25 Easy Ways to be Impactfully Green

The previous year has been very eventful for us as a human race - surprising turn of political events, terror attacks, hate crimes, rise of feminism awareness, discussions about climate change, you name it. There have been events which have brought many sensitive issues to the mainstream discussions - perhaps issues that we knew existed forever, but have never been as important as they are today.

Let's start with climate change.There is so much focus lately on being green, being earth-friendly and the drastic ways in which our beautiful planet has changed in the last couple of decades. We may be nearing the end of the diversity and delicate balance that our planet has maintained for millions of years. Some sources say that the most likely impact of this disturbance of ecological balance will be natural disasters of a scale that has never been witnessed before. There is also conclusive evidence that this process has already begun.

The responsibilities that our generation has to shoulder are completely different from those our parents' or grandparents' generations have had to. Our actions individually seem to be minuscule, but every drop makes an ocean and collectively, we can make a massive difference. I have been thinking a lot about this lately and am trying to include actions that prevent environmental damage in my life. These are small things that sometimes slip our minds:

1. When buying goods that are surely not going to be returned, don't get the receipt printed
2. Limit the number of grocery bags used, either by squeezing maximum items into them, or by carrying your own cloth bags
3. Cancel subscriptions of magazines/newsletters you no longer read (i.e end up throwing out)
4. On the same note, shift current subscriptions to online ones if possible
5. Buy a reusable coffee cup for your daily coffee
6. Buy goods with minimal packaging or packaging that can be recycled
7. Reuse unavoidable plastic grocery bags as garbage bags
8. Buy classic pieces of clothing that can be used in many ways for many occasions
9. Nothing wrong with buying or using second hand goods (Op-shopping!) - I have scored so many beautiful pieces of furniture and new clothes with price tags attached at dirt cheap prices through Ebay or Op Shops (Guilt free too ;))
10. Donate items you no longer use to the needy or to opportunity shops so that they can get more use before their end of life
11. Exchange clothing/shoes/accessories with your girls to get new items without a cost to the planet!
12. Avoid takeaway plastic spoons and chopsticks by carrying your own (washable) spoon and fork
13. RED-cycle things that cannot be recycled :) Check it out in Australia: http://www.redcycle.net.au/ 
14. If you are okay with using it, get toilet paper made from recycled paper (100% earth friendly!)
15. Save good-looking shopping bags for up-cycling and gift-giving rather than purchasing gift bags separately
16. Reuse cloth towels a couple of times before throwing it into wash (interesting article on recommended uses before washes!)
17. When doing laundry, wash on the cold cycle unless otherwise required
18. Minimize dryer usage by drying clothes outside (if the weather permits) and save on electricity costs too!
19. Recycle or up-cycle clothing. Check out this woman's 1200KM bike ride through China!
20. When going somewhere nearby, walk instead of driving and creating fuel emissions. Get healthier and richer with this one too ;)
21. As much as possible, avoid food wastage by cooking in edible portions only, or, get creative with leftover recipes
22. Get greener, healthier and richer by avoiding processed food and opting for fresh, natural food. Processed food factories are factories too 
23. Get public transport where possible - its not a lonely world where we live in! If you must drive, try carpooling - also a great way to make friends!
24. Schedule in mindfulness and other joyful activities like hobbies, friends, developing skills etc in your life to create a rich and full existence with less stuff.
25. Minimize, minimize, minimize consumption! Remember how lucky we are to get all the comforts that we have today, when just a couple of generations ago, our ancestors were living with the bare minimums.

Something this beautiful is worth preserving.