted or recycled in 2018, with a mere 9% of all plastics being recycled! Plastic waste is particularly dangerous because it will break down over time, but never rot or decompose. This means plastic pieces will get smaller and smaller, ending up in digestive systems (of birds, for example) or failing to be caught by treatment plants.
To be clear, and I will emphasize this many times over, industrial companies have a greater effect on global warming than any one individual, but if we want to move forward, we all need to start with small steps instead of deflecting the blame.
That said, here are a few small changes you can start making today to reduce your waste:
Recycle!
Check your local government about what can and can’t be recycled in your area. For things that can’t go in your residential recycling, you might be able to take it to municipal recycling centers that take things like batteries, used oil, mattresses, and large electronics/appliances.
Use a refillable water bottle
Refrain from buying single-use plastic bottles! Instead, use a refillable bottle and take it with you everywhere you go.
Use a reusable shopping bag
As of 2021, eight states have banned single-use plastic bags in an attempt to reduce the amount of plastic waste. Still, plastic and paper bags can put an unnecessary strain on waste management. So why not throw a reusable bag or two in the car, or carry a compact reusable bag with you at all times?
Start composting
Food waste that ends up in landfills ends up decomposing anaerobically, releasing methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gasses. To prevent food waste from filling up the landfill, you can start composting, or find a friend or organization to compost for you.
Two: Minimize your energy consumption
Reducing your household energy consumption not only reduces the load on the electric grid, but it can cut down your energy bill significantly! And who doesn’t want to save money?
There are many small things you can do right now to reduce your energy consumption, which is what I’ll be focusing on. Some additional “big ticket” items that you may want to consider are things like getting rid of that extra fridge in the garage, or swapping to “smart” electronics.
For additional advice on examining and reducing your energy use, click here.
Turn off and unplug any electronics you’re not using right now
Chances are, you have what are called “energy vampires” all throughout your house. These are electronics and appliances that drain energy even while not in use. So make sure to turn off any electronics you’re not actively using, and unplug them entirely when possible (especially before going out of town).
Plug electronics into smart power strips that will turn off when not in use
An alternative way to reduce vampire energy is to plug in major electronics or appliances into smart power strips that will automatically disable electronics when not in use.
Turn off unnecessary lights
Why waste energy on lights that aren’t actively giving you any light? Turn them off! Right now! But don’t worry, we all do it. Just try to keep it in mind and get better every day.
Change your light bulbs to LED
If it’s time to replace a lightbulb (or perhaps many), consider switching to LED if you haven’t already. On average, LED light bulbs use 75% less energy than their incandescent counterparts, plus they last longer! In the long run they will save you a lot of money. Not to mention, they don’t get hot, so they’re less of a fire hazard, too.
Three: Change up your commute
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we all observed an initial reduction in transportation and traffic, but it didn’t last long. Plus, in places like New York, many people actually switched from using public transportation to using personal vehicles.
Nevertheless, statistics show that the energy consumption in the transportation sector was slightly less in 2020 than previous years; about 26% of all total energy as opposed to 28% in 2019.
The transportation sector uses a lot of energy, and most of that comes from personal use (cars, motorcycles, and light trucks). This means that you can make a difference by choosing to change up your commute when possible, and here’s how:
Take public transportation (if it’s available)
Even in the age of Covid-19 you can use public transportation safely by masking up, washing your hands frequently, using hand sanitizers, and avoiding close contact with other people.
By far the most important impact of public transportation is that it reduces the amount of people driving personal vehicles. This means fewer emissions and smog in congested areas, and less traffic (leading to further reductions in emissions because vehicles aren’t idling).
Ride a bike
How about no emissions at all?
If you’re able, try riding your bike to work or to the store if possible! Seasoned bikers will tell you that not even heavy rain will deter them, but try it first on a day where the weather is nice and you have ample time.
Carpool
Public transportation is not always a viable option. If that’s the case for you, why not try to find someone you can carpool with? Even if you’re not immediate neighbors, there are ways to make carpooling easy, like parking in a “park and ride” lot or meeting along a major road.
Start small; carpooling to work just once a week can make a big impact over the course of a year!
Walk or run
In some towns, you might even have the option of walking or running to your errands or destinations. Bonus points for zero emissions and living a healthy lifestyle!
Of course there are many other things that we can all do, but it is my firm belief to start small. How else do you live a green lifestyle? Comment below!
