Everyone makes New Year's resolutions to start off the upcoming year with a fresh start. Whether you make personal goals for yourself like quitting smoking, losing weight, or beginning a new hobby, everyone tries something new to them. For 2022, you can also make small changes for an eco-friendly lifestyle that will help your carbon footprint and impact the environment positively! These are simple things you can adjust that won't affect you significantly but can make a huge improvement in the world around us.
Reusable Shopping Bags
One of the easiest changes that you will hardly notice is reusable shopping bags. According to studies, over 5 trillion pieces of plastic can be found in the ocean. Plastic takes years to decay, which impacts the ocean and marine life. Sea turtles and other mammals mistake the bags for food, and many of them are dying from ingesting them.
By purchasing reusable shopping bags, you are saving plastic and using recycled materials instead of constantly increasing the plastic. It also allows you to save trips back and forth when you are bringing your groceries in because the bags can hold more than the smaller ones.
Go Paperless
Americans use over 85 million tons of paper a year which is around 2 billion trees a year. To help save the trees and decrease your usage, it is easy to swap to paperless. Many credit card companies, utility bills, and other mailings you receive have options to switch to a digital option, whether it emails or creates an online account. These are small, more efficient changes to make for less paper usage. Even grocery stores and other receipts have shifted to allow the bill to be sent to your phone or email!
Eat Friendly
Many people suggest supporting your local farms and area by buying your vegetables, fruits, and even meats locally instead of a big box store. This will help boost your own economy for small businesses and local farmers, but it also reduces your environmental impact as well. There are no pesticides used on organic farms, and less transport is required to bring the food to you.
If you want to take it a step further, you can also become vegetarian or vegan. This significantly reduces your impact because of the process meat products have to go through before they are consumed. You can also create your own garden and grow vegetables, spices, and other small food depending on the amount of space you have.
Natural Makeup and Clothing
There are brands that focus solely on the protection of the environment and don't test on animals. Keep an eye out for these choices, and select them instead! This way you are using all-natural products for your skin, and in turn, making sure no animals are harmed in the process. You can also be aware of the clothing you buy. It's best to choose something that is secondhand so you're not contributing to the waste of crafting more.
Less Travel Time
Many people commute to work and drive around on a daily basis to run errands and go places. Unfortunately, this is a huge contributor to harmful fumes entering the atmosphere. Cars are one of the worst pollutants out there. For work, consider alternative methods. If you live close to work, bike to work instead of driving. If the commute is farther, see if you can carpool with fellow coworkers. The less time you spend driving around, the less pollution that is entering the air.
If you want to take the extra step, look into hybrid or electric cars. These are built to help reduce your impact and with the environment in mind.
Explore Nature!
Changing to an eco-friendly lifestyle can be a fun transition! Go on hikes, visit parks, and explore the natural world. This is a great way to enjoy daily activities, pick a vacation, and experience everything first-hand. Jumping into nature and going hiking, riding bikes, or going for a run can be a fun activity and lead to a healthier lifestyle in the long run. This helps to push you toward other New Year's resolutions you might have as well.
You can even make cleaning more eco-friendly by purchasing natural products or choosing eco-friendly maid services. Eco-Friendly Maid Service is a GREEN cleaning alternative for residential & commercial spaces. Our goal is to offer our clients the best service possible while maintaining our core values: Health, Growth, & Sustainability. Having the peace of mind in a clean and healthy home, without the worry of harmful chemicals surrounding your loved ones, is priceless. Fortunately, our local green maid service provides both for a reasonable price and a great experience for you & your loved ones.