Now more than ever, we are becoming familiar with the negative effects of our lifestyle on our environment and our planet. We are all familiar with the destruction that we are causing the environment around us. We can’t breathe fresh air anymore, trees are being cut to make way for establishments, rivers and lakes are now polluted, there is trash everywhere and many more.
What is even more alarming is that we are now facing the consequences of all of these. The world is getting more and more polluted and more importantly, the earth’s climate is changing drastically. For us Filipinos, we know and experience this all too well. Every year, we are being hit by stronger and stronger typhoons and our summer season is getting hotter and hotter. Floods and droughts are also becoming more frequent and more severe.
Fortunately for us, there is something that we can do and that is to live a sustainable lifestyle. Sustainable lifestyle refers to a type of lifestyle that aims to reduce a person’s negative impact on the environment to a minimum by reducing your use of Earth’s natural resources and one’s personal resources. This usually entails making smarter decisions in many aspects of our lives, particularly to the use of energy in our homes and the products that we consume.
There are many ways on how you can live a sustainable lifestyle and some of these are listed below:
Gardening as a Hobby
Gardening is a very fun and satisfying hobby because it is relaxing and helps you get more connected and in touch with nature. Gardening as a hobby is becoming more and more popular nowadays because of its many benefits, which includes being an exercise activity and growing healthy fruits and vegetables for your own consumption.
Did you know that your body needs only two and a half hours of moderate activity per week to make your heart healthier and reduce the risks of heart diseases? Well, gardening can give you this type activity. Not to mention the fact that you will be out in the fresh air and exposed with the sunshine while gardening. Also, gardening has been shown to be a very effective way of fighting depression as it takes your mind off of your problems, improves your overall mood and reduces your stress levels.
Reduce Household Energy Use
Right now, we are mostly relying on fossil fuels for our energy sources, especially here in the Philippines. And since we know that fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is the major cause of global warming, doing everything you can to reduce your electricity consumption also becomes equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
You can do this by simply turning off appliances when not in use and using more energy-efficient appliances on your home. Even though switching to more energy-efficient appliances requires an initial investment, it will be worth it because you can eventually get it back through the monthly savings on your electric bill that it will incur.
Moving Away From the “Throw-Away” Lifestyle
Nowadays, every household item already has a disposable version. This includes paper plates, plastic utensils and cups, plastic and paper bags and many more. Because these items are pretty convenient to use, many people have been very dependent on them for their lifestyle. What they do not realize is that these items, when thrown away, contributes greatly to polluting our environment. Therefore, it is best to avoid the use of these items as much as possible. Instead, we can train ourselves to use reusable items, such as metal straws, tumblers, Tupperware food containers, etc.
Reduce Water Consumption
Another great way to live a sustainable lifestyle is to reduce your household’s total water consumption. Clean water is a precious commodity, which is why we should not waste it. There are also already water efficient appliances that are available in the market today. These include dual-flush toilets, water-efficient shower heads and automatic washing machines, among others. Using such appliances, along with your own water conservation efforts, will be a big help for our environment.
You Can Do Much More
If you are really committed to living a sustainable lifestyle and you want to do more for our environment, another great thing that you can do is by having installing solar panels on your home. With solar panels, you will be able to produce energy on your unused rooftop, which can greatly help in reducing your electricity demand.
About the Author
Engr. Jet Andal is a solar PV engineer and a passionate writer. He aims to help the world transition to solar energy as its main energy source and also runs Andal Solar, a solar company that does solar panels installations for Filipino homes. You can check out their website on this link: https://www.andalsolar.com/
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