Categories: Lifestyle

5 Eco-Friendly Changes That Will Make A Difference

Being eco-friendly is a huge benefit to the health of our planet. Some may view it as a trend, but it’s a trend that immensely helpful and healthy. Here are a few eco-friendly changes that will make a huge impact on the health of our planet.

1. Shop Your Kitchen

There’s a huge movement for eco-friendly products on the market, which is great! However, it seems they are pushed on the public as essentials to earn greenie points and produce profit, which is just producing more consumerism and waste! Think of the packaging these come in or the items you already have in your kitchen that will be thrown out!

Before you go out to buy a number of eco-friendly reusable containers and cute beeswax wraps for your lunchbox, have look around your kitchen. You may find a bunch of useful things already sitting in your cupboard!

Instead of recycling empty glass jars, keep them to store leftovers in the fridge or use one for a salad and take it to work or school with you! Use biscuit tins, old containers, and other things you may have lying around rather than buying new containers.

2. Ditch The One Use Plastic

When eating out, opt for paper or wood cutlery instead of plastic. These may go into regular trash bins but they will still decompose at a faster rate than plastic!

If you have a bunch of plastic wrap or plastic sandwich bags already in your cupboards, don’t throw them out! Use them up and then buy alternatives or use other means to store and preserve your food.

Take a bag with you to the supermarket instead of buying plastic reusable bags. Or get creative and take a basket or a box to carry your items out of the store, anything that can hold stuff and you can carry is perfect!

3. Buy A Keep Cup

If you have a coffee addiction like the rest of us, buying a keep cup will make a huge difference! Thousands of paper cups make their way to landfills every day, so having a reusable cup will cut that number down significantly.

Some brands sell their keep cups at exorbitant prices but don’t be deterred by that. Use a glass jar with a screw top lid! Or simply bring a mug! Anything you can drink out of and will fit under a coffee machine, you can use!

4. Plant These To Save The Bees

Bees are to thank for almost 80% of the plants we get our food from, so they are insanely valuable insects that are essential for our survival! Bee populations are rapidly dwindling, so planting a few of their favourite flowers will help them survive!

Planting beautiful flowers and herbs such as rosemary, thyme, lavender, poppy, fennel, verbena, buttercups and many more will increase the attraction of bees and help them survive! Find some seedlings at your local nursery and plant them in pots or in your garden! If you already have some of these growing, ensure their survival by taking extra good care of them.

5. Cut Down Your Meat Intake

Avoiding meat and dairy products is one of the biggest ways to decrease your impact on the environment. This is because the livestock industry produces more greenhouse gas emission than all cars on the road combined. Also, consider the deforestation and land required to house such animals.

Don’t feel guilty about eating meat, it’s a huge cultural staple for some people but the industry itself is rife with problems that harm our environment.

Start incorporating one meat-free day a week or opt for vegetarian options when eating out and you’ll be helping the environment and your health in no time! Incorporating more plant-based meals will ultimately impact your health and the environment in one go!