The environment is in peril. Even the skeptics are having trouble denying it now. But, when you look up ways to be kinder to the environment, changing your lifestyle to help can seem daunting or expensive.
These three small changes can make a big impact: and they’re easily executed, no matter what your budget is or how busy you are.
Three Small Lifestyle Changes That Can Have a Big Environmental Impact:
- Don’t leave the fridge door open. An alarming amount of us grab the water from the fridge and leave the fridge door open while pouring it into a glass. Or we grab leftovers and leave it open while serving it. One that my kids are guilty of is opening the fridge door BEFORE they know what they want, aimlessly staring into it for minutes at a time. All we need to do is to open the fridge door once we have made a choice, then shut it as soon as we have what we need. Those seconds can save you big on your energy bill and can help the environment at the same time.
- Turn off the light when you leave. Even if you are coming right back, even if you know someone is coming home in a few minutes. Those seconds or minutes count. The kids and I once saw a show that said the energy from those lights creates heat and drains energy, second by second. If you remember to turn them off; you save energy which helps produce less global-warming, which saves ice caps, which helps polar bears. Now, if someone leaves a light on, we just yell, “polar bears!” as a reminder.
- Put less produce in plastic bags. I have not made the transition to all-cloth bags and still use some plastic. But, I do put less of my produce in bags. Anything with a hearty skin or is larger I leave out of bags. Lettuce can be put right into your cart and washed later. Oranges, lemons, apples and the like have skins and therefore come with their own protective coating. Red peppers, onions, potatoes, and such are hearty and okay to put separately in the cart and at checkout- I promise the checkout person won’t judge you. If it’s smaller or delicate, like apricots or garlic, I still bag them. But for the most part, produce is fine out of a bag and can be washed again at home.
So there you go! Three easy and cost-effective ways to help serve your environment, no preparation needed.
Let me know if you try these. If you already do them, what else do you do! Please share.
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