It is easy being green

Fresh ways you can save the planet

As teenagers in the 21st century, we feel a lot of responsibility to improve the state of the planet. We have been left with a world that is crumbling at our fingertips and it’s easy to feel as though we have not been given the tools to fix it. We understand that there is a lot of pressure for you to do your part to help save the environment, but not much information as to how you can do it. The truth is, there are many easy things that we can do as teens, some of which will also save us money and make our lives easier. Rather than throwing paint over buildings in Westminster, Tag has compiled a list of the biggest problems and easy ways you can combat these issues.

Deforestation

According to Earth.org, around 10 million hectares of our world’s forests are chopped down each year to make room for agricultural or architectural expansion. Some of the wood is then used for materials like paper or firewood. To tackle this, two things need to happen: preventing further deforestation and planting more trees.

To protect the Earth’s lungs, we can begin by changing our diet. This doesn’t have to be drastic. It can be as simple as trying to buy local produce ie. from a farm shop or cutting down on the amount of meat you consume. If enough of us do this, it will put less demand on the market, meaning that international agricultural companies will not have to expand as quickly, and deforestation will begin to slow. There are a few of these farm shops around Eastbourne, including Sharnfold at Stone Cross and Chilley Farm near Hailsham. You should also try to avoid palm oil if you can, as it is a major driver of deforestation in our most biodiverse rainforests.

Planting trees is a relatively easy thing to do in small numbers, but it may not feel as though it is doing much. There are some ways in which you can plant more for free, and very easily. Ecosia is a search engine which plants a tree for every 50 searches on its platform. It has over 20 million active users and has planted more than 160 million trees since its launch in 2009. You can easily set this up to be your default search engine and fund planting trees with every search, without having to think about it. Another way of doing this is using Tree App which allows you to plant one tree a day, funded by a company sponsor. These sponsors will also sometimes give you discount codes for their products, so it’s worth checking this one out!

Plastic packaging

Every year, between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enter our oceans, and according to earthday. org, we are on track to have more plastic in our seas than we do fish by 2050 (by weight). Thankfully, many companies are seeking to combat this excessive use and dumping of plastic, so buy products using less plastic.

Using your local zero waste shop allows you to take in your own containers to put anything you buy in. They also sell reusable casing if you do not have your own. The products are cheaper without their packaging. You will have to buy a container to carry and store these products, but these are reusable and will save you money in the long run. Some businesess make alternatives to plastic products such as Jude’s beeswax wrap, which is an alternative to cling film. Making the change from liquid soap to bar soap is another way to limit plastic waste, since you are not using plastic containers, there is no plastic waste. It is also cheaper and more efficient. Make sure to look at what is in the bar first, as some use animal fat which is counterproductive as may fund deforestation.

Carbon emissions

Human activities are responsible for pretty much all of the increase in carbon emissions in the last 150 years. Our complete reliance on fossil fuels to get anywhere or do anything has caused the increase. However, there are a few things you can do to reduce this effect.

Sharing lifts and trying to use public transport is a good way to reduce your carbon footprint. If you have a petrol car, it is also cheaper for you to take a bus. And splitting fuel money while sharing rides can save you just as much, if not more than, public transport. It is also better to walk or cycle if your destination is local. It is also great since it is completely free!

Another thing you can do easily which will also save you money is to use E-cards or emails rather than physical cards and letters. It will save you money (and waste) if you often send real cards. Unsubscribing from junk emails will reduce your emissions as well, as sending these emails uses unnecessary server power.

Overconsumption and food waste

By definition, overconsumption is the act of using up a resource to excess. Most of us would benefit from having less “stuff” around, but the act of buying useless clutter is fuelled by sneaky marketing strategies and pressure from others around us. On average globally, we throw out more than 60 tonnes of household waste per second! Making a conscious effort to buy fewer new products, and recycling or disposing of food waste correctly, will greatly reduce the amount of unnecessary waste that we each produce.

Buying second-hand or longer-lasting products will help to reduce the number of new items stocked in shops and, in turn, the amount produced. It may seem to only have a small effect, but one less Ikea chair ordered could be the difference between using one delivery van or two! It will also save you money to buy longer-lasting or used products. Charity shops are great for finding cheap furniture or clothes and you never know if you might find something you really like. Using reusable cups will help reduce single-use plastic waste and save you money in most coffee shops too, as they often give discounts to anyone who brings their own vessel.

In the UK, we throw away around 9.52 million tonnes of food every year. But there are many ways now to prevent as many meals from being thrown out.

To preserve food in your own house, transferring edibles that are nearing their sell-by date to a freezer will preserve the food in the condition that it is currently in. You can do this with perishables as soon as you buy them, meaning food will last longer. All you have to do is defrost it before eating in a microwave or by leaving it on a surface for a few hours. Foods such as bread will freeze and defrost nicely and many fruits will do the same. In fact, you may find some fruits taste nicer frozen too! If you do have nibbles which are past their use-by date, or you have fruit or vegetable peelings or teabags, the best way to dispose of these are through composting; that way, the food goes back into the ground and feeds plants, leaving no waste. East Sussex County Council website has information about composting and wormeries.

To help you save food wastage outside your home and save a bit of money, apps such as ‘Too good to go’ will show you deals for local restaurants and food shops selling food for cheaper which they would otherwise have to throw out the next day. This will save you money and save unnecessary food waste. Other projects such as community fridges allow you to leave food that you know you won’t use for someone else who might need it or to take food that someone else has left instead of buying food yourself.

Misinformation

Many mainstream news corporations invest in large energy companies such as Shell and BP. This means that it is in their best interest to downplay the climate crisis as they continue to earn money for as long as people keep purchasing from these companies. This is one of the main reasons why there is so little information about climate change broadcasted or published to the public within the media industry. Some companies also “Greenwash” meaning that they pretend they are doing more for the environment than they actually are to attract more customers and earn more money.

@earthlyeducation

@eavsyecotips

Toogoodtogo.co.uk

So what can you do about this?

Although there is very little you can do to change how the media distributes their information, there are still things you can do. The best thing you can do to combat misinformation is to educate yourself and others about what’s really going on and what you can do to help the environment. By reading this article, you’ve already taken a step in the right direction. Social media can be a really good source of information about this as it is unfiltered, unlike mainstream media. But you should be aware that there is misinformation on social media too, and you shouldn’t trust everything you read.

There are numerous ways we can do our bit for the environment. We must understand our role in protecting the planet and taking responsibility for our actions. Remember, every small action counts and by working together, we can create a sustainable future for generations to come.

theclimatecoalition.org

Journalist: Lauren Perry

Designer: Ed Barlow

Photographer: Noah Buscher (Unsplash)