5 Sustainability Tips For Your Everyday Life
"Giant leaps are just a bunch of baby steps strung together"
When it comes to protecting our planet and creating a sustainable status-quo, let's be honest, humanity has a long way to go. But, there are some steps that you can start taking today to live a more eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.
If you're already doing some of these, kudos to you for doing your part! Take a look at the 5 tips below, and strive to add them into your daily routine.
Slightly Alter Your Driving Habits
By making just a few small changes to your driving style, you can make a big difference in carbon emissions.
Here are 3 tips to keep in mind next time you're on the road.
Stop Idling: An idling car is just wasting gas (or battery power). If you are parked or stuck in a gridlocked traffic jam, it's better to just turn it off.
Accelerate Gently: Hard acceleration consumes more gas, which means more stops at the gas station for you.
Reduce Your Speed: Think about how much more energy it takes to run than walk. Going the speed limit will not only keep you ticket-free, but it'll also help you conserve gas!
Pull The Plug On Your Unused Electronics
Did you know that many appliances still consume energy even when they're not in use?
This is called “phantom load,” and it can cost you $100+ per year. It also has a negative environmental impact... imagine how much energy we'd save if everyone unplugged their unused devices!
Reduce your energy consumption by directly unplugging electronics or by plugging items into a power strip and turning the whole strip off when you leave a room.
Adjust Your Thermostat, Stat!
This is another double win since it'll save you money while reducing your carbon footprint. Keep more money in your pocket and keep CO2 out of the air by turning up your air conditioning by just a few degrees.
And in the winter, putting on a sweater instead of blasting the heat can also save a hefty amount of energy.
Eat Lower On The Food Chain
Significant resources are needed to produce animal products for food compared to plant-based foods. A vegetarian meal is much smaller in terms of emissions compared to a meat or dairy-rich meal.
Being completely transparent, this is still a highly debated topic, but it's generally accepted that meat and dairy consumption needs to decline to feed both the growing global population as well as reduce global emissions.
Clean Your Clothes The Green Way
Green cleaning your laundry is as easy as hitting the cold water button when you wash them, and then drying your clothes on a rack instead of in a machine.
You’ll save money on electric bills too - about 5% of all electricity used in U.S. homes is used to dry clothes.
I find this method particularly useful for heavy sheets and towels, which end up going through the dryer 2-3 times before they're actually dry.
To Be Continued...
Keep these tips in mind when you're going throughout your day, every little bit helps! If you have any other tips you'd like to pass along, comment them below and we'll add them to the next edition of these everyday tips!
