Consume less 2. Compost 3. Choose reusable over single-use 4. Upcycle more 5. Recycle properly 6. Shop secondhand 7. Buy local 8. Use fewer chemicals 9. Walk, bike or carpool Use less water Use your purchasing power for good Conserve electricity 1. Consume less 7. Buy local 2. Compost 8. Use fewer chemicals 3. Choose reusable over single-use 9. Walk, bike or carpool 4. Upcycle more Use less water 5. Recycle properly Use your purchasing power for good 6.
Shop secondhand Conserve electricity. Consume less. Choose reusable over single-use. Upcycle more. Recycle properly. Shop secondhand. Buy local. Use fewer chemicals.
Neves A, et al. Assessing the potential for carbon emissions savings from replacing short car trips with walking and cycling using a mixed GPS-travel diary approach. DOI: Motoring on two feet is a lot more energy-efficient than cruising on four wheels. The thought of squishing into a crowded train car might be a big turnoff to some would-be commuters, but think of all the upsides. Riding the rails creates extra time to catch up on emails, read a juicy novel, or get just a little more shut-eye.
Plus it does wonders for the health of our planet. Switching to the subway or metro cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 76 percent per passenger mile compared to driving your own car. Taking the bus drops emissions by 33 percent per passenger mile over commuting solo. Federal Transit Administration. Sharing a ride with a coworker takes one car, and its carbon dioxide emissions, off the road. Reducing your transportation footprint. Added bonus: The more people who jump on the carpooling bandwagon, the less miserable rush hour might eventually become.
Call in a coworker or use an app like Carma to partner up and save the environment together. Each time car ride to the supermarket, dry cleaner, or drugstore burns fuel. Short trips are especially hard on fuel economy, because that cold engine needs time to warm up with each stop. Doubling up on errands saves fuel, driving time, and emissions. Ditch the car entirely and shop in the virtual world. Online shopping is easy, and currently safer than shopping in stores. It can lessen your carbon footprint but only if you avoid rushed shipping, buy more items together to minimize shipments, and support brands with eco packaging etc.
According to the U. Census Bureau, the average daily commute time is nearly 27 minutes. Mean time to work. Just switching from a 5-day work week with 8-hour days to a 4-day work week with hour days trims fuel use and emissions by 20 percent.
Why invest the money to buy a car, with all the maintenance and upkeep that goes with it? Depending on their budget, drivers can rent a thrifty Ford all the way up to an exotic Ferrari. Car sharing cuts energy consumption by up to 47 percent , and CO 2 emissions by up to 65 percent, especially when the cars are hybrid or electric.
Baptista P, et al. Energy, environmental and mobility impacts of car-sharing systems. Empirical results from Lisbon, Portugal. Americans toss out billion pounds of food each year. That means about 40 percent of our food supply goes straight into the trash. Food waste and loss. If people around the world saved just one quarter of the food they now waste, we could end global hunger.
Seeking end to loss and waste of food along production chain. Wasting food also squanders the resources like water and energy that went into the production of that food. Here are some easy ways to shop and eat more efficiently to waste less food. The golden rule of grocery shopping is to never hit the supermarket hangry just try resisting the checkout lane snacks and candy with a grumbling tummy.
Tackling the aisles armed with a planned list can avoid a cart overloaded with items that will ultimately end up in the trash. Figure out what ingredients each recipe requires, and write them all down. To make meal planning and shopping real no-brainers, buy meal kits like Hello Fresh or Blue Apron. Ingredients are pre-portioned so nothing goes to waste. Want to know how much you waste?
Start logging a weekly record of every moldy banana and half-eaten box of cereal you toss in the trash. Over time, you can start to see patterns, and tweak your shopping habits accordingly. Some apps warn when that leftover cantaloupe or jar of tomato sauce on the middle shelf is about to turn. Lots of people in need would really appreciate the bag of bagels you were just about to discard.
Find a local food bank and ask what kinds of food donations they accept. A bunch of techniques can help extend the shelf life of everything in the kitchen. Who wants to eat the same lasagna 5 nights straight? Instead, breathe new life into those old meals.
Roast turkey easily transforms into next-day turkey sandwiches, chili, or tetrazzini. Or, freeze leftovers and eat them down the road. Soups and stews can stay on ice for up to 6 months, and leftover meat and poultry can keep them company in the freezer for just as long.
Cold food storage chart. Composting means recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem, which keeps food out of landfills and waterways while making the garden greener. Some communities have local composting programs. Or, start your own compost indoors. Worms are optional; we promise. Order an appetizer instead of an entree and save the planet, plus some calories in the process. Buffets are notorious traps for anyone whose eyes are bigger than their stomach.
It can be tempting to load up on everything from soup to chocolate layer cake, even though eating that giant pile of food would be like climbing an edible Mount Everest. Avoid temptation by starting with a smaller plate.
Disposable plates, plastic forks, and ketchup packets are small, but they add up. Food packaging and containers create 39 million tons of waste annually — nearly one quarter of solid waste produced in the United States.
A whole lot of those containers end up in landfills, where they release more methane into the air. The good news is that many companies are becoming more aware of how much food packaging they use and taking steps to reduce it edible wrappers, anyone?
Don't waste food. Store your leftovers and use them up at one of your meals over the next few days. If you do have an overrun of food, such as after a party, share it with friends or neighbors.
