Pick up your litter? Use paper straws? Yet still feel lost on how to help the environment as just one individual. No fear, we’re here to help. Here are 13 little ways you can make a contribution to the environment, big or small, to help out!
1. Shop eco-friendly brands
One major way you can help out is by shopping brands, not just products, that do their part for the environment. We probably all agree that big brands and corporations have more power to make a difference than we do, right? So let’s fund the ones that will! Here’s an article from the Independent listing just a few of them, but by making sure you get the background on brands and their commitment to saving the planet, you know you can shop a little more consciously.
2. Recycling paper
This one’s a little trickier, but great for crafty people. Do you know you can actually make your own paper? It’s not even that tricky! Just a case of collecting scraps, a little blending, a little pressing and some drying. (Here’s some more detail, in case that was quite vague.) Most of the equipment you’ll be likely to have at home, but if you do need to look for any equipment, go second-hand! Speaking of…
3. Shop second-hand
Another super cool way of helping the environment is by shopping second-hand! Think about all of the clothes for sale on second-hand sites in the UK alone right now. That could clothe so much of the population that we really don’t need to be making more. It’s bad for the environment through both the manufacturing process and shipping. Plus, it’s cheaper! If you shop in a charity shop, you’ll donate to charity. But follow the money – it’s nice knowing your money ends up with an individual who’s maybe saving for a holiday, a charity you support or with someone picking up some extra cash during the cost-of-living crisis.
4. Smoke-free Life
One way you can help the environment is to quit the habit of smoking, plus it’s so 2006. Tobacco cigarettes aren’t just impacting your health and others around you, but it is also dangerous for the environment. Disposable Vape waste can make its way to pollute the air, water, and land with hazardous chemicals, residual nicotine and heavy metals. Many alternatives can help you curb your nicotine cravings, like nicotine pouches and vaping. For a smoother and more satisfying vaping experience, you might consider Velvet Cloud’s collection of high VG vape juices, or choose options from other reputable shops. This can provide a better choice for both you and the planet. By switching to vaping kits like Crystal Bar, fewer harmful chemicals will likely enter our environment. Vape devices not only minimise the number of cigarettes ending up in landfills but also save you money. Making this simple switch is a small step toward making our planet a happy place to live.
Always be sure to check with a doctor on the best options to help you quit smoking, and consult the NHS website about smoking and vaping.
5. Buying produce locally
Buying produce locally can cost a little more than picking up fruit or meat from a supermarket, for example. However, particularly with transportation, buying food locally can have a huge impact on the environment. If 100 people did this for a year, imagine how many transportation vehicles that would take out of the equation! Plus, supporting local businesses is very cool.
6. Taking public transport
Buses and trains can hold so many people right? Imagine if all of those people you saw on the District Line home the other day were in cars. Is that a roadblock I hear? Taking public transport is much more environmentally friendly – it takes tons of cars off of the road – and can be more fun! If you like to look mysterious out of the rainy bus window listening to My Chemical Romance, maybe this one’s for you! Especially if you live in a city or area with good transport links, seriously consider taking public transport! Even just on the weekends, if you need your car to commute in the week, will help the environment.
7. Ditch the disposable razor
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There are SO many options out there for people who want to remove body hair now. Disposable razors are one of them, sure, but they’re not great for the environment. We recommend going for a subscription razor, you could check out FFS for one, for example, which has a great handle (you can engrave on to it if you want, cool right?) and razor heads delivered to your door. Easy, convenient and better for the environment than ALL that 1-3-use plastic. You could also look at waxing with sugar/ natural wax – find some here on Ecco Verde.
8. Cleaning products
If you haven’t seen them by now, we don’t know what you’ve been up to, but there’s an array of reusable cleaning product bottles out there now. Multipurpose spray? Multipurpose bottle. You get one bottle and a few refills, it’s super easy – usually just mix the refill with some water – then bish, bash, bosh you’ve got yourself a whole new product in the same bottle! Here’s one package from Ocean Saver with six refills. Imagine how many bottles could be saved from landfill. We love it.
9. Repurposing broken clothes and items
Any millennials/ early Gen Z peeps reading that were around for the PEAK upcycling era of the 2010s? Okay, then bring it back. Everyone loves a cheeky craft and honestly, you could save many things from ending up in landfill (and end up with some really cute clothes, too). Turning a ripped dress into a top, glueing a broken vase back together in a cool way, and making a mosaic with broken glass (be VERY careful – gloves and PPE) can all be very fun ways of upcycling.
10. Replanting roots
If you have a used vegetable that’s now just the root, don’t throw it out. You can grow veg from that, seriously. You can regrow so much from scraps, here’s a list of some “what?”s and “how?”s, including spring onions, lettuce and sweet potatoes. Repurposing veg into new veg not only saves money, but means less purchasing, which – you guessed it – can mean less non-local transportation.
11. Ditch single-use plastics
Less single-use plastics ending up in landfill is good for everyone, including wildlife. Bring your own travel mug to cafes, bring your own water bottle out with you and use beeswax paper to wrap sandwiches. You’d be surprised how much plastic you don’t have to use. By the way, if you HAVE to use a single-use plastic, recycle it.
12. Keep. The. Wrapping. Paper.
We love this one. Saving the wrapping paper from gifts and saving gift bags is such a cool way of recycling. Maybe your family or friends could just end up rotating gift bags and wrapping paper? It’s a really easy way to recycle, so, if you can, try to wrap this way! Also, recycling cards can be super important. You either keep them or throw them away and, if you throw them away, make sure to recycle them. You could even frame the ones with arty covers to use as home décor!
13. Gardening tricks
Yeah, planting more trees is so cool for CO2 and such, but also creates habitats for wildlife and makes the environment a much greener place. Other ways to help wildlife in your garden are listed here, including DIY bird feeders and hedgehog homes. It’s a fun, easy way of helping the environment. Not just the land, but the animals too! You get a fun family + friends activity out of it and you get to contribute to the environment. Absolutely smashed it.
Let us know if you try any of these ideas! And we want to hear all of the suggestions about how we can all help out the environment!
Love, as always, Team Nonchalant x
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