5-Minute Steps with a Tangible Climate Impact
Y’all, it’s time to move past the trope of reusable water bottles (I know you’re already carrying one! Right?!) to make a more substantial dent in the climate crisis. Here are four steps that are so incredibly easy you can do them on your lunch break…or coffee break… or in the five minutes before your child has their third meltdown before 9 am… You get the idea.
Switch to a reusable shopping bag.
The typical American family uses 1,500 single-use plastic bags per year. These bags are used for, on average, 12 minutes, but leave a permanent ecological footprint (both in the oil used to produce plastic and in its unceremonious resting place in the landfill). Making the switch to reusables is the easiest thing you’ll do all week. I keep these* super-strong, foldable bags in my purse, with a spare in the car. My original bags from 2015 are still going strong, though I’ve added bags since to accommodate my ever-expanding grocery list.
12,000,000 barrels of oil annually are wasted in supporting Americans’ plastic bag addiction
Waste management
Change your energy provider
Making the switch to renewable energy sources can have a 10-fold impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions relative to a family recycling policy (though please, drop your plastics in the recycling bin.. or forego them altogether). In most cases, you can switch energy providers while leaving your energy “distributor” the same– meaning the same company sends you a bill every month, but you’ve made the switch to clean energy. Our renewable provider is Inspire, a certified B corp that operates mostly along the East coast, and the whole process took only a few minutes– so you’ll have made the clean energy switch more quickly than you can get your Venti-iced-coffee-with-5-pumps-of-vanilla-7-pumps-of-hazelnut-and-a-splash-of-soy at Starbucks.
Run your washing machine on cold
Up to 90% of a washing machine’s energy is spent heating water– so simply switching your wash settings to “cold” can decrease your carbon footprint by more than 1,000 pounds of CO2 annually. This energy-saving move– the equivalent of planting nearly half an acre of forest– can also avoid permanently setting stains and extend the life of your favorite sweater. So really, it’s a climate win that keeps on giving!
If every American changed just ONE wash load to “cold” every week, we would be saving enough electricity to power 240,000 homes– or reduce our carbon impact by 2.3 million metric tons of CO2.
Cold water wash initiative
Reduce your food waste.
Lucky for you, this one is really, really good for your wallet (and really good for the planet). Food waste is the largest single component of landfills, accounting for 15% of all solid waste. Be realistic about the food you can consume before it spoils, and if you’re feeling really ambitious, consider maintaining your own vegetable garden or sourcing “imperfect” fruits and veggies. Misfits Market is at the forefront of the food rescue industry by sourcing beautiful, organic produce that wouldn’t make it to a supermarket shelf and selling at roughly half the price of store-bought produce. I became a Misfits devotee even before you could choose the produce in your box (and will be forever grateful for learning that I love squash as a result!), but they’ve recently rolled out some incredible produce customization options. (Use my Code COOKWME-PE3BHD for 25% off your first box!).*
*Links may be affiliate links, meaning I receive compensation to support Sustain Initiative at no cost to you. It’s a win-win!
Will give it a shot
I didn’t know about the cold water wash. That’s a pretty easy change! Cool.