You CAN Live a More Sustainable Lifestyle with These 5 Tips
Day-to-day living involves making choices – sometimes hundreds of small choices every day. Some of our choices exert unprecedented pressure on Mother Earth and increase our own health risks, while other choices can help us to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
From the products and foods you use to transportation and fashion choices, you can help make this planet a healthier and more comfortable place for everyone. Here’s how.
Minimize Asbestos Exposure
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral used in many products, including building materials, home appliances, automotive parts, fireproofing materials, and textured paints.
Continued exposure to this mineral increases the risk of mesothelioma cancer, which affects the thin lining that surrounds some organs. Some safe asbestos alternatives to incorporate in your building include flour fillers, cellulose fibers, and natural materials such as cotton or wool insulation.
Ditch Single-Use Plastics
Global plastic production continues to double (more than 400 million metric tons each year). Worryingly, nearly half of it is designed for single use. The biggest problem is that plastics can take up to 500 years to decompose depending on their disposal and composition, even though they’re only used once and then discarded, like coffee cups and takeaway containers.
As a result, they pollute the environment, from the deepest ocean trenches to the tallest mountains, destroying ecosystems, affecting human health and harming wildlife.
You can curb this by investing in reusable products, such as sustainable eating utensils, water bottles, canvas shopping bags, coffee mugs, and beeswax food wraps. This will help lower plastic use while saving you money in the long run.
Minimize Water Wastage
Image from Thaliesin on PixabayConserving water is wise and responsible. Just 2% of the Earth’s water is fresh water – the rest (over 97%) is salt water. This shows just how valuable this natural resource is, and highlights the need to lower water wastage.
Check for leaks in toilets and pipes and fix them. Also, close your water faucet when brushing your teeth and cleaning dishes instead of leaving it running. Consider taking shorter showers, and run the washing machine only when it is full.
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Choose Organic
A sustainable shopper goes for organic products, from fruits and coffee to clothing. Widespread use of pesticides puts fish and wildlife habitat at risk, threatening their survival. They also contaminate the food and fruits you eat and pollute water, air, and soil.
If you garden at home, opt for organic farming instead of using pesticides. You can eliminate invasive plant species and embrace native-pollinator-friendly plants to attract beneficial insects and kick out unwanted pests.
Drive Green
Emissions from fossil-fueled transportation increase greenhouse gases, soot and smog, greatly polluting the air. You can dramatically lower your carbon footprint by making a few tweaks to your driving habits.
Where possible, walk, carpool, bike, or use public transportation. You can combine errands to reduce the number of trips.
If you plan to buy a new car, consider investing in an electric vehicle and charging station. It is also essential to do regular tire inflations and tune-ups to your vehicle to keep it in shape. These tune-ups significantly boost your fuel efficiency.
If you want to live a more sustainable and healthy lifestyle, pay close attention to every choice you make, from what you consume to the products you use and your transportation choices. Avoid food and water wastage and embrace practices that conserve the planet and care for your health.
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Warm regards,
P.S. Don’t forget to see what you can do to help slow climate change – click here (it’s free)