How To Become More Sustainable In Your Everyday Life

Recently The Guardian reported temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius in Russian towns in the arctic circle. We need to act now to reduce the impacts of climate crisis, in conjunction with reducing the amount of plastic consumption. I wanted to write this blog to offer some advice and suggestions to others on how you can start to make your life more sustainable.

Image from the Guardian

1.    An easy way to start being more sustainable is to make changes in your household. This can include using a bamboo toothbrush instead of a plastic one (and dispose of them correctly, it will say how on the packaging). Plastic toothbrushes take up to 400 years (or even longer!) to decompose which means your first toothbrush is still somewhere in the world today! The kitchen is also a good place to start swapping in sustainable alternatives; by using eco-friendly cleaning products such as plastic free soap (or even refill your soap bottles at your local plastic free shop if you, for anyone living in Cardiff, Ripple Living is amazing as you can refill so much including frozen food) or reusable sponges.

2.    When out and about, bring a reusable water bottle. Refill your water bottle at drinking fountains or you can go into shops and ask them to refill your bottle for free in the UK, you can use the app “Refill” to find places where you can refill your water bottle. This will reduce your plastic  consumption, especially if you're prone to buying a new water bottle everyday ( for example in meal deals). If you're someone who regularly buys hot beverages, bring a reusable coffee cup (I use a Stojo cup) and ask the barista to fill that cup (in some places you even get a discount on your drink if you do this), especially as multiple news outlets have announced that it is safeto use a reusable cup during the lockdown period. Also try to bring your own cutlery with you wherever you go (this can be the cutlery you use at home such as steel, or you can buy bamboo cutlery) to prevent you having to use plastic cutlery when you eat out.

3.    Eat less meat and more plants. Not only does an animal product based diet  increase the risk of obesity heart disease and cancer but livestock farming contributes massively to climate change. The cattle industry requires thousands of square kilometres of land to be deforested, leading to fewer trees, causing a decrease in CO₂ absorption (this is known as a “carbon sink”), this contributes to the ocean levels rising as well as the climate crisis. Cows also produce high levels of methane is another greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming. Livestock farming produces as much greenhouse gas emissions as all the car, planes and trucks in the world. If you want to continue to eat meat, choose a “flexitarian” diet which is a diet created by scientists to tell you how much meat to eat to prevent the climate crisis.

4.    Use public transport/ walk/ cycle where you can. Public transports can reduce your overall carbon footprint as the greenhouse gases produced are shared between more people than if you went by car. With public transport being improved all over the world this is becoming an easier option. If this isn't available to you, walking and cycling are also great options which produce minimal greenhouse gases. 

5.    Vote for politicians whose policies benefit the environment as well as the people. By choosing to vote for this option you force change in your government, we need governments to act too. You can even email your MP to CHALLENGE them how they can do more to prevent the climate crisis and stop single use plastic. 

6.    Reuse and Upcycle the clothes you currently have. Not only does fashion contribute to thousands of tonnes of greenhouses but also wastes tonnes of water too. Fast fashion also tends to use “Sweatshops” which are unethical,  and unsafe. If you need new clothes buy secondhand from charity shops (thrift shops), small sustainable businesses, or on depop (an app) and ebay. Not only are you helping the planet and potentially a needy cause but you can also get some bargains. If you want some really useful information check out Venetia La Manna.

If you want to buy anything that I have listed I recommend using Hive (: https://www.hive.co.uk/). Hive is a great alternative to amazon. If you want to find out more about why you should boycott amazon this article is really interesting . Alternatively you can find the product you want to buy on amazon, find out who originally makes it and buy from them directly.

 I hope this post helps you to make some more sustainable choices in your everyday life. I will try make some more similar posts on other ways you can help, for example how to have a sustainable/ plastic free period.