I used to cycle to work every day. I’d ride on a cycle path along the side of a section of the A46, and every day I’d see takeaway coffee cups/tyres/clothes/fallen parcels and so much more on the ground. More recently I’ve seen litter being left over parks – I’m confused how people can go to a park with a bag of food and leave their rubbish. If I see a bin is full, I was always taught to find another and if that was full to take the rubbish home with me. My cousin has recently taken to sharing the rubbish she collects on walks with her dog. It shocks me the amount she collects – she has at least 1 binbag full each day.
My twin sister works for a sustainability company and every day is a day of learning, learning how we can change and adapt to look after our planet. A recent discussion in our house has been vegan or vegetarian days. I’ve grown up in a meat-eating family and I still live with my parents. My sister recently moved home and has been challenging us more and more. Our first discussion wasn’t overly welcomed by my dad! My mum was curious, and we tried to have at least one vegetarian evening meal a week. It was a chance to explore and try new recipes. We’ve recently tried to have a vegan meal once a week following further discussions which were far more open! I know people aren’t able to stop and make changes at once, but can you have an open discussion with your family, friends or flatmates to see what changes you can make around your home to help the environment?
Can you take a reusable shopping bag with you when you go out?
Can you use a refillable water bottle?
Could you stop driving or using the bus and switch to riding a bike or walking?
Are you mindful of what you throw in the bin? Can things be recycled that you normally throw in general waste?
Can you make a change like my family by having vegetarian and vegan days?
I’m not going to pretend that I do all of the above every single day, but I really do try. When we try making these small changes there’s a huge impact on the world around us. I want to protect the world around me. When I come home from work I ask Google a fun fact and there was one fact I didn’t find fun. It was that if all the ice sheets melted across the word that many cities we know would be flooded. The icecaps melt at around 9% every 10 years and it’s predicted these will have completely melted by 2040 at this current rate. If we can make small changes that can become habits, we’ll hopefully be able to protect the icecaps and the earth.
The world around us is beautiful, can we protect it for future generations? I’m excited to see what changes I can make around the house and challenge you to as well!
