Long before Greta Thunburg came into this world, there has been a concern about how human beings have been impacting the environment and what these ramifications would be for future generations. When I was in high school school (gosh, this would be over 15 years ago!) I remember in Geography class we would discuss ‘global warming’ and how this natural and man-made phenomenon is impacting various global biodiversities (In Australia this is most evident with the bleaching coral on the Great Barrier Reef).

These days we refer to it as climate change and there is so much debate across social media and in real life as to whether or not it even exists. There’s even a dedicated website from the Australian Government about climate change here and here. However, whether you agree climate change is indeed upon us, I personally believe we can always make better choices that limit any negative impact on our natural world.

I don’t know about anyone else, but over the last few years I have started to become more and more aware of my personal impact on the environment. Maybe it’s just something we humans naturally do as we get older – thinking about the consequences of our way of life on the environment and society. I have started to look more and more at my micro-impact on this world with the idea of making small and manageable changes in my life that will have a better impact on the environment. One person cannot change the world, but many people making small changes just might. And as we come into the new year I think now is a perfect time to start making some positive changes to how we live.

Here are 10 things you can easily do to do your bit and help the environment:

1. Turn it off at the switch

Yeah, we all know to turn off the lights when we aren’t in the room but go a step further and turn off appliances at the wall when not in use. Don’t get me wrong, it’s super convenient to be able to walk into the living room after a long af day at work and simply pick up the remote, press on a little button and have an entire world of entertainment pop up to soothe my soul after a hectic day at work – but it’s not too inconvenient to just bend down and turn on the TV, playstation and surround sound at the switch. Why power a tv to be on ‘stand-by’ mode all day and night just for those few hours you may turn it on for entertainment?

2. Ditch the air-con and opt for a pedestal fan (or natural windflow)

Living in Australia, it gets hot af in summer. I mean, under boob sweat doing nothing in your home kind of hot. I will be the first to admit, my husband and I used to be the first to reach for the air con remote whenever it felt like our home was turning into a sauna. However, a few not so wallet friendly electricitiy bills prompted us to do some research into how we could lower the economic damage summer caused to our wallets and, as we found out, to the environment.

We found out that air-conditioners are not an environmentally or economic friendly option compared with other alternatives such as pedestal fans or even better, utilising natural wind flow. Be sure to keep all windows and blinds/curtains closed throughout the day, then when you get home as the day slowly retreats to the evening, open the blinds, windows and doors and let the natural air flow of cool down the house. Keep your bedroom windows open at night, and turn on the pedestal fan if its really hot, and sleep easy knowing you’re being more eco-friendly.

3. Say bye to the plastic razor and hello to the safety razor

Yeah, I know, safety razors look scary af to shave with, I mean I can’t even shave my knees right with a plastic razor as it is! But when I thought about how I could make small changes to not only my financial situation but also my impact on the environment, reducing my use of plastic for personal hygiene made perfect sense. Not only will I be saving money in the long run by not having to purchase more and more plastic razors, but I wont be adding plastic razors to landfill (FYI – plastic razors take roughly 1000 years to break down. YIKES!)

There are programs out there like TerraCycle who recycle Gillette razors (and even water jug filters!) but I personally believe it’s best to try and decrease the amount of plastic we use where possible.

4. Re-use your water

Ok, so many years ago I used to look at those people who reused their bath, shower and sink water as if they were some kind of weirdo – like, who wants to put dirty water into their garden?! But as I’ve grown up and learned more and more about not only the drought situation in my own country but also about the global water situation, I have a new perspective of those early water pioneers of my youth.

It’s pretty simple, put a bucket in your shower and catch the water that would normally be lost down the drain as you wait for the water temperature to heat up. Keep the bucket in the shower as you do your business. Then use that water in your garden! I generally get almost 5L of water in a quick shower!

Want to take it up a notch? Divert your washing machine water to your garden. My husband and I don’t have a big enough hose (yet) to set this up from our laundry to garden, so we do what we call “water bucket relays”. We end up diverting roughly 85L of water to our front and back garden every single time we wash our clothes.

