Saving the world isn’t just for activists and those with unlimited amounts of energy.
Even regular, lazy couch potatoes can make a difference by adjusting daily habits and changing wasteful ways.
These small contributions to the planet’s wellbeing are important and can add up to make a large difference over time.
This infographic by WEARETOP10 lays out some of the most effective ways that normal people can help save the planet and be eco-friendlier in their everyday lives. Here are five of the best ways you can start adopting today.
- Be More Conscious of Light Levels
Human beings are creatures of habit, and many people do certain things upon coming home without even thinking about it. Flicking on the lights in each room might be one of them.
A lot of people are guilty of instinctively turning on lights without considering how necessary it really is to see within the room.
Most of the time, if you are sitting still and watching television or playing a computer game, the device screen provides more than enough light.
Turning off lights you don’t really need saves electricity, extends the life of the bulb and sets a good example for the rest of the people living in your home.
- Stop Wasting Paper
Examine your home and work habits to see where you can cut unnecessary amounts of paper from your life.
Get paperless billing statements from your utility providers and bank. As an added benefit, this can solve the clutter problem many homes have. Less papers coming in means less pile up on your countertops and kitchen table.
You can also share resources like books and magazines with friends and coworkers. This cuts down on the amount of paper that ends up in the garbage and gives the item a new life.
- Cut Down on Car Trips
Another bad habit many people have is taking a car trip when walking, biking or taking a bus will do. This is wasteful in a few ways:
- It expends your gas, which is hard on your pocket
- It creates more pollution as a byproduct of driving
As an added benefit, walking, biking or taking public transportation allows you to reclaim the time to spend commuting.
You can use this time to read a book, listen to a podcast or just enjoy some downtime. If you are biking or walking, there can be added health benefits for you because of being more active, like losing weight and toning muscles.
In some cases, it’s just not possible to use a method besides driving to get where you are going. These are good opportunities to carpool with coworkers or friends.
- Recycle Wherever Possible
Recycling can make a big difference in the amount of waste that ends up in our landfills and adopting the habit of recycling whatever you can at home, work and while you’re out running errands can drastically cut down on the amount of waste you create.
At home, you can recycle many kinds of items and even start a compost for food scraps. Most curb recycling pickup programs will take glass, plastic, paper and some kinds of metals.
At work, you can recycle papers, use refillable water bottles instead of disposable ones and stop printing memos or documents that aren’t necessary.
- Share Your Tips with Others
Whether you start a recycling program at work that helps others learn how to be eco-friendlier or share articles that provoke thought on social media, spreading the word about saving the planet is easy to do and starts a ripple effect with everyone who sees it.
For easier to implement tips, check out The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving The World
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