Category: Tellus Blog

The Ocean has become one of the most polluted places on Earth. Millions of tons of plastic trash are floating in the water, killing fish, birds and polluting the oceans. Plastic pollution causes a danger to marine life and must be solved as soon as possible.

Plastic pollution remains one of the most serious problems in the environment. The average lifespan of plastic items is around 1000 years, which makes it an urgent issue to be solved.

Plastic pollution is caused by people, who leave their garbage in the streets, beaches, and during rains or storms when all of this garbage is swept to the rivers and oceans.

What can we do to reduce plastic pollution?

There are many ways you can do something to change the situation and make an impact.
Let’s check the best ways to reduce plastic pollution we have prepared for you.

Stop using disposable plastics

In most cases the disposable plastic you use in your daily life will be used only once. After that it goes to the trash bin.

We are too much used to plastic bags, coffee-cup lids, and plastic straws. But all of these items cause harm to nature and to our planet. Even if broken into pieces, plastics remain in land and in the water killing wildlife.

Today we observe more and more scientific facts for example that plastic is found even in drinking water! How can you change that?

One of the best ways to reduce plastic pollution is to stop or reduce the use of plastic wraps, plastic grocery bags, straws, and cutlery.

You can easily change these items for reusable or degradable (e.g. wooden) ones. Another benefit of such a switch will be saving money.
Do not buy water in plastic bottles

Plastic water bottles end up in trash. But if the quality of your tap water is OK for drinking there is no need to spend extra money and contribute to plastic pollution.

Buy a reusable water bottle and you will help to reduce plastic pollution.

Use less beauty products

Did you know that plenty of beauty products contain microbeads, which are also very harmful to the environment.

Many body washes, facial scrubs have microbeads, which slip though the water and will be eaten afterwards by marine animals and so on into the human food chain!

What is the best way to reduce plastic pollution in this case? Try to purchase beauty products which have only natural exfoliants.

Cook your own food

Another option to reduce plastic pollution is to cook food at home. How can it reduce plastic pollution? When you cook your own food you will not be using takeout disposable food containers. Instead you can use reusable containers, which reduces the usage of plastic boxes.

Also, such an approach will help you to save costs, since each time you buy food in the disposable containers you’re paying for the container. The amount paid for the containers may not be shown separately from the food cost, but is hidden in the total price of the dish you buy.

Buy second hand items

One more sustainable tip is to buy second hand items. These can be clothes, gadgets, toys.

Second hand items have been in use, but why not to use them more and save your family budget? You can search for second hand items and clothes online, on various social media platforms, in groups and forums.

Recycle

One of the most important ways to reduce plastic pollution is to recycle. Most of the plastic bottles are marked with the numbers, which help to identify whether and how it can be recycled.

The numbers and the specifics of recycling may differ depending on the region. But once you start recycling plastics you will quickly get used to this process.

Buy in bulk

One of the most important ways to reduce plastic pollution is to buy in bulk. This is an easy sustainable tip, which will help you to save time and money.

Just think about the number of items you keep buying every month for your home and create a list of those items, which you can buy in bulk. These could be packages of food, toiletries, etc.

The bigger the package you buy – the less is the price per 1 item. Also, you will not have to go shopping each time you run out of this item.

Bring your own shopping bag

Another important hint for you to reduce plastic pollution is to bring your own shopping bag.

Instead of buying a plastic bag each time you go to the grocery shop make sure to take a garment bag or any other type of the reusable shopping bag with you.

By using and purchasing less plastics you help to save and protect our environment.

Organize clean-ups in your area

If you are willing to involve more people to reduce plastic pollution – organise clean-ups in your area. Common activities help to get to know your neighbours, make new friends who share your vision and you will do a very useful piece of work!

You can arrange an event in the local group on Facebook for example, share this announcement in related groups in your area and clean up a beach, or clean a park area from plastics.

Afterwards prepare a small photo or video report showing the area before and after. We can assure you, that next time you will want to organise such an event, you will have more people joining your initiative, as they will be inspired by your results and will want to contribute to cleaning your local area from plastics.

Little efforts in your everyday life help to make an impact on global processes.

If thousands of people get used to these simple daily tips, and continue to do the same, by their own example, persuading more people to live a more sustainable life, we would achieve a significant shift in our mindsets. This would be the best way to reduce plastic pollution, save our environment, and wildlife from pollution. Let’s keep in mind that the future is in our hands and it depends on us and our actions.

