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How Can We Help The Environment From Our Home and Office?

Helping the environment seems like a pretty daunting, out of hands kind of deal. And why shouldn’t it be daunting? Temperatures are at a record high, the oceans are clogged with plastic and the ice caps are melting at a faster rate than ever before in the history of the planet.

But it’s easy to blame the big corporations pumping out clouds of smog and dumping waste into the ocean when you’re just throwing a wrapper on the ground or if you’ve left the tap running.

The truth is, you’re just as responsible for the decay of the environments just as any huge corporation is and you’re just as responsible in fixing it as they are.

But how do we, as small as we might be, contribute to fixing the planet which is a ginormous in size compared to you?

Well, you can start by taking steps every day at home and your office to do your part. Hopefully, by performing these following steps, you encourage other people around you, members of your family or your coworkers to take the same steps you have. Hopefully, they encourage someone else and this way it spreads to everyone.

Use Water Efficiently

Water is running out at a faster rate than ever before and come countries are already facing the consequences of improper management of water.

Whenever you’re using water, minimize the time the tap is running. Like for example, when brushing your teeth, letting a bath run, watering your garden, use water sparingly and the amount you need.

Maybe you don’t see the importance? See this post: Watching your Water Consumption: Why is it important?

Walk or Cycle To Work

Use your car as less as you can. Use alternative methods like walking, bicycling or using public transport. Over recent years, a huge chunk of the population has already begun to use their vehicles less and less. While many people may use walking or cycling as a fitness method, it is also pretty easy on the environment.

Carpooling too is an efficient method to save fuel. Your coworkers and you all have to be at the same place at the same time, why not use the same car? Fewer fossil fuels are burnt, less heat is let out of the car and by cycling, and you get fit while walking and cycling, so it’s basically a win-win situation.

Have Potted Plants at Home and Work

Plants lower the temperature of the surrounding area. Having plants in and around the house means that you’ll be creating a cool environment around you so you might not need to use fans or air conditioning, saving on electricity.

Print Sparingly

Paper waste is the most accumulated waste in the workspace. A lot of the time during cleaning, you’ll be throwing out paper the most. This is because the printed paper had no real long-term use and was used as an embellishment for a presentation or meeting. We all have that one co-worker who prints a mountain of sheets when a meeting is approaching. Sheets no one consults or reads because it’s the 21^st century and we have projectors.

Companies are concerned with cost-cutting and will only be interested if they’re saving money somehow. If you illustrate how much you’re saving per paper, per pack, you may end up saving money for your company as well as the environment and promote green living.

Use Disposable Cutlery

The office space uses perhaps the most amount of unnecessary plastic utensils for food consumption. Huge packages for plastic spoons, knives, plates, cups and other materials are pretty harmful to the environment since it can take over 1000 years for plastic to decompose. Trying out paper plates or eco-friendly products, plates and utensils made of porcelain is a better alternative for using plastic.

Use a Big Recyclable Bag For Grocery Shipping

All of the plastic bags in your home have come from outside shopping. All of them. You’re bringing in waste from the outside that is 100% going to just sit in some drawer or closet. By using a recyclable bag, you’ll be cutting down on almost 100% of the plastic bags coming in from grocery stores and being stored in your home. The recyclable bag is pretty big so you’ll need one or two to store all your groceries.

Minimize Air Conditioning

Controlling your air conditioning use might be the hardest thing to do, admittedly but one of the most effective ways to save the environment. Before turning on the AC, try opening a window or turning the fan on. Try wearing less or having cool beverages. If you do give in, use the AC at the lowest setting (the first dial if you’re in the car, the highest temperature in an AC unit).

Turn off the Switch

Saving electricity by doing your part, the figurative and literal “turn off the switch”.

Don’t leave any lights on when you exit a room. Use eco-friendly, energy-saving bulbs. Don’t let any device stay on standby, if you’re done using a device, switch it off. Be it a television, charger, computer. Especially at the office when you’ve done work, don’t leave your computer on standby. Turn it off!

By doing your part to save electricity, you’ll be saving on your electricity bill as well! You’ll end up paying less and who don’t want a low electricity bill?

Switching to solar is an extremely viable solution and a lot of businesses and companies such as Google have already switched. Solar power is an extremely eco-friendly energy solution. Switching your house to solar will cut your electricity bill to almost 0.

Advising your office to the benefits of solar power is and having them make the switch too is a huge step in the conservation of the environment. Office buildings use a huge amount of electricity, generate a lot of heat and are very poor at handling waste.

Switching to solar at work, using disposable utensils and carpooling to work all amount to a huge contribution you personally can take part in.

Sources:

https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/

https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/science/temperature-is-rising#.W0QwyNJKhPY

https://greatist.com/happiness/ways-help-environment

https://eco-officegals.com/love-environment-home-office//