Easy Ways to Lessen Your Environmental Impact in 2018

Not very long ago, the world was bitterly divided by the debate about climate change, but thank goodness those dark days are firmly behind us. The world is more aware, more enlightened about the terrible effects on the environment some of our activities cause, but we still have some ways to go. Taking care of the environment is often mistaken even by those who accept its reality as a sole responsibility of governments around the world. People take their day-to-day activities and the lasting impact it has on the environment for granted.

Often you will get a puzzled look when you suggest to someone that their activities might be as bad long-term to what some of the worst environment polluters are doing. It may sound astounding or unbelievable, but we all contribute our quota in impacting this precious planet of ours, either positively or negatively. Self-awareness of what we constantly do that is bad for the planet and taking action to change it is very important. And as the new year kicks off, we compiled a few easy ways you and I can contribute our own little part in saving this planet. Take this as our 2018 environmental action resolution:

Shop Local

One of the easiest things we could easily adjust with very little discomfort is our shopping habits. We often go to malls in order to buy that dairy milk only from Holland, or that Swiss cheese, flowers from Belgium, or even fruits brought from a far away Latin American country. It is easy to feel that all we need do to help the environment is buy a hybrid car, when our shopping activities potentially cause much greater damage to the environment than all our driving around town combined.

Goods transported over very long distances come with enormous carbon prints with them. From the farm where they were produced to the storage where they are kept, and then to a far away cargo airport where they will use further machinery to upload it on a flight that will emit countless number of CO2s before it is brought to your own country. Again the cycle of transportation and storage is replicated until it reaches the mall where you take your hybrid vehicle to go and buy it. To cut the story short, if you simply bought the same kind of product that is made at a farm closest to you, which might in the end be even actually better tasting (just without the Swiss Brand of course) you would have helped the planet save a lot of pain that environmental degradation causes. Without demand, these products will not be commuted half way round the world, and an added bonus is that you will be helping your environmentally friendly local economy.

Electricity

No list of reducing our environmental impacts will be complete without adding the way we use electricity to it. The awareness about using energy efficient LED bulbs has spread over the last few years with a lot of gain recorded. But there is still some distance to go on this struggle. It is very important that we look at the way we use electricity around the house and make the necessary painless adjustments to help our planet heal itself.

A simple way that comes to mind is the way we often leave our home appliances perpetually on power even when we are not at home or when we are not using them while we are around. It is very important to dislodge the myth that your TV and other appliances don’t consume energy when on stand-by, because they do. Teach yourself and especially your kids (if you have) to disconnect everything from the toaster, hair dryers, chargers, and blenders from the power source whenever they are done using them. It won’t hurt you to take a few steps from where you are standing to unplug, while it will do the planet unimaginable good that you did it.

Another great way to not only conserve electricity, but also save money is to go solar. From rooftop solar panels to solar outdoor lighting, you can reduce your home's electricity usage by going solar. Solar Us offers some of the best outdoor solar lighting money can buy, and you can bet our sustainable products are not only good for the environment, but also look great on your home, patio, or yard. To learn more about adding solar power to your home, be sure and check out this article about the benefits of a solar powered home by our friends at Porch!

Plant Your Own Carbon Print Deleting Trees

This is an activity that can be very good not just for the planet, but it can also be awesome for your physical and emotional health. If you have a big enough garden around in your house then plant a few trees that will eventually come to provide shade for you and your family, while aiding in undoing some of the harm humanity does to the planet. Trees are the perfect natural tools as they use that which we desperately need to “delete” which is carbon dioxide, and give us that which will make our air cleaner which is fresh oxygen. If you want to do even more, take a picnic trip with family to a reserve and do as much planting as you can. It might not be your own home, but it is the home of innumerable other living beings that will benefit from your actions.

Be Conservative with Water Use

Using water reasonably in the house by implementing so many simple things that will cause little or no change to your level of comfort can go a long way in helping planet earth more than you may ever think. While it is just as important to keep our bodies hygienically sound by bathing regularly, most of us are guilty of leaving the tap on for long periods before we actually go in to take the shower. And sometimes when brushing our teeth, we let the faucet open from the beginning to the end. It is often times the little things that come together to wreck havoc. When being conscious when we’re using water, we could easily save as much as 50 percent of the water we use, which will directly mean a decrease in our energy use and costs. Having water in abundance doesn’t mean we should take it for granted as there are millions around the world who barely have enough to drink. Have an environmentally conscious 2018!