5. Compost, give your food scraps a second life

“How does composting help the environment?” I hear you ask. Well, composting helps to keep food scraps (and dog poop) out of landfill where they take up space and give out methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas. But on top of that, the byproduct of composting gives you an excellent, cost effective soil and plant fertiliser for your garden and home vegetable patch. #Winning!

6. Recycle, recycle, recycle

If you aren’t already, this is a pretty easy environmentally friendly practice to get you started. Recycling helps climate change and the environment by reducing energy consumption by eliminating the need to source and use ‘virgin’ materials to make everyday items. You can easily recycle most cans, plastic bottles, paper (not shredded), and cardboard in your yellow lid recycle bin. But did you know, to recycle your dog kibble bags, frozen veggie bags and even reusable shopping bags, you need to locate your nearest Red Cycle at a Coles supermarket.

Most items these days comes with a label that identifies whether or not it can be recycled, but I highly recommend checking with your local council and doing some further research of your own as to what can and cannot be recycled in your area.

7. Use Eco-Friendly cleaning products

A lot of cleaning products these days contain harsh chemicals that may be good for removing grease and soap scum, but are completely bad for our environment. And for some, repeated exposure to some chemicals may actually be bad for your health in the long run. There are plenty of cleaning products out there that are greywater friendly and eco-sensitive, such as ZeroCo (bonus, their product pack against us refillable!), Koala or Eco Store.

If you are wanting to completely remove any need for chemicals and to reduce your overall costs, you can simply use white vinegar for cleaning your house. The high acidity levels of vinegar is perfect for cutting through grease, soap scum and those tough to get stains. Since vinegar is edible and completely biodegradable, it makes an eco-friendly and cost effective cleaning solution. Simply dilute the white vinegar with water and voile you have an affordable and eco-friendly cleaning alternative!

8. Support and buy from companies that give back

I’m a realist and understand that not everyone has the luxury to shop from the local farmers market, or even has the interest of completely overhauling how they source their everyday products and produce – that shit is exhausting, takes effort and can be unattainable depending on where you live. So to make things a little easier, why not just change up your supermarket experience and buy products from companies that give back to society and the environment on your behalf?

For example, ‘Thank You’ have personal hygiene items (body wash, hand wash, etc) available at Coles and Woolworths, with profits of the sale going towards ending poverty and providng people in need with simple things we take for granted, such as clean drinking water, sanitary toilets and even health care. Sukin is a skincare company that has partnered with Greening Australia and Reef Aid to ensure our biggest environmental challenges facing Australian landscapes are tackled and balance is brought back to our natural environment.

There is a tonne of companies out there that are working tirelessly towards giving back and helping society and our environment. Do some research and find companies that best sit within your own value and belief system and make an effort to purchase most (if not all) your groceries from those companies committed to doing good – even if it costs a few more dollars at the checkout.

9. Use the cold setting on your washing machine

I’ve never been one for separating out my coloured and white clothing for washing, but I am a little picky when it comes to determining the water temp setting. About 90% of the energy used when doing a load of washing goes towards heating the water – making the weekly laundry wash more costly to not only your wallet but also the environment.

If you switch your warm and hot setting to cold, you will find that your clothes will still be clean, you’ll spend less on energy heating up the water, and the environment will be happy! Win win if you ask me!

10. Embrace the hand-me downs and limit fast fashion

Growing up the idea of getting hand-me downs from the older sibling was something I’m sure we all cringed at. But these days, getting second-hand items is not only fashionable, good for your wallet, but also environmentally friendly and socially conscious.

Fast fashion produces roughly 10% of all of the world’s carbon emissions, pollutes our beautiful oceans and water-ways with mircoplastics and is the second largest consumer of the world’s water supply (cred to this Business Insider article.)

To reduce your carbon footprint and environmental impact when it comes to shopping for that new dress or piece of furniture, be sure to check out Facebook marketplace, GumTree or Craigslist (if you’re Aussie or American), or visit your local second-hand or op-shop. Shopping never felt so (environmentally and socially) good.

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Whether or not you choose to do all or just one of the above is a great step to helping our environment! Besides, if we want to keep on exploring this amazing and beautiful world of ours, there first needs to be a world left to explore.

Much love,
Lara X

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