5 Super Simple Ways to Be Eco-Friendly You Probably Haven't Heard Of

5 Super Simple Ways to Be Eco-Friendly You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Personal Growth

August 21, 2020

Protecting and preserving the environment is a topic that should be on everyone's minds, but it isn't always easy in a world where the standard is fast fashion, plastic, and disposable everything. Going completely sustainable can be extremely costly or unattainable for most people, so here are 5 simple ways you can live a more eco-friendly life!

Buy Local

A great way to be more green in everyday life is to support your local farmer's markets. Instead of buying all of your food at supermarkets, support your local economy. On average food travels 1,500 miles in the United States to get to the store, this uses an enormous amount of fossil fuels, and packaging, all adding to the current problem of pollution. However, when you buy local you're getting fresh foods, supporting your local community, and preserving the Earth.

If you don't have a farmers market close to you, you can always start a garden as well. Growing your own foods is not only incredibly rewarding, but it's also another great way to cut back on plastic packaging while still having delicious fresh food.

Reuse, Reuse, Reuse!

Reusing things like water bottles, straws, and shopping bags are great, but other things in your house might not be so obvious. If you are someone who needs their daily dose of caffeine in the morning with a Keurig, this one is for you. These handy coffee machines may be super convenient for a quick jolt in the morning, but they aren't great for the environment; luckily there is a way to fix that!

The standard pods people use for these coffee makers are, unfortunately, not recyclable or biodegradable so they get thrown away and end up in landfills. Luckily Amazon and many other websites offer reusable k-cup filters; they are a bit more expensive initially, but they will save you money in the long run.

If you want to go even further and reuse more daily items, go ahead, here's a list of some ideas!

-Newspaper or magazines to wrap gifts or make envelopes

-Use seeds from fruits and vegetables for a garden

-Glass jars, or cartons to store pencils or other office supplies

Reusable Pods From Amazon

Say No to Fast Fashion

Fast fashion is not only terrible for the environment, but it also depends on sweatshops and overseas workers for production. The fast fashion industry is built off the idea that these companies can manufacture, typically low quality, clothing pieces meant to meet a current trend, for a low amount, sell them for inexpensive prices, then once the piece goes out of style or falls apart, the consumer will just buy more from the company to meet new trends.

In order to manufacture these clothes, these companies use sweatshops where workers are mistreated and don't make even close to a living wage. The industry is a large contributor to pollution and carbon emissions, by pumping water, to irrigate crops like cotton, as well as fueling the heavy machinery needed to make the clothing.

Avoiding fast fashion can be difficult, especially when brands aren't always upfront about the sustainability involved with their products, but an app named, "Good on You" has made the task that much easier. The free app has a collection of articles on sustainability and avoiding fast fashion, but it also has an amazing database which helps avoid it as a consumer. All you have to do is type the brand you suspect might not be entirely sustainable into their search engine and it will give you a rating out of 5, just how environmentally conscious the brand is.

Emma Watson, "Good on You's" biggest advocate said, "Fashion helps shape our identities. What we wear signifies who we are and what we stand for. I support Good On You because I need to know my clothes do not harm our precious planet or its people." The power consumers hold, is more than they believe. What you buy every day, can influence the world around you, theater you know it, or not.

Laundry

Doing your laundry, although you may not think so, can be more harmful to the Earth than you think. Between the energy needed to heat and run the water, to harmful detergents, your clothes might appreciate it, but the environment doesn't. Buying a more eco-friendly detergent is a good way to help, not only is it better for the Earth, but also for your skin.

Hanging your clothes to dry instead of using the dryer, if you have time, is a good way to reduce energy usage as well. A huge cost saver and eco-friendly solution is to wash your clothes with cold water instead of hot. This will save a lot of energy, and most of your energy bill comes from hot water, so why not reduce it?

Search Engines

Don't underestimate the power of curiosity. There are many web browsers available today that promote social and environmental good.

Ecosia is a search engine, much like google or bing, that not only answers your questions but helps the planet. The company uses 80% of its profits to plant trees around the world. This is especially important today since rainforests and woods are being rapidly eliminated.

Ecosia has complete internet privacy as well, meaning they won't sell your data to advertisers or to other companies. They have planted 70 million trees since 2009 in areas that need it most, all you have to is download the free browser and search away!

Use Ecosia here!

These five ways to be more eco-friendly are super simple and will help preserve this beautiful Earth that we call home. Hopefully, this inspires you to do even more to take part and not take the beautiful planet we call home for granted.

Sarah Palmer
1,000+ pageviews

Writer since Jul, 2020 · 2 published articles
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