How to Lead a More Environmentally Friendly Lifestyle
The world is in crisis, as volatile weather patterns and melting ice caps serve to punctuate the growing dangers of man-made climate emergency. Government responses around the world have been swift and vocal, but many campaigners are claiming new net-zero directives are too little, too late.
Meanwhile, a groundswell of support for sustainable living measures from the public has seen an increase in interest in organic and eco-friendly produce, and more households than ever asking key questions about how they can live more sustainably. Here are some of the best ways you can have a positive impact on the environment as an individual.
Go Electric
The single biggest contributor to individual carbon footprints relates to the consumption of fossil fuels, with cars representing a significant ecological burden. According to recent government estimates, driving a car from London to Glasgow is 3.3 times more emissive a journey than the same one taken by train – making a compelling argument for a switch to public transport.
However, public transport is not always the most convenient option for a diverse household, and new developments in electric vehicle technology have seen viable models of plug-in electric car become commercially available. Fundamentally speaking, electric cars produce less emissions than their petrol- or diesel-powered counterparts. They also cost less to run overall, saving you valuable money you can use elsewhere in your sustainability mission.
Shop Sustainably
The way in which we purchase and consume household goods can also have a taxing impact on the environment, whether through buying produce that has accrued a large number of air-miles to get to your kitchen or through buying an abundance of wasteful single-use plastic products, which pose serious threats to local and global aquatic life.
There are a number of ways you can make your shopping more sustainable. The most drastic action you can take is to change your habits completely, and swap the supermarkets for shops that offer package-less or refill shopping. Not only do these decrease your reliance on excessive plastic packaging, but also often source their goods from local suppliers. If the supermarket is too convenient to pass up, though, looking for recyclable packaging and preferring locallysourced products can make a great deal of difference.
Grow Your Own Groceries
Of course, there is a way in which you can tangibly reduce the size of your weekly shop, while lightening your personal environmental load when it comes to organic produce. By acquiring allotment space, orcreating a fruit and veg patch in your back garden, you can start to grow your own groceries from scratch.
Supermarket shopping has gotten us used to a particular kind of abundance and variety; one where potatoes from Israel are stocked next to tomatoes from the Netherlands. This kind of abundance involves a complex and inefficient web of food distribution networks, and leads to millions of tonnes of food going to landfill.
But abundance is available on UK soil, and can be achieved in the back garden with some shrewd gardening. You could grow year-round, providing yourself with nourishing food that hasn’t contributed to global warming.