Part 5. Walk or ride a bicycle when your destination is close to home. Surprisingly, short trips are generally harder on your car and the environment than long trips. Next time you only have a short distance to go, swap out your car for your feet or bike. Encourage schools to install bicycle racks so that more children can ride bicycles to school. Always wear a helmet and safety reflective gear when riding a bicycle. Organize a carpool to commute to work or school to save gas.
Coordinate with another person or 2 that you work or go to school with to set up a carpool. This can help the environment by saving on gas as well as maintenance on vehicles. Work with other parents in your neighborhood to form a carpool to take the kids to school or extra-curricular activities. If you live near your children's school, consider organizing a "walking school bus" instead of driving. Children walk or bicycle to school together in groups, supervised and guided by parents.
Neighborhood parents can take turns leading the group. Take public transport for an affordable, low-impact option. If you live in an area that has a bus, light rail, or subway system, consider taking this option to get to work, school, or wherever you may need to go. Replacing car trips with public transport trips reduces congestion on roads and reduces the overall amount of gasoline that is used.
Many bus systems in major cities operate diesel-electric hybrid buses, which further reduces harmful emissions. Plan out your errands and combine trips to reduce pollution. Make errand trips more efficient by planning out where you will go and hitting all of your stops in one trip. When you can, simplify your purchases by checking their availability online or by phone before you make a trip.
For example, you might use a grocery app to select the foods you need so you know they'll be available when you get to the store. Not only will this save you time on grocery shopping, it'll also save you a trip to a different store!
Drive an electric car if you have been looking for a new vehicle. Or consider a hybrid car, which runs on both gasoline and electric motors. These types of vehicles not only give off fewer emissions into the air, but they also can save you money with fewer trips to the gas station. Take fewer airplane flights. Whether for work or vacation, lower the number of flights you take each year.
Airplanes emit vast quantities of carbon dioxide and other polluting materials, which increases annually due to increased numbers of flights around the world. Trains or buses are good alternatives to short flights. Part 6. Contact your government officials to ask for their support.
Call or email your congressional representatives and local officials. Ask them to support environmental conservation and renewable energy, and to create and support policies that hold companies accountable.
Donate to an environmental cause if you have extra money to give. There are hundreds of organizations that are dedicated to working on environmental issues. Find one whose mission and vision you support and donate money to help them achieve their goals. Join an environmental organization if you want to be involved.
Choose an organization that works to save and protect the environment. You can join an organization with a general focus on the environment, or one that supports a specific area. There may also be a local environmental group that you can join. Volunteer your time to help promote a better environment. You can help by picking up litter, fixing bikes, planting trees and gardens, cleaning up rivers, and educating others. Find an activity that suits your interests and set aside some time to go and help out.
As an individual, there are lots of things you can do, starting with not littering or polluting. Dispose of everything properly, and even better, reduce your waste so that there is less to return to the landfill. Compost your food scraps and other compostables, to return nutrients to the soils. Lobby to have cleaner waters and air in your part of the world and make submissions whenever new projects are proposed that might cause more destruction of nature.
Think before assuming that all human activities are either necessary or have to be done as they currently are -- think about a cleaner future and what it would take to get us there.
That is a positive thing to do, not a scary thing at all. Not Helpful 34 Helpful You are part of the environment and your very well-being depends on the healthiness and well-being of the environment around you. Your food, your air, your water and your sense of overall well-being is all sourced from nature. Since the era of industrialisation, human beings have assumed that the planet is something to tame and control, to be outside of and apart from.
As a result, many practices from factories and chemicals on the farm, to cars and mass manufacturing have left scars on the environment that we now have an obligation to heal and restore.
Not Helpful 39 Helpful That is a big question with no single, easy answer! On the one hand, it's about restoring or encouraging natural processes so that the ecosystems function healthily but without assuming we can control those processes -- rather, we need to learn to live with them. It's also about restoring habitats, so that animal and plant species can survive in a healthy way.
On the other hand, the phrase actually implies "save human beings" because if we don't respond effectively to such as issues as climate change, degraded ecosystems and other environment challenges, the survival of the human species is at risk. The definition really depends on which angle you're coming at it from but it might help to realize that if we muck things up so much that we cannot survive, the equilibrium will be restored without us.
Not Helpful 41 Helpful It is important to care for you environment because the future could look bleak, like in Dr. Seuss' story, "The Lorax. Not Helpful 35 Helpful Melissa C. There are lots of advantages to helping save the environment! Doing your part to help means that you are working to ensure there are enough high-quality resources for yourself and future generations. And typically when you are doing things to save the environment like using less water, for instance you are also saving money--which can be a huge advantage for many people!
Not Helpful 11 Helpful A country could possibly put a higher tax on things that are harmful to the environment, such as meat, dairy, plastic bags, etc. Not Helpful 30 Helpful The top reason why trees are cut down in the rainforest is for grazing land for cattle. That cattle is then later killed to be sold. You can save trees by not eating meat or dairy, or you can use products that contain recycled paper. Not Helpful 31 Helpful The recycling process is more expensive than the process of making new paper.
Helping the environment is often more effortful and expensive than not bothering, which is why many people and companies don't bother. You will often find that environmentally friendly products costs a little more.
It's up to you to decide whether that's worth investing in. Not Helpful 33 Helpful It would be awesome if everyone could, but no. That's your personal decision. Not Helpful 46 Helpful
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