April 22 is world earth day. In recent years, problems such as global warming, reduction of energy resources, pollution of seas, lakes, rivers, skies and air are well known. Reassure me to note that more and more people are adopting life choices in their daily lives that turn into practical and concrete acts that impact the environment inspired by a new consciousness devoted to sustainability. In this blog, I propose simple but effective ideas for those who start a path of eco-minimal life, Zero Waste, to achieve a balance between themselves and the environment.
The attitude to have to begin with this path needs to be light years away from any form of extremism and rigid and judgmental choices.
Becoming vegan, doing yoga every day, embarking on a holistic lifestyle, eliminating everything in the house and having only 10 items in the closet, obviously not wool. WELL, ALL OF THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T DO.
Believing that perfection and idealism are the guidelines of the path leads nowhere, only to feel whipped. Making sacrifices that are excessive for your lifestyle or having standards that are too high and difficult to reach leads to feeling overwhelmed by giving up the idea from the beginning.
I suggest starting from the areas in which we feel most at ease. Furthermore, it is vital that everyone chooses and has clear their own way, the purpose that will guide us in moments of hesitation. We cannot and must expect from ourselves that such an important life choice changes our daily life suddenly and drastically, but we must proceed one step at a time.
Here are my 8 ideas to easily approach sustainability.
1) Reduce the consumption of plastic
Any plastic object from toothbrushes, to sanitary pads, to disposable cutlery has a very long life and takes decades to decompose. We have well imprinted in our mind the images of polluted seas, lakes and rivers where marine animals get entangled in plastic or die from having ingested plastic particles.
A study by the Australian University of New Castle commissioned by WWF International says that “Such is the number of plastic particles that end up in the human body through food”. The research is based on the conclusion of 52 scientific studies: “the widespread diffusion of microscopic plastic fragments in the environment would cause indigestion of an average of 5 grams every week, the equivalent of the weight of a credit card”.
The greatest quantity of plastic particles consumed by a person derives from a plastic bottle of water and crustaceans generally ingested whole without considering the amount of plastic absorbed by these “marine filters” during their stay in the water.
According to the study commissioned by the WWF, the average consumer can ingest up to 1,769 plastic particles every week simply by drinking bottled water.
For this reason, my mission in the minimalist path is to decrease if not eliminate plastic from all my daily use and consumption.
How can each of us make a contribution through small concrete and daily gestures? Bring a cotton bag for shopping, choose products with glass packaging or buy loose products, eliminate the use of cutlery, straws, plastic plates, use the sources of public drinking water to fill your own glass bottles.
2) Avoid wasting water
Water is an indispensable good without which we cannot survive. We are not yet fully aware of how lucky we are to have this precious asset at our disposal. There have been cases of countries that have experienced water scarcity, countries that do not have the comfort of having drinking water indoors. Each of us can contribute to reducing water consumption with small but conscious daily gestures. Avoid running the water empty while brushing your teeth, keep the cold water that comes out before the hot water, use the water from the pasta or salad to water the plants.
If you want to know more about this, read my blog about how to save water and money.
3) Avoid using the car
Did we notice that the media was announcing an increase in pollution immediately after the end of the lockdown? I also believe that in a city like London the use of the car should be avoided as there is an efficient coverage of public transport.
I also believe that avoid to take the car for daily commuting, whenever is possible, is an ideal way to reduce air pollution. Choosing to walk leads to saving money and keeping fit. There are also many green alternatives to the car such as bicycles, skates, scooters.
4) Reduce, reuse, recycle
Everything we buy impacts the environment due to the raw materials used, the labour, the pollution emitted into the skies and into the water during production, the CO2 emission during transport, the landfill where that object will end up when we want it anymore.
Behind each object, there is a polluted stream a part of the forest that has been destroyed.
Taking care of what we already have leads us not to need new ones avoiding therefore triggering the production cycle of a new products, by the mere fact of being produced, takes something away from the environment. Ask ourselves if we really need an object, and if we really need it, avoid fast fashion stores like Zara, H&M and all the other ones we all know about and let’s go to second hand stores or those stores that have brands that create sustainable fashion.
Read also the blog where I tell some new sustainable brand I have discovered.
5) Read the label
I want to be honest; I’ve never enjoy reading labels. However, is indeed something very important to do!
The label reveals the history, the origins of the product we are about to buy, so carefully reading will help us make the right choice.
Choose products that come from fair trade, buy only organic products that are not produced using pesticides that alternate fauna and flora.
Let’s learn then to read the label, will indeed help us to make better purchase.
6) Do the recycling
In recent years, recycling has entered our lives, and organizational aspects have improved over the years. However, do we all remember how difficult was at the bigging?
Remember to dispose of used batteries in the appropriate containers or medicines that have expired in the bins outside pharmacies, remember also to direct refrigerators and home furnishings, electronic items to the right places.
I know, it can be an annoying process that request time and a bit of organisation, but c’mon, we are doing it for the right cause, right?
7) Save electricity
Disconnect the battery charger of the phone or the PC from the socket when charging, turn off the lights when you are not at home or in a room. Pay attention to these little things even if these expenses are included in your rent. It seems trivial, but it is fundamental. Even if the money spent does not come directly from us, we must behave as if it were so. We are talking about OUR planet, and even though the resources are paid by the other, it’s important to keep paying attention to our planet.
8) Eat sustainably
Changing one’s eating habits is not easy regardless of the context in which we find ourselves: during a trip, because we choose to live in a country other than has a different cuisine or simply because we decide to start a new diet.
The sphere of nutrition is so important to each of us that it almost seems to be talking about something private.
I believe that it is not necessary to become vegan or vegetarian to have a sustainable diet, but reducing the consumption of meat and fish is certainly a good start. I also believe that buying organic products, choosing KM0 products, organizing to shop and thus avoiding waste can help reduce our environmental impact.
Are these small attention to our diet that will make a big difference.
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