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Things You Can Do For The Environment Aside From Going Solar

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Things You Can Do For The Environment Aside From Going Solar

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Have you ever heard people say “you only have one shot in this life”? I do, and I can say that the same is true for our planet. The fact that we only have one home is a reality that most people don’t take the time to ponder. As far as we can remember, climate change and global warming have been an issue, and even up to this day, it’s just getting worse.

Not a lot of people take earth-related issues seriously. After all, we haven’t experienced a movie-like scene to wake us from our carelessness. What we don’t realise is that we’ve been living through it slowly, but surely. From extreme changes in temperature to the melting of icebergs, the environment has been giving us signs.

Sadly, even though those signs are plastered right in front of our eyes, we still choose to look otherwise. British activist, historian, and explorer, Robert Swan once said, “the greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” Isn’t this what most of us are expecting? That someone will just come and turn things around?

Here’s the plot twist, we are that someone. We just have to wake up and open our eyes to the reality that we only have one chance. A chance to revive and provide a better home for future generations to come.

Solar energy over the last decade

One of the most evident moves that a lot of people have done over the last decade is to go solar. Solar panels have been advocated and marketed widely. A lot of residential and huge businesses have started shifting to clean energy.

Solar panels work by harnessing the light emitted by the sun. The panels act as the medium that receives and converts the sun’s energy. Solar panel installation is expensive. Let alone, investing in solar panels. However, solar panels are made to last for a maximum of 30 to 35 years when used properly.

Solar energy is not only utilised for residential and business properties. They are also making big moves in the transportation industry. In space exploration, solar panels play a very important role.

The thing is, solar panels are great. But, their price point is not for everyone. Currently, only a limited number of people are capable of shifting to solar energy. Even though it’s not yet accessible to the majority, there are a lot of things that we can do aside from going solar.

Let’s take a look at some of the simple things that we can start and do for the environment.

Learn more about the issue

In the words of Donny Miller, “in the age of information, ignorance is a choice.” This is indeed a line that is truer than any niche you can ever hear. In a world where information is just one tap and scroll away, why would you choose not to learn?

We are lucky enough to live in this modern age. An age where things that used to be hard and complicated are now convenient. With this privilege that we’ve been given, refusing to learn when you have the tools is indeed a choice.

If you know nothing about climate change and what triggers it, learn. Read online articles or watch educational videos if you’re a visual learner. Educate yourself about what you don’t know. Help yourself find the answers to the questions no one answered for you.

Learning about the environment is the first and easiest thing that you can do right now. Once you open your eyes and feed your brain with facts that you’ve been disregarding for so long, you can then start to find solutions. This first point will then lead us to the second one.

Educate others with what you know

The only way you can help other people is by helping yourself first. After you learn about climate change, global warming, and what the environment needs right now, you can then start to share your learnings. If you know people who still choose to stay ignorant despite having the resources to learn, you can help them by sharing what you know.

Nowadays, there are a lot of available options as to how you can educate people. First, you can utilise the ‘place’ where people go the most. You ask, where is that? The answer is social media.

If you can’t reach people personally, you can use social media platforms instead. These days, anyone can share their experiences, learnings, and opinions online. You can create a YouTube channel. Then, you can post short, but straight to the point videos that discuss certain environmental issues.

You can also even start by posting using your Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook account. Maybe there’s an environment-care account that you’re following online whose posts perfectly capture what you want to say. You can simply repost their posts and add a bit of your opinion as well. Remember, you can help and educate people in a non-offending way. Help them understand how important certain issues are and let the rest follow.

Practice the art of reducing, reusing, and recycling

One of the most popular rules that schools, organizations, and mostly everyone promotes is the ‘reduce, reuse, and recycle’ method. It’s the most used phrase and almost everyone is familiar with it.

Though this concept is overused, still, only a few are practising it. It’s a good thing that a lot of supermarkets and stores are practising the ‘no plastic’ policy. But, a lot are still using excuses not to bring their shopping bags. Sadly, people would rather pay for a plastic bag than bring their reusable bags.

In the example that I gave, we can apply the art of reducing. Reduce your plastic purchases and unnecessary plastic items. If you buy a drink outside, you can bring your reusable tumblers. Practice reusing items that you usually throw away. Recycle what you can and turn it into something useful.

The art of reducing, reusing, and recycling won’t only help the environment. It will also help you save so much money that you spend on unnecessary stuff. Give it a try! You might just find yourself enjoying it and saving a whole bunch of dollars.

Start with these 3 easy steps and from there, you can start making your moves.

Caring and doing something for the environment is not hard. If you don’t have the resources to make big changes right now, that’s okay. You can simply start with these 3 easy ways that I discussed above. From there, you can then start creating your ‘how-to’s’ and ‘can do’s’ in the best way that you can.

Bianca Banda is a writer for Penrith Solar Centre, an Australian solar company that advocates better energy resources to improve the quality of life on Earth.

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