Tips for going green and being more sustainable at home

Climate change is real – and its damaging effects on our day-to-day life are becoming more prominent with each passing year. It is becoming increasingly important for each of us to do our best to focus on sustainability in our personal lives and go green at home.

The planet is experiencing increasingly hot temperatures, severe weather changes, droughts, flooding, loss of species, and rising sea levels, among many others. Changes in weather and rising temperatures due to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions affect various ecosystems around the globe, driving changes in habitat and the surrounding environment. Going green and leading a sustainable lifestyle is the best way to reduce your environmental impact.

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Effects of Climate Change

Climate change is driving record-breaking heatwaves across the globe. This year, Antarctica recorded unprecedented soaring temperatures, which are 40 degrees higher than usual, resulting in the collapse of the Conger ice shelf – the first ever recorded in human history. According to the United Nations, continued inaction in the fight against climate change will trigger an extreme global humanitarian crisis due to severe weather.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that global temperatures could rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius over the next two decades. Furthermore, more than 1 million species are on the brink of extinction due to the exacerbated pace of climate change.

Lead a Green Lifestyle

These stats can either make you feel downcast or inspire you to take action against environmental damage. But either of these responses is necessary to realize how much our present and future survival on this planet is dependent on a healthy, functioning ecosystem and you can help do your part by working to go green at home.

A report identified that just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of all industrial emissions. The corporate sector plays a disproportionately large role in driving climate change, and hence using your voice as a citizen and a consumer can lead to change on a much larger scale. However, this doesn’t diminish the importance of change on a personal level.
Small changes in your everyday lifestyle can help reduce your carbon footprint or your impact on the environment and its resources.

Tips to Go Green at Home

Although individual efforts against climate change may not amount to much as they won’t make substantial emissions cuts that limit the scope of climate change to tolerable levels, personal action is critical in raising the relevance of concerns to lawmakers and large corporations. So, today we have decided to look at possible ways in which you can personally make a difference against climate change by leading a green lifestyle.

1. Thrift what you can

The best tip to lead a sustainable lifestyle is to buy secondhand. Shopping at your indigenous thrift store is a simple and easy way to reduce waste while supporting the community and a good cause. Thrifting allows you to breathe new life into old items destined to fill up the landfills and save you money.

When you reuse available items, you resuscitate items no longer needed by others and put them to good use. You’re also not generating a need for new products, which translates to a need for fewer raw materials. Unique products can be found, and if something has been used for a while and makes it to the thrift store in decent shape, it is more likely to be of higher quality.

2. Support ethical and sustainable businesses or shop local

Support your community and reduce your impact on the environment by shopping from local or ethical brands. Did you know fruits and vegetables in North America travel 1,500 kilometers before reaching your table?

Supporting local farms reduces the carbon footprint by minimizing the cost and pollution from the farm to your food table. Additionally, you as the customer can make a concerted effort to support items produced using “sustainable” farming practices.

Buy from sustainable brands if you wish to support a green business. Items supplied by sustainable companies need a sometimes require a more significant initial investment or commitment, but the cost reflects the quality: these products will last you for years. You’re also ensuring that it was produced sustainably and employees were well compensated.

You are voting with your wallet when you support an eco-friendly brand and by doing so you are demonstrating to corporations that you want items created by means that do not harm people, animals or the environment. As more and more of us vote with our wallets, this drives corporate behaviors and influences the products they produce and how they produce them. A targeted effort on your part to only shop from sustainable businesses can influence companies and push your cause of going green on a much larger scale.

3. Use Eco-Friendly reusable items

Many of the items we use every day unfortunately aren’t great for the environment, especially single-use products. They are made from plastic or cheap materials that don’t break down easily and take up a lot of space in the landfills. The most common example are food containers we get from carry out, single-use straws, and throw-away shopping bags. The more of these items you encounter and use on a daily basis, the more ends up in landfills and in our oceans contributing to the destruction of the environment.

Opt for eco-friendly reuse items to reduce environmental pollution. Beeswax wraps are a great substitute for plastic cling films. They are self-adhesive and can also be reused in various capacities. Reusable metal straws, water bottles, cleaning wipes, and gift wraps, among many others, are a wonderful alternative to single-use plastics.

4. Watch What You Eat

Watching what you eat is a commendable way to maintain an eco-friendly household and help you go green at home. Meat consumption has a profound impact on the environment. Greater meat consumption leads to more production of meat on a commercial scale, requiring the use of more water and land allocated to raising animals. You can consume less meat if you want to safeguard the environment.

With the meat industry trying to keep up with the demand for animals to feed people, more and more land is being used and converted from forests – especially in the Amazon rainforest. Eating more vegetables and fruit can help your diet be more eco friendly and lower the number of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere as a result of what you are eating. Furthermore, you can grow your veggies to minimize CO₂ emissions from food-production facilities.

P.S: You don’t need a garden or large yard to grow your own vegetable. A small area allocated near your kitchen is enough to grow everyday use veggies.

5. Choose Proper Lighting

Lighting can also make an impact on your house. LED lighting can help you save energy and cut your lighting costs. You don’t have to replace every light bulb in your home immediately, but you can gradually replace them with a CFL or LED light bulb that lasts five times longer and minimizes your energy use. Many consumers have seen a 36% reduction in their energy expenditures by using eco-friendly lighting. A home energy auditor can also recommend lighting alternatives for your house to help you save you money and energy.

6. Reuse over Recycle

Reuse is an important component of living a green lifestyle; it starts with an attitude that products and materials have usefulness beyond the owner’s original intention. Before putting anything in the garbage, consider whether it can be used for something else. Can you fix the item rather than replace it? Can you make whatever you want out of what you have on hand?

Reusing is preferable to recycling since it saves the energy required to deconstruct and re-manufacture things. It also greatly decreases waste and pollution by reducing the demand for raw materials; protecting forests and water supplies.

It entails reducing waste and optimizing resources, which translates to getting more bang for your buck whether you are a person, homeowner, business, institution, government agency, or industry. Even if certain single-use goods degrade quicker than plastics in optimal conditions, landfills are not among them.

7. Be mindful of your energy consumption

Preserving energy is an important aspect of reducing your carbon footprint. It is critical to preserve energy at home as most power suppliers generate electricity using fossil fuels. This nonrenewable energy source emits massive amounts of CO₂ into the environment. So being conscious of how you use power can not only save you money but will also help to preserve the world! It may be as easy as unplugging your gadgets and switching them off while not in use.

Adjust your thermostat to avoid scorching your house or running the air conditioner needlessly. Cold water should be used to wash your clothes. If possible, avoid using the dryer and instead air dry your fabrics. Nothing beats the fragrance of freshly laundered clothing! Installing LED lights throughout your home is another excellent approach to conserving electricity.

Final Thoughts

Going green at home can be the best decision you ever make as it can transform your lifestyle for good and can also have a positive impact on your health. It will save you money while also helping the environment. However, it is not always easy, so don’t be discouraged if you aren’t able to accomplish all of your green goals right away, as these changes don’t happen overnight. Getting your family or those who live with you on board with your eco-friendly goals is very helpful if you want to be successful.

Remember that leading an environmentally friendly lifestyle can positively impact our environment and that it is something that everyone should do. If you follow these sustainable tips, you will notice positive improvements in your life, wallet, and the environment and you can easily switch to a zero-waste lifestyle if you keep these easy suggestions in mind.