Making the shift towards an environmentally-friendly lifestyle can help improve your health and life overall, and it’s also a major boost to the world around you. Ditching unnecessary chemicals, unhealthy foods, unfriendly Earth practices, and bad habits/routines can all add together to make an altogether healthier you, whilst boosting the environment and ecosystem.
Following tips are all achievable endeavors. Some of them are even great fun! So indulge yourselves whilst we all fight for a Greener future.
Save Energy
One of the most direct step is to reduce the amount of energy that you use in your apartment. Along with making your apartment greener, saving energy has real, tangible benefits on your life in that it can save you money. Although some energy-saving techniques require some initial financial outlay, in the long-term the money you save can really add up.
Some energy-saving improvements you could consider include the following:
Use low energy light bulbs
Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) save energy and money – typically they use one-third to one-fifth electricity compared to traditional incandescent bulbs, and last eight to fifteen times longer.
Switch off appliances when they are not in use
Leaving electric items such as computers, audio-visual equipment, and kitchen appliances on “standby” uses electricity. Similarly, when your phone is fully charged, unplug the charger to conserve power
Insulate your apartment
Insulating your apartment properly can make heating much more efficient. Some local authorities offer insulation schemes so it is worthwhile to take the time to investigate whether you are eligible for free apartment insulation.
Wash your clothes at low temperatures
Much of the energy used in washing laundry is expended on heating the water, so always opt for a lower temperature when possible.
Line-dry laundry
Tumble drying clothes uses large amounts of electricity, so use a washing line or drying rack to dry your laundry more naturally.
Cover pans when cooking
Whenever you cook on the hob, always try to cover the pans – this reduces the amount of energy that escapes from open pans, plus the amount of time it takes to heat up food and boil water.
Save Water
Saving water around the apartment is another way to reduce the environmental impact of your lifestyle and as with reducing energy usage, can save you plenty of money.
Use short cycles for washing clothes
Modern washing machines have an “Eco Wash” option you should take full advantage of.
Fix leaks
Ensuring there are no leaks in your plumbing system – including pipes, taps, toilet cisterns – helps prevent unnecessary water wastage.
Take short showers
Hot showers are an incredible luxury, so don’t waste this by spending far too long in the shower.
Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth
An often-forgotten habit that wastes litres of water. Turn off the tap.
Install tap aerators on all your taps
Aerators are cheap additions to the end of taps that reduce the flow of water while improving the pressure of a tap’s stream.
Install a low-flow shower head
Low-flow shower heads work in a similar way to tap aerators – aerating the stream of water, improving pressure and saving plenty of water and energy.
Boil only as much water as you require
Tea and coffee drinkers can help here! Be careful with those kettles.
Cut Down on Fuel
Whenever possible, avoid driving in a car. Local journeys can be made by walking or cycling, and always look for public transport routes when traveling further.
Obviously, these options are not available to everyone depending on personal circumstances, but cycling and walking will keep you active and help the local environment.
Share Car Rides
If you have to travel by car, investigate the possibilities for carpooling with friends and neighbors, sharing journeys for work and leisure, thus reducing the number of cars on the roads. Many busy offices actively promote such schemes so ask around to see if you can take advantage of this.
Go Organic
The food we consume has a profound effect on the global environment – as the world’s population grows, the demand for food increases and the strain on ecologies and habitats increases. The issues around food production, supply, and consumption are extremely complex, but there are some considerations that could help reduce the environmental impact of what you eat while also offering a healthy lifestyle include:
Choose local, seasonal produce.
If you eat meat, reduce the number of meals containing meat you eat each week.
If you eat fish, choose sustainably-sourced species and fishing methods.
Avoid food with unnecessary packaging, as this just leads to additional, unnecessary rubbish for your bin.
Always look for sustainable, fair-trade, environmentally-friendly food, as this helps the economy.
Avoid Bottled Water
Bottled water is inefficient, expensive, and produces large amounts of plastic waste. Instead, use a refillable water bottle and tap water; if you like you could use a water filter to cleanse the tap water and chill the water in the fridge.
Ditch Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are appallingly wasteful to the environment. It is believed that 100 billion plastic shopping bags are used in our country each year, and only 1-3% of worldwide plastic bags are recycled. This means a huge amount of waste, much of which ends up in the wild areas. But you can also help a great deal by using Earth friendly bags (such as paper, of Bags For Life), and recycle any old plastic bags you have lying around.
Green Gifts
When giving a gift consider a greener alternative, such as making your own present, or offering some of your time and skills to do a favor for your friend or loved one.
Grow Food in Your Garden
Growing food saves money, gives you an understanding of food production, and puts you in touch with nature. There is, of course, the problem of having neither the time or garden space to plant and nurture a whole vegetable patch, so head for something simple such as potted herbs or a potato sack, which can be grow effectively on a windowsill.
Make Cleaning Products
Modern household cleaning products are expensive, and often damaging to the environment, so a great green alternative is to make some yourself. Safe and environmentally-friendly substitutes use ingredients such as baking soda, soap flakes, lemon, cornstarch and vinegar.
Choose Plant-Based Cleaners
If you haven’t got time to make cleaning products, you can make the switch to environmentally-friendly options instead. Some brands making products, that are made from natural, sustainable, plant-based ingredients that don’t leave chemical residue behind, and are biodegradable. Very handy for both your crockery and the local wildlife.
Buy Recycled Paper
Modern recycled paper is perfectly acceptable for most everyday document and letter printing.
Go Paper-less
If you want to go a step further you can choose to go paperless! You can receive all your bills and letters from banks, energy companies, and other service providers by email. And remember: don’t print off documents unless it’s absolutely vital. You can also help the process by recycling any paper and card you no longer need.
