Now that the COP26 climate summit is over, I felt that the momentum has slowed down regarding climate change in the media. Therefore this post is a quick reminder of the simple changes you can make to help us become more sustainable and stave off global warming. These quick eco fixes can be easily integrated into your daily life and holiday routines.
1) Make an effort to walk or cycle more. Even if it is just swapping one journey a week, it will make a difference. Can you manage getting up ten minutes earlier and walking to work or school instead of getting the car out? Walking not only is good for reducing pollution, it also wakes your body up properly ready to focus on work.
2) Have a meat-free day every week. It is easy and fun to come up with or follow vegetable-centred recipes. I have recently started to have more vegetables in my main meals, choosing vegetable lasagnes and pasta dishes over my traditional chicken or bacon meals.
3) Make time for educating yourself about climate change. Check out one of the many documentaries which are informative and thought-provoking. Greta Thunberg has a few programmes on the BBC iPlayer and Netflix has ‘Our Planet’ or ‘Cowspiracy.’
4) Clean and recycle waste products. Just because your yoghurt pot is dirty, don’t pop it into your normal household waste. Rinse it and recycle it. Recycling centres often reject unclean items so a quick rinse makes a difference.
5) Plan a holiday involving rail or sea. Try and swap your next jet-set trip for one using the rail, or even using a ferry or ship. Planes are the ultimate polluters and taking time to find alternative ways to travel is really important. For me, Eurostar is the key for trips to Europe.
6) When keeping fit, avoid cars. So many people drive somewhere to go for a walk or cycle. Rather than driving to the gym or taking your pet in your car to a park, find a closer alternative. Try home workouts or walking to the gym. Go for a run around your block. It sounds silly but so many car miles are taken up getting to a leisure venue in preparation for fitness activities.
Sorry if I am sounding as though I am saying obvious things but we have to do as much as we can to make changes. Let’s face it, our governments are nodding their heads but facilitating very little actual change. If you want more thoughts about climate change, check out this blog post.
I personally love walks. Its great to walk places.
I have to admit, I do drive to take a walk somewhere, but I live in regional Australia and there’s no trains or buses. But I do recycle all of my cans separately, pick up rubbish that I see which people have left, and when we visit anywhere, I tell my daughter that we’re only allowed to leave footprints 🙂 It’s sad that Cop23 didn’t achieve what we wanted, but I’m hoping that cutting emissions down to 2005 levels by 2030 will be a good start. Then fingers crossed we can be as close to net zero as possible by 2050. We just all have to do our bit 🙂 Great post.
The problem is the USA and China need to do a lot more.
These are all really great tips. I try to follow them as much as I can. I don’t eat meat or dairy, I use public transport whenever possible, I always recycle when possible etc. They’re kind of obvious tips but I think we could all use a reminder now and then and of course there are people these things may not be obvious to.
These are great and easy ideas that everyone can do. We love the company Lush because you can bring back clean used containers to the store and they recycle them for future products. In exchange you get a free face mask.
Oh yes and H and M take clothes back too.
Yes, I guess I have kinda forgotten that it is the simplest things that we do that can make a healthy difference to the climate. Thanks for sharing this important article. There are things that we can do to make a change.
Thank you for commenting.
These are such great ideas. Thanks so much for sharing them!
All good reminders as it’s easy to fall into getting in the car to drive to a walk, etc. Thanks for this!
One of my pet peeves, especially here in the US, are people who drive around parking lots to find the perfect parking spot close to the entrance. It’s so much better for the environment (and you) to get a spot at the back of the lot where there are always spaces and walk the extra steps.
So many great tips here, Jamie! If we were all to do these, we could be of such an impact with climate change!
For sure.
They certainly do 🙁