your 5 daily habits contributing to global warming

Over the past decades, the global temperature has been increasing at an alarming rate. While this continues to be a global challenge, with organizations and authorities emphasizing on the same, there has been less to no significant positive changes in the environment. Our choice of lifestyle affects our planet in many ways. Take a look at these seemingly insignificant matters that actually makes a big difference.

Travel and transportation:

Think of the times you have driven to a place you could’ve easily walked to. Or the times when you could’ve opted for a bicycle but chose to drive your own vehicle. We live in a world where there are several options to get to places, from trains to car-pooling, yet we chose the superficial ‘comfort’ of driving your own vehicle, at the cost of increasing the air pollution. Airplanes, cruise liners, and your own vehicles, use fossil fuels to power their engines, which then release carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Instead,

Live near your office, if possible, to avoid the need of transportation.
Use a bicycle. There is nothing ‘not cool’ about riding your bicycle to work, to buy grocery or any other place. It just shows you have chosen to be a bit more responsible than many others.
Use car-pooling. With services like Uber, providing car-pooling option, it makes it easy to get to places.
Avoid air travel and cruise liners whenever possible. The aviation industry has been improving, trying energy efficient flights, and sustainable fuel alternatives. It is still better to avoid unnecessary air travel.
Electric powered vehicles do not produce any toxic emissions.

Produce from industrialized farms:

Industrialization of agriculture has been causing a negative impact on the environment, adding to the cruelty animals and birds are subjected to. This trend of industrialized farming and large-scale animal production farms is increasing, as the demand constantly rises due to lack of awareness and rise in population. Humans tend to disregard the negative effects of this on their health, so it far less likely that such people would be concerned about the health of the planet or the way animals and birds are treated at such farms. Studies show that there has been an increase in the usage of antibiotics for animal production, which when consumed by humans, over time, leads to our bodies’ resistance towards useful antibiotics taken for medical purposes.

Buy from local businesses, local farms and poultry production. Encourage these and suggest to your family and friends.
Opt for organic produce over regular.
Consider pursuing a better lifestyle, consuming nutrients that are needed but not over-indulging in meat and dairy.
Make vegan switches whenever possible, if you really cannot try veganism.
Grow your own veggies and fruits. Even if you have little space to grow and might not be able to grow everything you need, try growing some essential plants. It might just be easier than you think, and definitely tastier than store-bought. Read our article on how to grow some common vegetables and fruits right at home.

Consumerism:

Most of us are guilty of keeping-up with the latest trends, in electronics. You’re probably reading this from your latest or one-of-many electronic gadgets, and I’m writing this of my fairly new laptop. The products we use contribute to a large percent of greenhouse gas emissions, adding to the emissions during material extraction, production, transportation and maintenance.

Avoid changing gadgets too often.
Use non electric gadgets whenever possible. Switch to non-electric razors, toothbrush and so on.
Consider recycling options for your electronics like take-back or trade-in program, recycling programs by retailers, or a local electronics shop that collects for recycling. Some organizations also collect used electronics, even the really old ones.
Sell your old electronics or donate to organizations.

Over-usage of electricity:

Switching on TV when no one is watching, just for some noise, leaving your cell phone, screen unlocked, every small action, over time, adds up to loss of fossil fuels, that are still used for electricity production. From toasters to refrigerators to the necessary lighting fixtures, a typical household used more electronic devices, as technology advances to ‘make the jobs simpler for humans’.

Turn off and unplug devices when not in use.
Limit usage of electric devices whenever possible.
Buy new electric devices after ensuring quality and energy efficiency with EU energy efficiency rating.
Avoid buying devices that are in trend, even though you do not need it. Buy a new appliance if your old model requires more energy to work.
Leave the air conditioner on at an optimal temperature, rather than keeping it at a certain temperature always.
Check for faulty appliances that might be malfunctioning and consuming more energy.

Paper wastage:

Everyday, we use at least one item of paper, which is not recycled. Millions of hectares of forests have been cut down to meet our relentless demands. Waste paper, often end up in landfills instead of getting recycled. A lot of people are going paperless in one way or other, but there is still a long way to go. From packaging to newspapers, there’s still a lot more we can cut back, but unfortunately, a lot of us do not. Rotting paper produces harmful emissions. There are so many small ways in which we can try to improve the situation.

Take initiative to get all your paper items recycled.
Buy recycled paper materials.
Minimize use of paper in office. Reuse paper; collect paper that has only one used-side, and make your own notebook.
Encourage friends and family to recycle the paper wastage at their office or home.
Avoid printing too many copies, unless necessary.
Support the products by local businesses or other companies that use recycled paper and does not promote deforestation.

As technology advances, emissions are more likely to increase. It is also possible to use the technology for the better. Keep track of new sustainable products in the market. Learn about latest studies regarding ozone layer and global warming, share with you friends, family and colleagues improve your home to reduce wastage or unnecessary items that might cause emissions. In few years, we might go down in history as the generation who could’ve done something about the climate crisis, but chose to selfishly ignore and relentlessly take more than we need from the planet. Let’s commit to our responsibility of making this world better, while we still have time.