There are so many simple and easy ways you can help save the planet from climate change. So many that we need to make multiple top ten lists so stay tuned for them. Most of this tips will only have a small impact, but if you do them every day and spread the word to more people; it can make a huge impact. So read on for some simple tips and don’t forget to share these tips with your friends and family.
10. Use Ecosia as your search engine
If you are still using Google or other search engine you should seriously consider switching to Ecosia for many reasons. Firstly, as you search you will see ads like you do on Google or other search engines but all the profit from these ads goes towards planting trees! Ecosia has already planted over 68 million trees as of writing this. This is a fantastic achievement which draws many million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And you can help by making Ecosia your default search engine on their website. Roughly every 45 searches equals one tree planted, so get searching! This means you are saving the planet by doing something you would be anyway; so there is such a small impact to your life from this change.
Additionally, they respect your privacy by anonymizing searches and not tracking you, which is more than can be said for other search engines like Google. Just another benefit to using Ecosia.
9. Switch to a bamboo toothbrush
Not only do they look much cooler, bamboo toothbrushes are much better for the environment than their plastic counterparts. Most plastic toothbrushes can’t be recycled and have to go to landfill. And since they are replaced every 3 months or so as recommended by dental associations that leads to a lot of waste. Using a bamboo toothbrush can alleviate some of this land fill. The toothbrush stem/handle can be composted instead of thrown away once the bristles are no longer usable. You just need to remove the bristle as these are generally made of nylon and are not compostable. They are easy enough to pull out with pliers or at the very least snap off the brush head to throw out.
Bonus tip: you can use old tooth brushes as cleaning brushes until they get really degraded. Great for cleaning grout and other hard to reach areas.
8. Repair clothes
A fantastic way to reduce your impact on the environment is to repair your clothes where possible. This reduces the amount of new clothes you need to buy; saving you money and the emissions required to make those clothes. Most small holes could be repaired at home using a sewing kit and a technique like darning. For anything more difficult you could take the clothes to a tailor for repair, unfortunately this profession seems to be dying out. Likely due to the advent of fast fashion. You could also just wear your holey clothes with pride! Or just around the house if you are more than a little bit sartorial.
7. Move towards zero waste
Another simple way to help save the planet is to reduce your waste. Reducing the amount of waste you produce, reduces the impact on flora and fauna as well as reducing resulting from the production of materials. We recently published a post covering 10 easy ways to reduce your waste and move towards living zero waste. You can can find that post here. Please have read and try out some of the tips. They will all have a huge impact if many people consistently act on them.
6. Use one piece of paper when drying your hands
According to Joe Smith below, over 571 million less pounds of paper could used if everyone in America everyone only used one paper towel to dry their hands instead of three or four. His technique below involves shaking and folding. Shake your hands 12 times after washing. Then fold one piece of paper towel and dry your hands. The shaking removes most of the water from your hands. Then folding the paper increases its absorption capability. This is a great technique to reduce the amount paper used in the world. Some other options include: wiping your hands on your clothes if they are clean or using an air dryer. But sometimes these options aren’t available so it’s best to reduce paper towel usage with this technique.
5. Take public transport, cycle or walk
Changing your transport habits can make some of the biggest differences to your emissions. Driving a car everywhere requires huge emissions in the production and running of the car. Using public transport for your commute is a fantastic way to reduce emissions particularly if the train, bus, ferry or tram is electrified and powered by renewables! YOU also get plenty of spare time to read or learn something instead of just sitting in traffic. Cycling and walking are even better. Zero emissions and amazing for your health. They are great ways to warm up for a day of work or wind down in the afternoon. Give it a go, even if you only start with 1 day a week and slowly work your way up to more.
4. Turn lights off when you aren’t using them.
Another super simple tip, be mindful of switching off lights when you aren’t using them. This doesn’t have a large impact but will reduce the emissions from electricity generation and also light pollution. Every light in a city contributes towards light pollution, causing us to miss out on the beautiful night sky. Lights are great but it is also nice to look at the night sky with as little light pollution as possible. In the same vein, try to mindful about tuning off other appliances like monitor and TVs if they don’t have energy saving standby modes.
3. Take shorter showers
Water security is massive issues in many places in the world, and it will only get worse in the future. Therefore we need to be mindful about our water usage to ensure we have a sustainable cycle. One way to help with this is to take shorter showers. Under four or five minutes is ideal, and anything lower is amazing. Most times it doesn’t take that long to have a shower. Having cold showers is a great way to reduce your time in the shower. It also has some great benefits for your health! Another quick tip is to turn off the water while your are lathering or waiting for your conditioner.
2. Reduce air conditioner usage
While reducing your air conditioner usage sounds challenging, it is a simple way to reduce your impact on the earth. Air conditioners are extremely energy intensive appliances that are responsible for a lot of emissions. So even raising the temperature by a couple of degrees or so can greatly reduce emissions. Using a fan instead of the air conditioner is also a great alternative when the temperatures aren’t so bad. In the car on nice days, roll the windows down and let the breeze cool you down instead of the air conditioner.
1. Share these ideas with family and friends
As mentioned most of these tips only have a small impact by themselves. But if you action them consistently and many others do the same we can have a huge impact collectively. So I recommended sharing these tips to your friends and family. Lead by example and show others it is possible to help save the planet without hindering your life much at all.
What do you think of our tips? Got any simple ways to help save the planet that we missed? Let us know in the comments below. Also feel free to share these tips with your friends and family to get them on board to help save our planet.
Alche is a passionate writer about many topics and wants to share knowledge in a simple way so all readers can enjoy and learn.