5 ways YOU can help the environment by doing NOTHING
This week we celebrate World Environment Day! World Environment Day has been happening every year, on June 5th, since 1974, and is used for engaging governments, businesses, celebrities, and citizens to focus their efforts on a pressing environmental issue.
Unfortunately, this year we can’t strike for the climate or go out in the wild to see it and celebrate it. We have to stay at home where it’s safe and do nothing.
So you want us to stay home and do nothing? But, aren’t you constantly telling us to take action?
Yes, I want you to stay home and do nothing because ‘’ doing nothing’’ can actually help the environment! Yeah, that’s right!
Today I am bringing you 5 ways you can help the environment by doing nothing!
1 — Don’t eat as much meat!
Did you know animal products are responsible for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions? Yeah, that’s right.
The amount of methane livestock releases into the atmosphere is equivalent to emitting 3.1 gigatonnes extra of carbon dioxide every year!!
Methane and Carbon dioxide are both gases related to the greenhouse effect. If you don’t know what the greenhouse effect is, it’s a process that occurs when the gases in the atmosphere trap the sun’s heat making the earth a lot warmer.
The greenhouse effect is a normal process that needs to occur in order to maintain the earth’s temperature and it is what makes it livable. However, due to human activity, it’s changing and the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is contributing to global warming.
Like you can see in this graphic one of the top 10 ways to reduce your carbon footprint is switching to a vegan diet.
Overall, reducing your meat intake will directly affect greenhouse gas emissions and, therefore, it will affect global warming in a positive way.
You will also be contributing to SDG 13- Climate Action that aims to end climate change and reduce the impacts caused by it.
2- Don’t hoard
How many times have you found yourself keeping things just because they might come in handy? How many times have you bought more food than you were planning just because there was a sale?
Well, I can tell you that I’ve done both of those things multiple times in the past — and I still fall into this trap sometimes — but, the truth is that avoiding this hoarding behavior is very good for the environment.
Food hoarding can lead to food waste if you don’t consume all the items you bought before they go bad. As we have talked before food wasting is a huge problem!
Besides that, hoarding can turn your house into a small dumpster and, if you don’t dispose of your accumulated items properly through recycling, you will be adding to the landfill problem.
Landfills are also big contributors to the greenhouse effect because, like livestock, they produce a lot of methane that is released in big quantities to the atmosphere.
All of this has a huge impact on the SDGs!
Just like reducing your meat intake, if you stop hoarding you will also be contributing a lot to SDG 13- Climate Action.
Not only that but, it hoarding also has a huge impact on SDG 12 — Responsible production and Consumption — that aims to both halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and sustainably reduce waste generation.
And, overall, it also has a huge impact on SDG 2 — Zero Hunger that aims to achieve sustainable food production and distribution systems.
3- Don’t throw out your Leftovers
How many times have you cooked more food than you could eat? Well, I used to do that all the time when I first started to live alone.
But, what do you do with all those leftovers? I hope you are not trashing them because, if you are, you are adding to the already existing problem of food wasting.
According to the World Food Programme, 1.3 Billion tons of food are wasted in the word! Being more mindful of our food intake has a huge impact on SDG 2 — No Hunger, which aims to end hunger and ensure access to safe food for everyone, all year round, by 2030.
It’s really important that you learn to love your leftovers because it’s not that hard! If you don’t feel like eating the same thing every day, you can look up this incredible website that has amazing ideas on how to turn your leftovers into completely new dishes!
Not only will you be eating something different, but you will also be taking action for SDG 2 while not leaving the comfort of your home!
4- Don’t use single-use tableware
So, how many single-use straws do you have in your kitchen from the many times you order a take-out? How many napkins would you have if you didn’t throw them away? And maybe even some forks and spoons?
Well, let’s be real, we all have plenty of these single-use items. But that has to change!
Single-use items such as straws or disposable forks and spoons end, in most cases, in the ocean, where they are very harmful to marine life. In 2018, at a beach cleanup, volunteers collected, in just one day, 2 million single-use tableware.
It’s very harmful to SDG 14 — Life Below Water that aims to prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds.
How can you fix this? It’s easy! Just ask your take-out services not to include any disposable items such as forks, napkins, and straws. Instead, you can just use your own silverware that you already have at home.
Another great alternative is cooking it yourself, that way you won’t be needing disposable items any time soon!
5- Don’t buy any more plastic water bottles
Did you know that, on average, humans buy 1,000,000 plastic bottles per minute? That’s a lot of plastic bottles for just one single minute!
Just like the disposable items mentioned above, most of these plastic bottles end up in our oceans where they end up causing a lot of harm to marine life.
A great way to overcome this problem is by switching to a reusable water bottle! Yes, that’s right! It is that simple!
Besides that, there’s a trend going around where people are customizing their water bottles which could also be a good thing to occupy your time during this social distancing!
In the end, all of these are really small things that have a huge impact on the planet!
We need to start to recognize that, sometimes, just changing some of our old habits can have a huge impact on the planet and completely change it for the better.
Sometimes we fear that small action is the same as doing nothing but, frankly, it’s the small actions that make the difference. Next time you want to do one of these things, just don’t!
So, stay home and safe and do ‘’nothing’’ while still helping our planet.
