Can you look at your lifestyle and the daily habits you have and honestly say that you’re not a wasteful person? If you say that you can, you’re lying to yourself because everyone is wasteful, and there’s honestly no way to completely avoid it. But there are ways to drastically reduce how much you waste on a daily basis… it just will be up to you to be willing to make some lifestyle changes and changes to your daily routine.
Understand that these changes aren’t ones that have to be done immediately or all at once, but small daily changes will certainly put you on the right path to living a less wasteful life. And let’s just be transparent here for a moment… It’s a known fact that our lifestyle and choices we make every day have a negative impact on the environment. And if we want to do right by the environment for our children, and our children’s children, we have to start making changes now.
When it comes to “going green,” many people get discouraged before even getting started simply because they feel that the little changes they make won’t have a real impact on the world, when the reality is that it can indeed make quite the difference.
There are lots of things we do on a daily basis that negatively impacts the environment but one of the biggest impacts we have on it is wasting. Wasting, of course, comes in many different forms. From food to energy, we’re going to discuss the many ways you can become less wasteful in your daily routine and daily habits.
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Ways to Live a Less Wasteful Lifestyle
Switch to Electricity Generated From Renewable Resources
Do you dread getting your electric bill every month? Well, if you’re like most people, you probably do simply because next to your mortgage or rent payments, your electric bill is the next most expensive monthly bill.
The thing to understand about your electric bill is that it can get expensive due to your energy usage, of course, but sometimes the electric company itself is charging you way too much for electricity, especially when there are more affordable electricity options.
Did you know that residents in New York get to utilize community solar in New York? This is electricity generated from solar energy on solar farms, which means it’s not using oil or coal to produce electricity in homes… electricity is generated from energy from the sun. Not only does this reduce your carbon footprint on the environment but it’s not wasting energy because the electricity is coming from a renewable resource.
Avoid Eating Takeout and Fast-Food
This will be a tough one for many people because takeout food is so convenient. Unfortunately, your convenient takeout food is seriously inconveniencing the environment. When you order fast-food or takeout, it comes with bags, containers, and single-use utensils, which when thrown away, pollutes the environment. Instead, test out your skills in the kitchen. You just might be able to create your favorite meals from some of your favorite restaurants.
Turn Off the Water While Brushing Your Teeth
Did you know that one in ten people in the world has access to clean water? And the more we waste water through senseless acts, the harder it is for less fortunate people to access the clean water they need.
Turning off the water while brushing your teeth is a simple goal to achieve, you just have to make a conscious effort to do so. You turn on the water to get your toothbrush wet to brush your teeth — A simple mental note to turn off the water until you’re ready to rinse off your toothbrush and rinse your mouth out is all it takes to waste less water in your household.
Avoid Water Bottles
Water bottle consumption wouldn’t actually be so bad if people would recycle their bottles after using them. But not all plastic water bottles are recycled and that’s what’s causing a major disturbance in the environment. To prevent this from happening, you should invest in a good water filter or water filtration system for your home.
A lot of people drink bottled water because they don’t like the taste of their home’s tap water, and that’s completely understandable because tap water can have a pretty nasty taste to it. But with a water filter, the nasty taste and chlorine found in water get filtered out. There are even water pitchers you can buy where you fill the pitcher at the top and the tap water goes through the filter before entering the bottom of the pitcher to provide filtered water.