“The estimated number of deaths from all sources of air pollution globally is 6.7 million,” according to Statistica, an online statistics website. The most common disease linked to air pollution is Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, a chronic lung inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed breathing, although treatments can help manage the disease, there is no cure.
Over the years human pollution has only increased because of carbon emissions, plastic waste, and capitalistic consumerism, etc. But how do you decrease your environmental impact, especially as a teenager? Here are some helpful tips on how to decrease your personal environmental impact and carbon footprint.
1. Use public transit more often: Try to use public transit more frequently, buses emit less carbon waste per person than if the same number of people on the bus were driving cars instead. When you ride buses, you must pay a bus fee, but you won’t have to pay for the increasing price of gas for frequent car travel.
2. Limit single use plastics: Begin limiting single use plastics like straws, disposable cups, plastic silverware and many more. Another helpful tip would be to bring your own reusable bags to the grocery store, why use a flimsy plastic back when a handful of tote bags can hold more and is better for the environment.
“In America alone, an estimated 11.3 million tons of textile waste – equivalent to 85% of all textiles – end up in landfills on a yearly basis. That’s equivalent to approximately 81.5 pounds (37 kilograms) per person per year and around 2,150 pieces per second countrywide,” according to EARTH.ORG.
3. Donate used clothing: If you have old clothes that are not completely worn out, you should donate them to your local thrift store or Goodwill. There is someone out there who cannot afford new clothes, so donating those old clothes could help someone get quality clothes to wear at a more affordable price. Donating your clothes could also help keep your clothes out of landfills and put them on the shelves.
4. Create and curate your own garden: Invest in creating your own garden to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and many other plants. Growing your own vegetables instead of buying them from chain grocery stores, where you do not know where they are coming from, and the types of chemicals used to grow them. If you grow your own produce, then you know exactly how it is being grown, and the process is more environmentally friendly than corrupt agricultural industries.
5. Boycott brands that endanger wildlife: Some brands sell products that have negative impacts on wildlife. A few of these products are things like palm oil, which involves mass rainforest destruction to harvest the palm oil, this oil is used in many6 different skin care products, and soaps. It’s important to know the type of things that go into the products you use, especially if those products negatively impact wildlife, so it’s recommended to boycott the companies that knowingly produce products that have a negative impact on the ecosystem.
6. Speak out: The most important thing you can do is use your voice to encourage the people around you to also switch to an eco-friendlier lifestyle, the more that people try to make a change in their lifestyle, the more likely it is that our planet has a chance for survival. Another good tip is to sign petitions to let your local legislatures know that change is needed in order to slow down the climate crisis and protect the planet.
These are some helpful tips on how to decrease your personal impact on the environment and how to live an eco-friendlier lifestyle. It’s important to know that what you do truly matters, even if you think that it doesn’t matter because large companies contribute far more to climate change than an individual person that isn’t always true because if everyone has this opinion climate change will be just as disastrous. It is important for everyone to take part in helping to create a better world for the future generation of planet Earth.