You've heard it before. "Reduce your carbon footprint!" "Make sure you recycle, reduce, and reuse!" While this great advice, these refrains don't provide an answer as to the "how". "How do I reduce my carbon footprint? How do I properly recycle? Is there any more that I can do?"
The purpose of this article is to supply you with information as to HOW to be more sustainable. Many small changes can have a profound impact on the environment, although they seem to be insignificant. For example...
1) EAT LESS MEAT
Giving up meat, as shown in this infographic, can have a profound impact on the environment. You've heard of "Meatless Mondays"; one day a week where meat is removed from your diet. We challenge you to take it a step further, removing meat from your plate two or three days per week; perhaps you will choose to stop eating meat entirely. As stated in the infographic, if every American dropped one serving of chicken per week from their usual diet, it would save the same amount of CO2 emissions as taking 500,000 cars off of the road. However, red meat is the main culprit of negative environmental impacts within the agricultural industry. Red meats use 28 more times more land and 11 times the water of chicken. (Read more about this here). Reducing your consumption of meat also helps to conserve water, as cattle and other forms of meat require an immense amount of hydration in comparison to plants. You might protest- "What about protein?" Rest assured, as long as you consume adequate amounts of nuts, beans, seeds, and other sources of protein, you can easily meet your daily protein needs. While being vegan or vegetarian does not automatically make you healthy, adhering to a plant-based diet has been shown in multiple studies to reduce various health risks and improve quality of life. This is perhaps the easiest way to make a large, positive impact on the environment.
2) EAT LOCALLY
While you may not think about this every time you eat, your food has most likely been shipped to you from somewhere else, especially if you are eating in a restaurant that does not prioritize sustainability. This shipping process causes pollution, as the trucks, planes, and boats used to ship your food put noxious gases into the atmosphere. If you are curious about how many miles your food has traveled to get onto your plate, click here to calculate your "food miles". There are plenty of ways to reduce your impact in this category, including going to farmers markets and sustainable, farm-to-table restaurants. Here is a list of farmers markets in Maryland, organized by county.
3) REDUCE YOUR ENERGY USE
While this is a category that may not be as applicable to you now, reading this article and having a conversation with your parent/guardian about ways to implement sustainability within your own home can have a significant impact on how much energy you consume as a household. A few tips that may be applicable to you:
If you do the laundry, make sure you are washing full loads and using cold water.
Plant a tree near your house for shade & reduced cooling costs! (Make sure to check your area’s regulations before planting, as often trees must be a certain distance away from other objects, such as patios, foundations, etc.)
If you have hardwood or tile floors, add a rug. This will keep your feet warm, and will therefore reduce the need for heat in winter.
Keep your curtains and blinds closed at night to keep cold air out, but open them during the day to let the air within the room warm.
4) REDUCE PLASTIC & ADD REUSABLES
The easiest way to reduce plastic is to avoid buying unnecessary plastic products and recycling the plastic products that you do buy. As you most likely know, plastic is extremely harmful to the environment. The organization Baltimore Beyond Plastic is working to reduce harmful plastics within Baltimore: click here for information on how you can contribute, and here for more information on the negative impact of plastic bags. Instead of using any plastic products, use reusables! For example, use a reusable water bottle instead of a plastic one, or a sustainable bamboo toothbrush rather than plastic versions. Here are more examples of reusable products that you can use. This relates to the sustainable philosophy of shopping smarter; think before you buy!
5) RECYCLE AND COMPOST!
This is a pretty easy and obvious way to reduce your environmental impact. There are many great guides online on how to start recycling and composting: here is a guide to composting, and here is a guide to how to recycle in Baltimore. Make sure that you check the official regulations for your county before beginning to compost, as some counties prohibit the composting of food scraps and other materials.
6) "GREEN" YOUR TRANSPORTATION
This simply means making an effort to utilize forms of transportation such as bikes and buses. Carpooling is also a great option. Many students who live near Bryn Mawr could walk to school, reducing their environmental impact significantly. If you live a bit farther from Bryn Mawr, try to bike to school! Here are some rules of the road.
7) REDUCE WATER USE
Many of the previous tips will help in reducing your water use, including limiting meat consumption, buying smarter, and recycling. However, there is more that you can do in this category.
Here is a list that includes examples such as turning off water when you are not using it when brushing your teeth, keeping your water in a jug in the fridge instead of letting the tap run when you want cold water, and making sure the dishwasher is completely full when you run it.
Do you want to do more? Or do you need more specific tips? Here's a great and extensive list of ways to become more sustainable.
Do you want to check out how sustainable you really are? Use this carbon footprint calculator.