You can select your own set of sustainability “Actions”, learn about the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and measure / share your impacts with friends and relatives using the WCYDo App – available in the Apple App & Google Play Stores.

“Help make a safer, fairer World for less than the cost of a cup of coffee!”

In what way can you reduce your electric bill? You already know that you can save a lot of money if you become energy efficient.

Another advantage of saving electricity at home is that you are reducing emissions. You can help save our planet and the environment.

What can people do to save electricity?

Use energy saving bubbles and appliances to reduce pollution and save energy and your efforts to save electricity at home will reduce your monthly bills and save you money.

However, high levels of electricity consumption all over the world remains a major environmental issue.

Most electricity is produced using products from mining and drilling. We consume electricity generated from coal, natural gas and oil. All of this increases the growth of emissions and harms our Planet, our health and the environment that we live in.

Furthermore, although the use of electricity is cleaner than using fossil fuels , we should keep in mind that it is still harmful to our environment if used in an excessively wasteful manner.

Today the frequency of natural disasters has increased significantly around the globe. This is why every day we must remember and apply easy sustainable living tips which we can follow in our everyday life.

One of the actions we can take is to save electricity at home as this will help to reduce CO2 emissions and reduce pollution.

You can reduce the number of appliances in your kitchen, which consume too much electricity for cooking food and for cooling the premises.

By doing so you will also reduce your utilities bills. For example , approximately 10% of your bill for heating can be saved if you turn down your thermostat by just 1°C.

75% of all the electricity in your house or in your apartment is used by appliances which are plugged in and switched on but which are not in use!

Just walk around your house, check for the plugged in devices, which are not currently in use.

These can be video consoles, TV sets, and computers turned on but on a standby mode.

Turn them off to save energy at home and reduce your monthly bills.

Pay attention to the older versions of the appliances, in most cases they consume more electricity compared to newer models. This is what we can do to reduce use of electricity at home, to save the environment and to be more sustainable.

Just remember to unplug all the appliances, which are not in use at your home and this will be your contribution to sustainable living (and safety).

One more tip on what you can do to save electricity at home is to use large electric appliances more efficiently. To save energy at home, load the maximum permitted load into your washing machine.

This way you will reduce the number of cycles the machine will be on. Do not wash just 1 or 2 items in your washing machine as that will waste electricity .

Washing your clothes in cold water is another sustainable living tip of what we can do to save electricity at home and reduce our electric bills. Washing clothes in cold water is perfectly OK for some items and you can always turn on warm washing when needed.

But what is the best way to save electricity at home? – Let your clothes and dishes dry naturally!

Just use the energy of the sun for the clothes to dry, and you won’t have to pay for anything at all. If you have no other way out and need to use a dryer – stick to the lower settings to save energy.

When using a dishwasher you can skip using the heated drying cycle. Just stop the appliance and open the door for the air to dry your dishes naturally.

Modern technologies tend to create new devices and new machines which use less energy. If you are going to buy new appliances, check for the energy efficiency to make sure purchase of this appliance will help you save electricity at home.

In addition you can install a thermostat which can be programmed at your home and reduce your heating bills significantly.

Programming the temperature inside your home so it heats up 1 or 2 hours before you arrive home will make your home more sustainable and heated only when you need it. No energy will be wasted and you can save electricity at home and reduce your energy bills.

What else can you do to lower your electric bill? Use shorter showers! Turn on or program timer on your water heating appliance 1 hour before taking a shower.

You can use the same approach with regards to air conditioners and heaters. Program them to turn on only when you need them and you will save electricity.

Another way to save electricity at home is to adjust the use of artificial light. First of all remember to turn off all the lights at your home, which are not in use and in addition, buy higher wattage bulbs to make sure your room is lit enough.

You can purchase 1x 100 watt bulb instead of 4x 60 watts bulbs. Better still, invest in LED lights in preference to incandescent bulbs!

Do not forget that the natural light is the cheapest option – just let the sun in and you will save electricity.

Check the temperature settings inside your fridge. Are you sure you need this level of temperature that the refrigerator is operating at ?

Be sustainable and notch the temperature down. Even a few degrees of temperature change will impact the amount of electricity consumed and hence the energy bills .

During cold seasons you must make sure there are no draughts in your home because drafts and leaking of air in your home may mean that the home is not being heated properly in winter or cooled enough during the hot season.

Use all of the tips of what you can do to save electricity at home and you will not only reduce your energy bills but will contribute to sustainable living, saving our environment and our Planet.

Please share your tips on saving electricity at home and in the comments below tell our readers the best ways to save electricity at home from your point of view.