How was your week of being a little more eco conscious? This week I’m going to give you 5 more super simple steps you can take (if you’re not already doing so) to help the health of Mother Earth.
- Fix it, don’t throw it -This is something we don’t do enough of these days. We are in a wasteful age of the consumer, cheap goods and fast fashion. If something breaks we can easily go out and buy a new one and in a lot of cases, replacing it is sometimes easier and cheaper than repairing it. Fixing something, however, is way more environmentally friendly than throwing things away. So seeing as though we’re also in the information age, the internet can you access to all the tools and info you need to fix almost anything and if you still can’t fix it then why not try turning it into something else? At least try before you buy 😉
- Recycle – This seems like a no brainer and chances are you’re already be recycling. But could you improve your recycling? You can recycle almost everything, from batteries to paper to cars. Before you throw it away, take a minute to find out if you could recycle it instead.
- Buy local – From food to clothes, the closer to home these are made and bought, the less carbon is created with the transport of them. You’ll also be supporting the local businesses, which means that you’ll have even more local items to choose from in the future.
- Choose eco – friendly personal products -When it comes to personal hygiene there’s also a lot to consider. The most damaging is microbeads, which are small bits plastic that aren’t biodegradable and make their way into the water and end up damaging the environment by entering the food chain. Make sure that your body wash, toothpaste, facewash and other products don’t contain these beads. Avoiding chemicals and opting for natural cleaning products like Lush or most things from your health store is the best way to keep you and the environment clean. Read the labels to be safe!
- Recycle your clothes – I looove a good hand-me-down and I’m lucky that so many of my friends love to clean out their wardrobes and give their pre-loved clothes to me. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that the majority of my clothes have been handed over to me! There’s also so many gems you can find in op shops and when you need to clear out your wardrobe you can give it away too or perhaps do a clothes swap with some friends or find a group on the internet (like MeetUp or Facebook) who’s up for a closet refresh. This will save you some mula ($), reduce two people’s waste and lower carbon footprints all round.
- Take shorter showers – OK, we all love a nice, long, hot shower but five minutes is really all we need. Cutting even one minute off of the daily shower will save nearly 1000 gallons of water every year, which is a big saving on the water bill and it’s better for the planet. Win/win! One thing that really opened my eyes to the value of water and how we’re truly on the brink of a global water crisis is the short 20min episode of Netflix’s ‘Explained – The World’s Water Crisis’. If there’s one thing you watch on Netflix tonight – instead of binge watching Game of Thrones or whatever the latest fad show is – it’s this. Actually, this whole series is amazing and each mini doco is on a different topic- Highly recommend!
Well that’s it from me for another week. Happy reducing waste and happy watching if you decide to check it out! (It’s only 20mins come on)
Spread the word, the world needs you!