Being better to the environment has become a more and more relevant idea as the years have gone on. We have movies like the Lorax that have great environmental plots, television shows that dedicate episodes to having the underlying meaning be about how we can “go green”, and it’s immensely easier to find recycle bins wherever you go. We all learned the phrase “reduce, reuse, and recycle”, but what other behaviors can we implement into our daily lives to be a little more environmentally friendly? Here are three very simple ways to go a little more green.
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Use Less Plastic
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Use reusable grocery bags. They are so inexpensive and cut back your plastic use by a ton.
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Drink out of reusable coffee mugs and water bottles. Honestly, carrying around a reusable water bottle keeps you way more hydrated because you can refill it so many times and having it with you is a reminder to keep sipping on it. This website has some really cute mugs and water bottles and Target.com always has some fun and affordable water bottles.
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Stop using plastic straws. They cause so much waste and can get stuck in turtles nostrils when they end up in the ocean.
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Use razors with replaceable blades because you won’t have to throw away as much plastic when it needs to be replaced.
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Eat Less Meat
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About half of all of the water in the U.S. goes towards raising animals and the meat industry causes about 20% of global greenhouse emissions.
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You can help reduce our carbon and water footprint by choosing one day a week to eat no meat.
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If you are an avid meat eater, chose to only eat it for one meal a day. If your someone who constantly finds themselves adding meat to every meal this could help you stay a little more conscious of what and how much you are eating.
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Eat meat alternatives. You can find alternatives for pretty much every type of meat from ground beef to chicken nuggets. Try something new, because you never know what you just might like!
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Drive Less
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For places nearby, walk or bike.
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Use public transportation when possible. This is extremely easy to do if you are a University of Utah student since we get a free UTA pass with our tuition. Take trax to the store next time or the bus to class.
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Combine your errands together. Instead of driving all the way down town to run one errand a day every day of the week, try to combine all of those into one trip.
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Being more environmentally friendly isn’t always so hard to do. Just implementing a few changes into you daily routine at a time can change the world so much.