3 things you can do right now to start living sustainably!

Moving towards a more sustainable lifestyle can be a little overwhelming at first because often there is pressure from people to do things perfectly. There has been a huge shift towards living more sustainably over the last few years, it is even becoming “trendy”. If you are reading this blog, it probably means that you know that everyone should be shifting towards a more sustainable lifestyle and you would like to take part but might not know where to start. Don’t worry, this is a list that can help you with that. If you are more “experienced” in living sustainably, don’t worry this still might help you!

1. Reduce your use of electricity.

Power plants are one of the biggest polluters. Most power plant usually burn coal, crude oil, and other fossil fuels to create energy. During this process, carbon dioxide is emitted into the air. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is essentially causing the earth to heat up more than usual.

An easy way to help reduce the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is by just turning the lights off in rooms that no one is using and unplugging appliances or chargers that are not in use. Many times, even if an appliance is not on energy will still be used to turn certain lights on, etc. This is only one of the benefits of conserving energy among an extensive list.

How does saving energy save the environment

2 . Reduce your use of water

Fresh water is super important and as you might already know, we are running out of it. According to an article by the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency), “The average American family uses more than 300 gallons of water per day at home. Roughly 70 percent of this use occurs indoors”. That’s a lot of water!

One thing you can do to reduce your water consumption is by turning the faucet off while you are not using it like when you are brushing your teeth and when you are getting soap. You can reduce the loads of laundry you do by waiting until you have a full load of clothes. You can also take shorter showers. I find that either setting a timer or making a playlist with only a few songs help keep time while in the shower.

How we use water

3.  Reduce your plastic consumption

As you have probably already heard, plastic is the biggest polluter on Earth. Plastic is literally everywhere at this point. It has been found in the ocean as huge patches of trash, it fills landfills, on the streets, and it has even been found on food we eat like fish (YES, FOOD!). This is a huge problem because plastic takes a really long time to decompose, which is partly why we see it in so many places. 

A really simple way you can start to reduce your plastic is by purchasing a reusable water bottle or any reusable drink cup. If you have never owned one before, just focus on getting one that you like. It’s okay if it is plastic as long as it is reusable. The focus right now is just to get used to having one and remembering to use it so the idea is that if you love it, you’ll be exited to use it! I personally like the glass ones because I feel like things taste better.

Where is plastic found?

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I hope you got some good ideas about how you can get started. Just remember the most important thing is to do something even if it means just doing one of the things from the list. If you are just getting started, be patient with yourself and others because everyone must start somewhere. Little changes can have big impacts!