We are fortunate to be born in the 21st century and most of us do not need to face the war and famine problem in our life as our ancestors did. However, we are facing another crisis like environmental pollution that might become as worse as war and famine problems in the future.
Environmental pollution has caused extreme climate change in the earth, the news of floods, drought and tornadoes, and hurricanes become more and more. So, the real war in our 21st is actually about the war between human development with our environment preservation. Let us go through what efforts we can do to give better protection to our environment.
1. Say no to single-use plastic or single-use items
-Bring your own food container to take away
-Bring your own shopping bag when buying groceries and shopping
-Bring your own water bottle to refill water
-Bring your own tumbler to buy take away hot drinks
-Refuse to use a plastic straw
-Bring your own fork and spoon
-Using beeswax wrap instead of plastic wrapping paper
2. Choose to use the biodegradable or recyclable plastic/materials only if we’re forced to using the single-use item
-Using recyclable plastic cup instead of a paper cup with polyethylene membrane which cannot be recycled or non-biodegradable.
-Using a biodegradable plastic bag or paper bag instead of non-biodegradable plastic bag
3.Using natural soap or detergent instead of a chemical cleanser
-Using baking soda instead of chemical laundry powder or chemical liquid laundry
-Using natural handmade soap or liquid soap instead of chemical shampoo and body shampoo
4.Recycle all the items that could be recycled instead of throwing away
-Wash the tetra pack carton for recycle
-Wash the plastic container for recycling, plastic with oil stains and food residues cannot be recycled
5. Avoid impulse buying behavior
-Avoid shopping or shop online whenever in a bad mood to prevent buying some items we don’t actually need it.
-Avoid group buying with friends out of courtesy and too shy to decline the invitation.
-Avoid buying in bulk just for getting a greater discount if you cannot finish using before expiring date
6. Avoid sending unnecessary gifts/ extra packaging hamper and flower bouquet
-Avoid sending low quality and cheap item for Christmas gift exchange, most of the items will end up in the rubbish bin or recycle center
-Avoid sending useless souvenir gifts or door gifts, may sending some daily necessities as souvenir gifts or door gifts.
7. Avoid buying products with extra packaging.
-Buying from zero waste shop which allows you to use your own reusable bag /container to buy your foods/necessities
-Choose the products with simple packaging
8.Reduce the chances of throwing away foods that have expired/ spoiled
-Estimate how fast you could finish the fresh produce before buying
-List out the shopping list before shopping to avoid overbuying fresh produce/ foods
-Estimate how much the foods we can finish before ordering the foods
-Take away the unfinished food instead of letting the restaurant throw away it
-Sending away the fresh produce before it is spoiled if you knew you cannot finish it
9.Buying from the local market instead of imported agricultural products
-Direct buy from the local farmer market to reduce food mileage
-Direct buy from local produce retailer which have lower food mileage compare to imported agricultural produces
10.Buying from the local small business instead of imported manufacture products
-Direct buying from a local producer to reduce the product travel mileage
-Buy the products produced locally to reduce the products travel mileage
After going through the checklist, thinks about what else can we do to make a change to our environment.
Cover photo (left) adapted from Tree Hunger
Cover photo (right) adapted from dreams time