April 22nd is Earth Day 2021. The one day a year when the entire world focuses on how best we can save our planet. Thousands of events take place across the globe, with activities ranging from litter picking and beach clean-ups, to educational seminars and fundraising. You can get involved and check out events near to you on the official Earth Day website.
Every year has a different theme and for 2021 the focus is on restoring our Earth. We aren’t living in a movie, so we can’t sit around and wait for a superhero to swoop in and save our planet. The responsibility of restoring our Earth falls on each and every one of us. As far as responsibilities go this one can feel both overwhelming and futile. Where do I even begin to make changes that can help something as vast as the Earth? How can I make any difference when I’m just one person?
Well, there are thousands of little ways that you can make changes that will help to restore our planet. We’ve looked at 10 adjustments to consider, but just making one change contributes to improving the environment. If everyone made one little change then the combined impact would be phenomenal.
Wikipedia defines sustainable living as ‘a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual’s or society’s use of the Earth’s natural resources and personal resources. Practitioners of sustainable living often attempt to reduce their carbon footprint by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption, and diet.’
Below are ten examples of sustainable living that you could consider incorporating into your life.
- Using public transport, cycling or walking instead of driving where possible. If you have to use the car, to commute for example, then can you share the journey with someone else? This reduces pollution and the use of natural resources and fossil fuels in form of fuel.
- Reduce, reuse and recycle. Reducing the number of new items that you buy cuts down on plastic packaging and waste. Reusing items such as glass jars or plastic bottles and containers also reduces waste. Arguable recycling is one of the easiest, yet most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Instead of throwing recyclables in the bin just pop them in the recycling waste box. Simple.
- Choose items with less packaging. Sure, little fancy bottles and boxes look the most impressive, but they are crippling the planet. Why not keep those bottles but buy refills in future? Buying in bulk is both cost-effective and cuts down on unnecessary packaging – winner winner. Check out our Ecover and Bio-D ranges for a wide variety of high-quality refills.
- Choose clean energy. Okay, this one can be quite a big change to your life but the impact it has on the planet is massive and you might even find that it saves you a few quid. Look at cleaner energy options instead of our precious fossil fuels. Can you get a grant for solar panels? When it’s time to buy a new car, you could look at electric or hybrid versions to reduce pollution.
- Reduce disposables. We’re all guilty of picking convenience instead of sustainability sometimes but using single-use, disposable items create a huge amount of waste. Try reviewing these items and consider buying a high quality, long-lasting alternative instead. A great example is reusable bamboo straws like this funky selection from Cheeky Panda.
- Reduce the amount of meat you eat. Livestock are the largest source of greenhouse gasses that damage the environment. You don’t need to commit to a fully vegetarian or vegan lifestyle but why not try it for one day a week? Not only will your body feel the benefits, but your conscience will to. Check out our selection of Vegan food & drinks.
- Cut down on chemicals. Lots of cleaning, laundry and hair washing products contain a variety of nasty chemicals that eventually find their way into our water supply. They cause havoc with the delicate ecological balance and ultimately can cause plants and animals to die. Look for products that only use natural products and you will be surprised to find they do the job just as well. View our Sustainable Living collections here.
- Reduce the amount of water you use. We often forget what a precious resource water is because we can just turn on a tap and it’s available. Consider taking showers instead of baths and storing rainwater to use to water the garden or wash the car at a later date.
- Use efficient lighting in your home. Invest in energy-efficient, long-lasting light bulbs to replace traditional bulbs. Not only does this help to reduce landfill waste but also cuts your electricity usage. You get extra points for turning off lights when you’re not in the room and not leaving items on charge or standby when they don’t need to be.
- Cancel unwanted mail. This one caught me off guard but makes a lot of sense. Sending post not only uses paper and envelopes (that usually end up straight in the bin) but also carries a carbon footprint for the delivery route it travels via the postman. So, cancel any subscriptions you have to catalogues or notifications that you don’t really need. Bank statements are a prime example.
HealthPharm has always taken pride in sourcing sustainable and ethical products. We love Earth Day but also believe that we should try and make better choices to help save our planet every day. That’s why we maintain a sustainable living section on our website all year round. We want to make it easier for people to make positive changes to their sustainable living lifestyle and will always be there to support our customers in making these choices.
