How to live sustainably in the UK

What is being more sustaible all about?

So how do we live more sustainably? The fact is that although living more sustainably might not be for you, it is a change you should be considering as we are at a cross roads in the human story.

Whether or not you ‘believe’ in global warming or climate change, the fact is our modern lifestyles are having a hugely negative affect on our planet. Consequently there are ways to combat this.

There are small steps we can all take to start reducing our negative impact on the planet & ourselves. Being more conscious of your carbon footprint will often lead to positive changes in your lifestyle leading to a healthier you.

How to live more sustainably

1. Riding a bike
2. Buying local produce
3. Start foodscaping in your outdoor spaces
4. Fossil fuel vehicles for long journeys only
5. Recycling & reducing waste

These are just a few of the things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint and live a more sustainable life in the uk. These changes also result in a healthier, more active you!

We have become out of touch with the negative impact we have collectively as a society. This is resulting in some dramatic effects on wildlife and the stability of the planet in general. From plastic pollution to over population, there are many aspects we need to address.

What does being more ‘sustainable’ mean?

Living a more sustainable life or being more ‘eco’ is essentially a term for someone who has become more conscious. We need to become more aware of the overall impact we have on the planet before its to late.

How to live more sustainably

If you’re reading this article you are likely looking to improve your lifestyle amd become more sustainable in your everyday activities. These changes can be quite daunting collectively. Therefore we have found best approach is walk before you can run. Extreme changes in behavior are not usually sustainable, instead try changing behaviours one by one, over time.

How to live more sustainably

1. Buy less items with single use plastics
2. Use environmentally friendly cleaning products
3. Buy gift bags instead of wrapping gifts
4. Shop at your local green grocers & butchers
5. Remember your ‘bag for life’ or use cardboard boxes for food shopping
6. Grow some of your own food
7. Use technology more, paper less
8. Print less – many forms of paper are NOT recyclable!
9. Unplug electronic devices when you are not using them
10. Collect rain water for your garden

Sustainable ideas for your house

You might be wondering how you can make your house more ‘sustainable’ and energy efficient? The home is one of the best places to make positive changes in our lifestyle. Again, as a society we have got used to being wasteful when it comes to things like one use plastics, cleaning products and paper towels or wet wipes.

Sustainable ideas for your house

1. Reuse old clothes as cloths for house cleaning
2. Stay away from wet wipes! They are terrible for the environment
3. Paper towels? Use and wash kitchen towels or cut up old clothes
4. Use less hot washes when doing laundry
5. Avoid pre packaged and processed foods, cook fresh & buy local
6. Buy some foods in bulk to reduce on packaging
7. Make your own household cleaning products
8. Having a take out? Why not buy some reusable tubs and make your own
9. Insulate your home and use the heating less
10. Buy less of the things you dont need or end up throwing away

How to reduce your carbon footprint

Britain is a quite a small island for it’s population and we need to live a more sustainable life. Land is not a widely available resource so it can be hard to know where to start in becoming more sustainable & eco conscious. Aside from what we have already covered in this article, there are some more things you can do to help reduce your negative impact on the environment.The way our food is produced, sold & consumed is a large part of our carbon foot print, as well as being a huge contributor to one use plastics.

By growing some of your own food you can help reduce the pollution caused by wasteful food practices and be more sustainable in your day to day life.

Reducing meat consumption

Reducing your meat intake can help dramatically reduce our negative impact on the world. Factory farming on an industrial scale has a huge impact on many levels, from the negative impact on the environment, the animals, to our quality of food. Growing our food & raising animals requires large areas of land being used up, ultimately wiping out entire ecosystems. Furthermore, the fallout from the industrial style farming reaches our communities where supermarkets can be linked to the death of small towns across the country.

Cars are an obsession in this country with many households owning up to 2 or 3 vehicles each! By using an alternative method like a bicycle to do short trips we could reduce carbon emissions greatly and help combat the obesity problem that is growing. Bikes are a great way to live a more sustaibable lifestyle in Britain.

Buy eco friendly technology – As time goes on technology companies have been getting more and more greedy. Many devices now have some form of inbuilt obsolescence. This means they fail after a short amount of time and are usually not worth repairing. This has lead to a disposable attitude towards technology.

If the public’s habits shift to consuming more Eco friendly products, companies will soon follow. After all, they want your money, change your habits and they will follow.

Carbon footprint calculator

If your wondering what your current carbon footprint is why not use the carbon footprint calculator:

– https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

Or your environmental impact here:

– https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/

How to be sustainably friendly at work or school?

There is at least one thing from the list below that you could adopt in any job role. We spend most of our time in school, college or work in the western world therefore it makes sense that some of our negative environmental contributions will be made at the workplace.

How to travel in a more sustainable way

This may seem like a tough question, but with a few tweaks you can really lower that environmental footprint.

1. Make a waste free pack lunch, meal and snacks with reusable containers
2. Use electricity & electronic devices wisely (like reducing the use of paper)
3. Source what you can from local venues
4. Encourage your work colleagues to analyse their environmental footprint
5. encourage car pooling and transport sharing
6. Use non-toxic or home made cleaning products
7. Buy a reusable water bottle
8. Be conscious of your recycling habits and encourage recycling
9. Close down your work areas entirely, shutting off all electrical devices possible
10. Use recycled and recyclable office furniture and stationary

Lets make our city lives more sustainable

There is a bad habit of pointing fingers to corporations and governments for their Environmental failures. Whilst there is obviously some truth in this statement, it is also true that we are responsible for voting in our leaders, and to spend our money with companies that are ecologically conscious.

By taking control and accepting some responsibility for your carbon footprint we can start to make the world a little more habitable for wildlife, more eco-friendly for the stability of ecosystems. All of which in turn create a greater world for humans.

Did you know?

Ever heard of a chicken gun?

No, we’re not joking, there is an invention called the “chicken gun”! This gun is used to test the resistance of airplane windows and engines by blasting chickens at the aircraft…. yes they’re killed before they pull the trigger!