7 habits you urgently need to give up

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

They harm you, others and the entire planet.

1. Use disposable dishes and plastic bags

Plastic dishes do not need to be washed, and bags are simply an irreplaceable thing: without them it is difficult to carry groceries home. This apparent convenience hides a huge harm to nature.

Polyethylene and plastic decompose for several hundred years, products from them are stored in landfills or in the world's oceans. They are mistakenly eaten by birds and marine animals: for example, in 2019, in the Philippines, they found the corpse of a whale with 40 kg of bags in the stomach.

By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world's oceans.

Plus, disposable tableware and bags aren't your budget's best friend. Yes, they cost a little, but this is only at first glance. Suppose you go to the store every three days and each time you buy a package for 5 rubles. As a result, you will spend 50 rubles in a month, and 300 in six months. With this money, you can buy six packs of pasta, several kilograms of apples or a kilogram of chicken breast.

How to break a habit

Replace plastic dishes and bags with eco-friendly counterparts. Here's the minimum set you'll need:

• Shopper. Textile grocery bag. It is not only more environmentally friendly, but also more practical than the package. Firstly, the shopper is more durable and will not tear due to the sharp edge of the box a minute after leaving the store. Secondly, it can be used as a regular city or beach bag.
• Fruit. Reusable cloth bags for vegetables, fruits and nuts.
• Bottle for water. To take water with you and not buy it in plastic.
• Thermo mug. Needed for those who love takeaway coffee or tea. Take it with you and ask the barista to pour the drink into your glass instead of the disposable one. By the way, many coffee shops give a discount for this.

2. Buying too many clothes, shoes and accessories

We live in a time of "fast fashion": factories produce hundreds of thousands of pieces of clothing, the assortment of mass-market stores is updated several times a season - sometimes every week. To keep up with trends, we buy things every year, six months, several months, or even more often. As a result, a mountain of clothes accumulates in the wardrobe, worn two or three times at best. This negatively affects not only the personal budget, but also the state of the planet.

Due to the production of fabrics, 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere annually. Also, the fashion industry consumes a lot of water. For example, 2,700 liters are used to create one T-shirt, which is enough to grow enough cotton. This amount of water would be enough for one person to quench their thirst for three years.

How to break a habit

• Analyze your wardrobe regularly. Before you go shopping, go through all your clothes and make a list of what you really miss. This makes you less likely to buy an unnecessary T-shirt or fifth pair of blue jeans.
• Buy things in second hand. Instead of supporting "fast fashion", it is better to buy old but well-preserved clothes. In second-hand shops you can find something that is still relevant now: something from a basic wardrobe or trendy things - fashion is cyclical.
• Purchase quality clothing and footwear. They are more expensive, but they look better and last longer.

3. Throw away unwanted clothing in a landfill

A point that flows smoothly from the previous one. First, we buy mountains of clothes, then they gather dust in the closet, and after a while, as unnecessary, they go to the landfill. There they decompose and release greenhouse gases, in particular carbon dioxide and methane, and they contribute to global warming.

How to break a habit

Instead of throwing unwanted clothes in the trash, give them a second life. Here's what you can do.

• Hand over for processing. This method is suitable for old, worn clothes: with permanent stains, holes or faded fabric. In general, for one that can hardly be worn again.
• Donate to a help center or thrift store. Items will go to low-income families, homeless people and others in need.
• Sell online. Submit pictures of things on one of the sites with ads: clothes will continue to live in someone else's wardrobe, and you will make money.
• Take it to a freemarket or swap party. There you can exchange your belongings for clothes brought by other people for free.

4. Do not sort the trash

Naturally, not only clothes are sent to the landfill, but also a bunch of other recyclable materials. Plastic bottles, waste paper, glass and cans, tetrapak. All this decomposes, releasing greenhouse gases and polluting water bodies.

The average Russian produces 1 to 1.5 kg of garbage per day.

Sometimes batteries, accumulators and electrical appliances - hazardous waste - are thrown into the landfill along with the household waste. They contain toxic elements: lead, nickel, cadmium, lithium, mercury. Once in a landfill, such waste begins to decompose, releasing these elements into the soil and groundwater. Or into the atmosphere - if they are disposed of in an incinerator.

How to break a habit

Sort garbage and try to hand over recyclable materials for recycling. According to Greenpeace, more than 27 million residents of large cities in Russia have access to separate waste collection at their homes.

But sorting can be done even if you don't have recycling bins in your yard. Just add extra containers at home, such as a bucket or box for glass, recyclable plastic or cardboard. When they are full, take them to a recycling center. You can find them in your city on the Recyclemap.

Recycling batteries is even easier. There are collection boxes in many malls and supermarkets - just take batteries with you when you go shopping.

Old smartphones, computers, mixers and other electrical appliances also need to be handed over for recycling to recycling centers or electronics stores: they often hold promotions during which you can give away used equipment and get a discount on new ones.

5. Buying more food than you need

This is not about overeating - although this is also a bad habit that can lead to obesity - but about wasting food. Remember how often you find expired milk, rotten vegetables, or a stew cooked a week and a half ago in the refrigerator. All these products are thrown into the trash without fulfilling their function.

On average, 25% of purchased fruits, 15% of canned meat and 20% of potatoes and flour are thrown away in Russia annually.

There are two reasons why you need to get rid of this habit.

1. Environmental damage. About a quarter of all greenhouse gases arising from human activity come from overconsumption of food. Natural resources are spent on the production of an excess volume of products: water, land, energy. And because of this, the volume of forests is decreasing.
2. World hunger. While we are throwing food in the trash, more than 800 million people on Earth are malnourished.

How to break a habit

• Don't go shopping when you're hungry. A simple and effective life hack that will save you from buying mountains of sweets, snacks and other unnecessary food.
• Make a shopping list. This will help you to take only the products you need and not be held on to discounts and promotions like "3 for the price of 2".
• Freeze. Some foods can be stored in the freezer to extend their shelf life, such as butter, fruit, bread.
• Reconsider your attitude towards freshness. Don't be afraid to buy yesterday's bread or cottage cheese made three days ago. Look not at the date of manufacture, but at the date by which you need to use the product.
• Cook just as much as needed. If you bought a large pack of breast, but live alone - do not use it entirely: cook half, and freeze the other for future use.

6. Do not monitor resource usage

Do not turn off the light in the corridor, fall asleep under the noise of the TV, brush your teeth with the water on. You don't need to do this. First, because of this, you overpay for utilities. Second, the resources are not infinite. For example, stations use non-renewable fuels to generate electricity: gas, oil and coal. And more than 40% of people in the world suffer from the lack of water.

How to break a habit

• Don't leave the lights onwhen you leave the room.
• Try to do not use artificial lighting during the dayif the sun is already bright enough.
• Unplug electrical appliances from the outlet. They waste energy even when you are not using them.
• Buy water saving attachments. They can be installed on tap and shower.
• Don't pour too much. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and do not turn on the tap at full power while washing dishes.

7. Move around the city only by car or taxi

It is quick and convenient, and also ideally saves when the weather is unpleasant or just too lazy to walk. All is good, but cars produce too many greenhouse gases: one car - more than four tons per year. In addition, they emit harmful substances into the air, in particular lead, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, which negatively affect health.

How to break a habit

Try to use the car or taxi as little as possible.

• It is better to cover short distances on foot: it is good for health, wallet and ecology.
• For longer distances you can use muscular transport, such as a bicycle or scooter.
• If your destination is too far away or you are in a hurry, take public transport.