Eco-Friendly Living: Is It Really Possible for Everyone?
Written by Béline Chan (Opinion Editor)
In recent years, the stability of our future environment is being questioned, as the issues related to global warming are increasing, and we want to do everything that we can to relieve our environment of its suffering. Living an eco-friendly life is a great and effective way of making a change, but is this lifestyle sustainable for everyone? Of course, it would be ideal if everyone could live a cruelty free lifestyle, but maybe it is not as simple as that, and for everyone to make a complete 180-degree change is unrealistic, and simply not yet achievable. Eco-friendly living is not just the case of throwing everything away and buying more sustainable products. It is an inward change as much as it is an outside one. It requires a lot of thinking and awareness in order to make such changes to your daily life and being mindful is an important aspect of sustainable living.
The eco-friendly lifestyle helps the world by:
Protecting animals and their habitats.
Reducing pollution.
Lowering our carbon footprint.
Producing less water waste.
Creating a healthier environment for future generations.
Reducing climate change.
Reducing air pollution.
Reducing climate anxiety.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, the past eight years are on track for being the hottest years on record because of the rise in greenhouse gas emissions. The global mean temperature in 2022 was also estimated to be around 1.15 °C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average. In comparison to the rise in global warming from 2011 to 2020, where there was a 1.09°C increase, it is evident that our lack of eco-friendly living is proving detrimental to our environment. There is no doubt that we need to change some of our behaviours in some shape or form, and that eco-friendly living is a positive and healthy lifestyle that can truly bring a change to our environment. There are many ways in which we can promote ethical living, some of which are:
Recycling, and making sure non-recyclable products are not mixed in with the recyclable ones.
Donating items and clothing to charity.
Shopping at ethical stores.
Considering more eco-friendly cars such as electric or hybrid cars.
Being mindful of the food we eat and where it comes from (source from local markets, purchase seasonal items etc).
Being aware of our resources and how much we are using.
Consuming cruelty-free products.
Consuming products with sustainable packaging.
Reusing products and turning them into something new, such as using old glass jars for new flowerpots.
Using energy saving products, such as energy saving light bulbs.
Luckily, there are many different actions we can take to make a change, and countless of different actions we can take to incorporate eco-friendly living into our daily lifestyles. Here are some simple steps you can incorporate into your daily life.
Saving water is a simple yet effective way of implementing eco-living into your daily lifestyle. Ways in which you can do this are by:
Turning off the taps when they are not in use, especially when you are brushing your teeth or washing your face, the water does not need to be constantly running.
Cut down the length of your showers to save water usage.
Reusing and recycling your water. For example, when you wash your fruit and vegetables, instead of washing them underneath a tap, you can fill a basin up with water and wash it in that. Then, instead of throwing the water out, you can reuse it for watering plants in your garden or even for flushing toilets.
If there are leaks in the bathroom for example, fix the issue as soon as possible to reduce water wastage.
Use eco-friendly washing machines, or only load full washes, as opposed to multiple small loads.
Another aspect in which you can promote ethical living in your daily life is by reducing waste. This can be done by:
Using reusable bottles. This significantly decreases the amount of plastic you would otherwise be consuming, and this would also benefit you financially. The same thing goes for reusing bags and containers.
Recycling is important and simple, yet it is easy to accidentally put the wrong waste in the incorrect bin. It is crucial that you only put recyclable waste in the bin where it belongs, otherwise it will impact all the rubbish and it will end up in the landfills, increasing pollution.
Composting is a great way to reuse your waste, while it benefits the environment.
If you have received a gift that you are not too fond of, or do not have a need for, regifting is the perfect way to give a product that will be appreciated more by someone else, but it also minimises the opportunity of more products being thrown away into the landfills.
Buy second-hand clothing or items from charity and thrift stores, or even give away some of your own items to them.
Limit food waste as best as possible. If you are cooking at home, and you have food left over, the best option is to put it into a container and keep it cool in your fridge or freezer, so you get another portion out of it, and no food goes to waste.
Plastic consumption is one of the most prominent reasons for damaging the environment as it spreads harmful toxins, affects animals and their habitats and contributes largely to global warming. Plastics are lighter and cheaper than other materials as they are a by-product of oil and petrol which makes making new plastic cheaper than recycling it. Therefore, it is no surprise that plastics have made their way into our daily lives. However, it is not affordable nor realistic for everyone to live an eco-friendly lifestyle for the following reasons. There are alternative materials that we can turn to, but they come at a price. There are a wide range of bamboo products from toothbrushes to toilet rolls, and from lunch boxes to utensils. Switching to bamboo can be a better plastic and paper alternative, but because of its high labour intensity, and cost of shipping and packaging, this all adds to the high cost of bamboo products in comparison to plastic ones. As well as this, paper-alternative products often come in smaller quantities and at a higher price, which then means that you would have to buy these products more often, while spending much more. This simply is not an easy long-term commitment for most people to make. As well as alternative materials, switching diets and consuming more ethical, vegan-alternative, and organic products are also costly, and might also not be at everyone's disposal or in their price range. Some people also cannot make dietary changes due to personal reasons and can therefore not reduce their meat intake or substitute some products for vegan alternatives. It is also time consuming and difficult to make changes such as switching to renewable energy, changing your water system, changing your vehicle from a traditional petrol car to an environmentally friendly one. Reducing public transportation and/or turning towards cycling can be an impossible change for some people and families, particularly if they are living in remote areas, or in locations that are far from their school or workplace.
For most people, it is a drastic change to go entirely eco-friendly, and a lifestyle is a process, not something that can be changed overnight. If we implement some of these changes into our daily lives, then it will help us become accustomed to these changes, while also making us have a different outlook on our actions and how we are taking the steps to make the world a healthier place. It is not realistic for everyone to be completely dedicated to the eco-friendly lifestyle yet, and maybe it will not be possible anytime soon for most people to go 100% eco. Although, if costs are cut down and products are sold in larger quantities, then maybe this can help a lot of us to become more eco-friendly most of the time. However, in the meantime, we can all attempt to make small steps towards an eco-friendlier way of living and trying is better than not trying at all.
