Small changes in our lifestyle can have a great impact. Some sectors, where these changes can apply are the following:
- Energy: Reduce the heating and cooling, use energy-efficient electric appliances like LED lights, wash your clothes in cold water, and hang up your clothes to dry rather than using a dryer.
- Transport: Drive less, walk, and ride a bike more! For longer distances, use public transportation or carpooling.
- Food: Eating more vegetables than meat and dairy can lower the environmental impact. In general, producing plant-based foods uses less energy, water, and land hence producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
- Food waste: It is important to buy what you need and consume what you buy! Throwing away food, resources, and energy that have been used for food production are being thrown away too. Additionally, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is produced when food rots in a landfill.
- Reduce, reuse, repair & recycle: Goods, such as clothing and electronics that people purchase have a carbon emission background, as the raw materials used for those goods need to be extracted, manufactured, and transformed into a whole new product. This product then is transported to the market contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions. Second-hand clothing, equipment, or repairing broken products can help reduce the environmental impact of the constant production of goods (United Nations, n.d.).