Little Steps To Make Your Life More Eco-Friendly

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A study of 27,000 people around the world found that 74% want to be more eco-friendly. With so many people looking to be greener, ‘growing your own’ is often thought to be a good place to start. It is also worth considering what else you can do to be greener in different aspects of your daily life. Thankfully, there are several little steps that you can make to embrace a greener lifestyle if gardening isn’t an option or simply seems too intimidating. Here are a few of them.

Wash Laundry With Cold Water

Changing the way you do your laundry can make you greener. It was found that 90% of the energy your washing machine uses is directed toward heating up the water it uses. If you wash around four loads of your laundry in cold water, it’s the same as planting around 1,376 square meters worth of forest. It’s also a pretty good benefit for you economically, as washing with warm or hot water will cost you about $265 annually. If you wash with cold water, it’ll only cost you about $16. So every time you wash your laundry with cold water, you can be assured that not only is it good for certain fabrics, but you’re also helping out the environment. 

Recycle Metal In Your Home

Those committed to environmental sustainability can tap into recycling metal in their homes, and according to Gardner Metal Recycling, everything from door and window frames to household electronics can be recycled. A study from the Inventory of Average Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Denmark, Norway and Sweden found that creating more metals produces more greenhouse gas than recycling them. For example, producing more steel produces 87% more greenhouse gases. If you make it a regular habit to recycle metals, you’ll also help to slow down active landfills in your area. So if you’ve got any metals lying around your home, sending them out or getting them picked up for recycling not only frees up space in your home, but also helps to reduce the number of greenhouse gases being produced. 

Run, Walk, And Bike

Driving with a motorized vehicle is one of the main causes of greenhouse gases. So if you’re looking to be more eco-friendly, going for a run, choosing to walk, or biking instead of driving will help you. Walking about a mile and a half produces 75% fewer greenhouse gases than when you drive for the same distance, according to the Pacific Institute. Choosing cleaner methods of transportation helps to drive down your carbon footprint, and it’s also good for your health. If you average around 180 pounds, you’ll be able to burn 100 calories per mile when you walk. You’ll be able to burn 17 calories per minute if you run, according to Healthline.

Being greener is a constant process that needs to be actively chosen every day. While it may be tempting to choose convenience over being eco-friendly, it is good to remind yourself of the greater good that you do whenever you apply green practices to different aspects of your life. That way, you can bolster your resolve to find more ways to be greener — no matter how small the step may be.