Last week, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres posted on his Instagram page, “We cannot wait any longer for bold and decisive climate action.” The world has just witnessed its highest temperature record for the last 90 years — Californian Death Valley has reached 130 F (54.4 C). If you feel helpless during the quarantine, here’s how to save the planet while being at home:
Read good natural living blogs and research as much as you can. Some great blogs about eco-friendly life: You Grow Girl, Zero Waste Home, The Good Trade, and The Sustainable Edit.
Eat less meat. The meat industry is one of the biggest contributors to water pollution and global greenhouse gas emissions (it causes about one-fifth of them). Farming animals for meat and dairy requires space and huge inputs of water and feed. If going vegan sounds too extreme for you, try adding the plant-based diet into your life step by step. Don’t forget to check vegan meat options such as Impossible Food and Beyond Meat (same amount of protein, different impact).
Replace some of your bathroom products with reusable cotton alternatives. 20,000 liters of water are needed to make just one kilogram of cotton. The chemicals produced by cotton not grown organically can pollute the environment even more. Good news – there are reusable cloth pads and q-tips that you can just clean with water and soap when you need to. They come in all kinds of colors and shapes, so cute!
Stop using disposable bags & water bottles. Shoppers use 500 billion single-use plastic bags every year, which is enough plastic to circle the globe 4,200 times if you string them end-to-end. Get some reusable bags or make your own — it’s pretty easy and there’re a lot of patterns on Pinterest (customize it as much as you can). Then, purchase a reusable water bottle (hope you have already ditched plastic straws at this point). Bottling water releases 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, and 2 million tons of plastic bottles end up in landfills annually.
Recycle but do it right. Recycling differs from state to state so it is important to follow the rules and know what goes where. There are still a lot of things you probably keep doing wrong (like, not cleaning your oily takeout containers before putting them in the bin). Waste managers even have a term for this – “wishful” or “aspirational recycling” (you tried but you did more harm than good).
Use your voice and stand up against climate change. If you think your action is not enough, spread the word among your friends and family. Talk to them about things like recycling, reusable plastic, carbon-neutral companies, etc. That’s what we, at GreenMo., aim to do — one of our core values is helping the environment and educating our readers about climate change. We hope to make a difference!
Get active online. Direct action is needed to restore nature and tackle the main causes of its decline. You can become a member of WWF, donate, or even adopt a penguin – all while chilling on your couch! There is a list of wild animals that have been affected by global warming. Adopt a panda, a leopard, or a dolphin from £3 a month and get adoption updates a few times a year.
R E G I S T E R T O V O T E ! Electing someone whose goal is to reduce carbon footprint won’t necessarily fix everything. However, not voting for her/him is never getting a chance to try to fix everything. Just think about it.
Ironically, the climate crisis has never been treated as a crisis. Yet, any kind of emergency requires one thing – action. There are a lot of stuff we do daily that affect the environment and cause global warming. Let’s get honest with ourselves and bring the impact this world needs. “Don't blow it — good planets are hard to find.”