Small Actions for BIG, Positive Environmental Effects

We sometimes love to do a little “people-watching” and not in a creepy way — it’s just sometimes really nice to sit atop a hill, overlooking one of the biggest and busiest roadways in the country and sort of try to guess where everybody is going, why they’re in such a rush and whether or not they’re happy. Some crazy thoughts naturally tend to creep-in at times, like perhaps whether or not one of the drivers has not maybe won the lottery and they’re driving to work one last time just to stick it to their boss…

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Sadly though, something else which always resurfaces during these people-watching (or car-watching) sessions is just how much pollution is going into the air each day. Bearing in mind, this is but just one roadway, albeit a very busy one, in just one town in one country. How much more pollution is going on all over the world?

With the melting polar ice caps and some freak weather patterns we’ve witnessed lately, it’s safe to say that climate change is indeed real. With all this pollution going on all around the clock it can appear to be rather overwhelming to even begin to think that one person’s actions can make any difference at all. That’s where the power of numbers comes into play however and there are indeed some small actions one can take in their own life which can add up to some significant differences when added to the same small actions effected by many others.

Make Environmentally-Friendly Choices

It starts with just making better choices — choices which are a bit friendlier to the environment with your purchases. It really isn’t an extensive commitment at all and these environmentally friendlier choices can in fact save you some money as well. In the beginning it might take some time to have to stop and think each time, but once you’ve got the hang of it it’ll become like second nature to you. Something as simple as choosing paper cups for your hot beverages over polystyrene cups snowballs into some huge positive changes to the environment if say something like 3 million people around the world make the same switch.

Re-Use, Separate Your Waste, Join or Start a Re-Cycling Movement

This is just an extended version of the popular environmentalist mantra of “re-use, recycle and reduce,” but a little bit more effective in that it makes the steps you commit to that much more real because they’re only a decision away from being implemented. Some products you buy are factory-produced to be re-usable, so something like a glass container over a plastic one would be good. Let your creativity come to the fore as well — you could perhaps make a nice set of garden lamps out of some worn out vehicle oil filters, or something.

Separating your waste for recycling completes the small changes you can make with big positive implications for the fate of our planet in that waste that’s grouped together by way of its similarity in composition is easier and cheaper to transport and recycle. If you’re the only one in your neighbourhood recycling your waste, start a re-cycling movement, otherwise join an existing one for a bigger, more visible group impact.