How to save our planet?

Life on Earth is a beautiful miracle, just like human achievements from the last couple of thousands of years. It would be a very unfortunate event if we would end up killing both, but as of now, we are very well on that path, running toward that deep canyon. Not even running, we are on a high speed train and the breaks seem to be broken.

The break was called common sense. Maybe it never really existed or got lost somewhere on the way, but it is pretty clear that we act as if we were blind.

Two thousands years ago people were already able to build majestic buildings, huge ships, transport and water management infrastructures. And now put your hands on your heart and say that you believe that we can continue what we are doing and we will be still able after another 2000 years to live on this planet. What 2000? Let’s make it a hundred...

Some people are aware of the situation, but even these people have disagreements. Some say that people as individuals can not do anything. Governments and companies should take the lead. Well yes and no. Of course nobody can save the earth alone, but accusing Governments and capitalism for our problems is a hypocrite move. We could protest to convince governments and we could stop buying things to deal with polluter and exploiter companies.

Let me collect a few things about what we can do, what we should do. I hope someone will read this and I hope that some of those, will actually implement at least a few of these ideas in their own life.

Zero Waste Life
Having a zero waste life is a myth, it’s impossible in my opinion. We can however easily do better than average. Much better.

Only buy things that you actually need.

Buy second hand. In places like this.

Drink tap water
Forget bottled water, and definitely forget all kinds of soda. Tap water is perfectly fine and there are also plenty of solutions on how to make it even cleaner. It’s not just the bottle which makes these products bad for the environment, but all the costs of transportation, distribution and marketing.

Always bring a bag for shopping
Yeah it’s not much, but in a lifetime a nice pile of bags could be collected.

Stop caring about what other people think
You are allowed to wear a dress as many times as you like. You don’t need a new bag, a new shoe, a new car, just because you want to show the neighbour that you can afford it.

Live in a small house or even better in a small flat
That way, you save money, energy, you have to clean less, you have less space to store things that you didn’t even need in the first place anyway.

Don’t have any children
I know it’s quite radical, but if you think about it, you can’t really argue against it, however I haven’t decided about that myself either.

Don’t have pets
I haven't decided on this one. I love pets. I believe that they actually can teach us that we should care more about nature. On the other hand they are consuming a lot of food, and we can’t really be considered as part of nature.

If you really want a pet, get it from a shelter. That way you save a life and you also avoid financing those greedy bastards who are breeding dogs in tiny cages.

Sterilisation of your pet
This is very important on so many levels. The unplanned little puppies that you give away for free end up just too often in shelters. Same applies for cats. We really don’t need more of them. They are dangerous to native bird populations and again: they can end up living a life that nobody would wish for an animal.

Be vegetarian
Sorry, I love meat. But I swear, I’m trying and you should do so as well.

Fix things
It is definitely time consuming and sometimes isn’t even cheaper, but it is worth it for the future.

Reuse
Many things can have a second life. The internet is full of amazing and sometimes stupid diy ideas.

Sell instead of throwing away.
“One man's trash is another man's treasure” My advice would be here that sell it for a cheap price, so you can get rid of it quickly, but never for free, because then you have to deal with a lot of bored people who ask questions but at the end it turns out that they doesn’t even need it.

Donate what you need
Of course you can also donate, but I prefer selling because that way I can be sure that I gave it to someone who actually needs it.

Don’t use a car
Yes I know it requires a certain lifestyle, but if you are planning well, you can actually save yourself from a lot of trouble. Taxes, insurance, traffic jams, car breaking down. Sounds good, right?

Go by foot
It is healthy and most certainly the cheapest option. It has its own limits, though, I know.

Use public transport
Also cheap, and if you were born in the luckier part of the world it is also the fastest option.

Move to minimise commute
Last time, when I moved I wasn’t even looking at apartments which were further than 5 km away from my office. It paid off. Now I only have to walk ten minutes every morning, shops and restaurants are even closer. Boring but very convenient life.

Don’t heat too much
That is a hot topic lately but it was always true. Having 25 degrees in the house is such a waste. You know you can wear a pullover right?

Don’t have an air conditioner
It is using a lot of power and as a result it makes our cities and our planet even hotter. Furthermore, having a very cold room is quite unhealthy because the heat hits your body like a rock when you actually have to go outside.

Plant a tree
Yes, that’s a nice thing to do. Maybe if we won’t have a constant drought from now on, it can even survive a few years.

Use renewable energies
Solar panels to the roof, heat pump to the basement and you never again have to worry about your power bills.

Save water
I know shower feels good, but you can finish it in a minute.

Don't have lawn in your garden
I mean you can have it, but it doesn't need irrigation. If it's dry it's dry. Big deal. It will be green again after it’s raining, but anyway: the point is that you should use plants which are okay without extra care.

Soap instead of shower gel
It became the norm, but doesn't make too much sense to buy something which is more expensive just because they added water to it, resulting in higher production costs, more expensive packaging and higher transportation costs. Doesn’t really sound like a win-win situation, does it?

Don't shave
I don't want to go too far. It's everyone's own business. I would only refer here to my beard. I saved days in time and hundreds of euros in money since I stopped shaving my face regularly.

Use a dishwasher
Technologie isn’t always bad. You can try to wash the dishes using as little water as possible, but the dishwasher will win in this contest. (I’d rather not start the discussion whether the environmental effects of the production of the dishwasher equals the saved water and energy, I let it everyone decide)

Traditional detergents
I just realised a few weeks ago that the modern detergent pods are cheaper per washing than the traditional one. Well fuck them! It’s a lie. They count more from the traditional detergents than you actually need so the price per washing seems higher…

Buy local, buy seasonal products

Plan your grocery in advance
If you know what you want to cook and eat in the next few days you won’t have to throw away any food. Also you can try to turn around the logic and cook from the food that you already have at home instead of buying the ingredients for the food that you desire.

Composting
Yeah it can be smelly so you either need some high tech composting box or at least a balcony. However if you have a garden I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t do this. Your trashcan will remain clean. You will need less trash bags. You will reduce the amount of trash you are producing and you are producing soil. Win-win-win.

Recycling
Many people think it is enough to be environmentally friendly but in reality it is only slightly better than not doing anything at all. However paper, metals and most types of plastics are really easy to recycle so it is worth it to collect them separately.

If you wouldn't believe me the EU says similair stuff: How to reduce my carbon footprint.