Hello World! Welcome Friends! 2019 was a year that brought climate change and climate-related disasters to the forefront of our collective mainstream consciousness. In Australia alone, we experienced record-breaking heatwaves that lasted 40 days in a row in some areas. Sydney and Illawarra also experienced intense thunderstorms that cut off access to power to 40,000 homes, and even now the New South Wales bushfires continue to rage on.
These events should be enough to convince anyone that it’s time to take more proactive measures to save the environment, and there’s no better time to do it than at the dawn of a new decade. To start 2020 off right, here are a few eco-friendly habits that you may wish to consider incorporating into your lifestyle:
dreamstime/© BiancoBlue
Eliminate single-use plastics
Single-use plastics epitomize modern society’s preference for convenience—and we are drowning in it. Think of how many plastic bottles, drink lids, stirrers, and straws you throw away daily; add items such as plastic cutlery, shopping bags, and food wrappers to the mix. We don’t often think about where these items go.
Plastic water bottles take up to a thousand years to decompose, and producing them alone uses up 1.6 million barrels of oil each year. Eliminating single-use plastics from our daily lives is one of the easiest ways to cut down on waste and help preserve valuable resources. Consider buying a reusable water bottle or tumbler to hold your drinks on the go, or refusing disposable cutlery when you purchase takeout food. It’s also a good idea to bring a reusable tote to hold your shopping, as well as bringing your own containers when buying meat, fish, or produce at the supermarket.
Endeavor to go zero-waste
The city government’s vision for a zero-waste Sydney by 2030 can only be brought to fruition if all residents take part in the initiative. This means actively making use of the city’s new recycling services. You can also practice responsible rubbish removal in Sydney by notifying the city about bulky waste items that require collection instead of leaving it on the street without booking it in, and refusing waste wherever possible.
Aside from the measures outlined above to eliminate single-use plastics, there are other ways of leaning into the zero-waste lifestyle. These include going package-free by buying in bulk and bringing reusable containers to refill stores, making smart decisions about how much food to buy and prepare, and limiting your consumption as a household. By buying only what you need and preparing only what you can consume, your family can minimize waste and save money.
Support local businesses
Your carbon footprint can also be reduced by simply patronizing local businesses whose products won’t have to be transported for thousands of miles to get to you, instantly cutting down on fuel consumption and air pollution. It can also reduce plastic use since the items won’t require packing or shipping.
Produce bought at farmers’ markets isn’t just more accessible. It’s also often fresher and more nutritious, with home-grown producers priding themselves on making sure that their wares are organic and free of pesticides and hormones. When you buy local, you also support local growers, creators, and farmers, ensuring that they remain in business and giving their workers employment stability.
Keep your clothes longer
Australians are the world’s second-largest textile consumers, buying 27 kilograms of new clothing and other textile products every year. However, studies show that at least a quarter of the population throw their clothes out after just one wear, and most people typically bin unwanted fashion items rather than recycle or repair them. This carefree attitude towards discarding items, knowing that it’s easy to dip into a fast-fashion retailer to replace it, can contribute significantly to the global waste problem.
The desire to keep one’s wardrobe current is perfectly understandable, and there’s no denying the high we get from treating ourselves to a new item now and again. However, we should also consider where these old clothes go after they’ve been tossed. Many articles of clothing made with manmade fibers typically do not decompose in the same way other fabrics made with organic materials do. Manmade fibers shed microplastic particles and take as long as regular plastic to decay in a landfill.
Thankfully, the solution is easy: just keep your clothes longer. By simply wearing your clothes for 9 months longer, you can reduce your carbon footprint for that garment by 30%. Instead of buying new garments at a fast-fashion retailer, you can also opt to patronize vintage or used clothing shops instead, a measure that will save almost 6 pounds in carbon dioxide emissions.
Even small measures like the ones above can create a significant impact if we all do them together. Take it from Time Magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg: “No one is too small to make a difference.” Turn these practices into sustainable habits and teach everyone you know about them, and we may yet turn the tide against climate change.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
Roasted Cauliflower & Parsnip Soup
Favorites & Highlights – 2019 Top Posts
Favorites & Highlights – 2018 Top Posts
Favorites & Highlights – 2017 Top Posts
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Toodles,
[…] A lot of the time, you can find some money to save somewhere. It’s all about figuring out a budget for every month. With a budget, you can plan your expenses and realize how much money you can stash away for a rainy day. So, whether you’re looking to buy a new family car – or just saving up for a holiday – here’s how you can set a monthly budget for the upcoming year. […]