Small Green Changes

Eco-friendly behavior is more than a lifestyle – it is an investment into the future. By adopting the new habits, we might not make a world-changing impact, but our choices do ripple out: they stack on and they serve as an example for others. If you want to help the world roll back from the brink of disaster, you have to start with yourself, and these are some small green changes that make a big impact.

Plant trees whenever you can

Trees are the lungs of the planet and both people and wildlife need forests to survive. Above all else, in order to save numerous species of fauna from extinction, we need to make sure they have enough shelter among trees. However, if you are a pragmatic person, you can always see your own benefits of activities such as planting trees. For example, if you live in a house, you can plant trees all around your yard in order to get that additional layer of insulation from sun and extreme temperatures. You can also join local environmental groups to go on “picnic trips” that are actually all about planting seeds of trees.

Conserve across all dimensions of living

Small changes for green living that make a big impact can also be boiled down to a matter of habits. Practice conservation around every corner and wherever you can – always turn off lights as you leave rooms, do your best to conserve water and don’t waste anything. Try to live as minimally as you can, after all, minimalist lifestyle is all the rage now exactly because, among other reasons, of the environmental impact we are quite obviously creating.

Reuse whenever you can

Recycling has become quite prominent in most environmentally friendly societies, but it appears repurposing raw materials is not enough. This is why so many companies are trying to, against all capitalist philosophies, create products that can actually be reused. For example, one can easily find and purchase neat reusable water bottles that will decrease your output of plastic by a significant margin. Slowly but surely, disposable is becoming the thing of the past.

Paperless life

While we are on the topic of recycling, the ratio of recycled to fresh paper is staggering – people appear to love buying new in spite of everything. Considering that millions of trees are being cut down to be used by a publishing industry and administrative sectors, the impact of purchasing an innocent book does not sound as innocuous. Instead, you can opt to read your long-awaited novel from the favorite author on the e-book reader. Thankfully, digital devices such as phones and tablets are slowly rendering hard paper usage meaningless, and that is a good thing.

Try composting

Composting process sounds icky to many people, but it is actually quite interesting and elegant. You just have to install a sealed can or a cistern where you can dispose parts of organic scraps – such as dead plants, food remains, egg shells, hemp, hair, etc. By mashing it all up into a single pile, you are creating a nutrient mush that can help plants grow. It is an absolutely win-win situation: on the one hand, you do not have to buy suspicious fertilizers from big companies and, on the other hand, you are reducing the amount of garbage you are adding to the landfills.

Cycle

Of course, one of the best habits you can adopt is to purchase a bicycle and ride everywhere on your two-wheeler that leaves no energy footprint whatsoever. Your body will benefit from the physical exercise and you will reduce relying on transportation machines that burn fossil fuel. This is only scratching the surface when it comes to benefits of cycling, but these two reasons are usually quite enough to “turn” many people.

At the end of the day, you should also educate others about green lifestyle and what they can do in order to improve the odds of stabilizing the climate. Going green is one of the most ennobling ways to change your habits and it comes with a lot of perks and benefits. Humanity has been graced with the staggering beauties and elements of this world for a long time and we need to start giving back if we plan to stay here indefinitely. By adopting responsibility of eco-friendly behavior, you are increasing the chances of this being realized.

About The Author

Article written by Amelia Atkins, author at Smooth Decorator and a fresh architecture student. The love for architecture and design runs in her family and she knew what she wanted to do from a very young age. You can often find her with a notepad in hand, just looking at the clouds, dreaming about the next skyscraper.