Three easy ways to live more sustainably

The threat of climate change is overwhelming. The problem’s so huge most people don’t feel they’ve the power to do anything about it.

‘What can I do? I’m just one itty bitty person, I can’t do anything about the global corporations responsible for most emissions,’ they say. Like a rabbit caught in the headlights, they freeze at the enormity of what’s heading their way – and do nothing. Unfortunately, this lack of action can only have one outcome.

Billions of squished bunnies.*

No matter how insignificant each of us feels, we can help drive the necessary cultural shift to a more sustainable way of living. History shows us that big change usually comes from the bottom up (see Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, 1517;  the mob storming the Bastille in Paris, 14th July, 1789; and Rosa Parks refusing to relinquish her seat on a bus to a white man on 1st December 1955). As Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ (Or as Barry Manilow once sang, ‘You can create your own reality /And make your dreams come true/ It’s really up to you.’)

There are loads of easy, everyday things we can all do that, when applied en masse, will have a significant impact. This post is the first in a series outlining simple things you can easily change at home. Here are the first three:

1. Change to a green energy provider – This is where you do have the power to take direct action against the fossil fuel giants. Green energy used to be something you paid a premium for. But not any more. In the last few years it’s dropped significantly in price. New eco-friendly energy providers abound. If you don’t know which supplier to go for, start by reading what the consumer champions at Which? have to say on the subject.
2. Stop being a soap dodger – When did soap become liquid? When did we stop buying bars and start buying plastic bottles of it instead? And who decided you could only wash in the shower with gel from a plastic bottle? As David Attenborough made quite clear in his beautiful Blue Planet series, the natural world is drowning under a tsunami of plastic. It’s time to avoid single-use plastics – and the soap in your bathroom is as good a place as any to start. But please make sure to buy eco-friendly soap, such as the ones from Faith in Nature or Friendly Soap. There’s not much point trying to cut down on plastic, yet still polluting the water system.
3. Use a bamboo toothbrush –  See point two about plastic not being fantastic. On Planet Earth we are heading towards a global population of eight billion, which is an awful lot of teeth and an awful lot of toothbrushes. So why do most of us still use a plastic toothbrush? Bamboo toothbrushes are biodegradable and sustainable. You won’t notice the difference  and you can get one here, here or here.

*Shorthand for human extinction via environmental Armageddon (I mean, you got that, right?)