Every new year is an opportunity for change. We begin it with the hope of improving our personal habits and learning things that would better our lifestyles. But along with caring for our personal growth, the pandemic has made us realize the impact our actions have on the environment as well – a much-needed wake-up call to shape our new year resolutions accordingly.
We more often than not think that the environmental movement is a top-down affair with governments and institutions telling us the plans they have to secure the path to a net-zero era. Countless debates and international conferences were held to discuss the environment including the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP26. But did you know that you too can help these movements grow by adopting minor changes to your everyday life.
So in the spirit of new year’s resolutions, we would like to share with you a small measure of habits that you can adopt in 2022, that could go a long way in helping the environment.
1) Telecommute – A new way to work (and play!)
WFH is a phrase that has now become a common part of our everyday lexicon. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we all have had to make ourselves comfortable working and spending more time at home. One entity that is extremely thankful for this is the environment! It is statistically proven over and over again in cities across the world that staying at home benefits the environment in multiple ways, be it mitigating the pollution levels in the atmosphere, or in reducing the use of the earth’s resources. A plus point above all these is the doing away of the stress that surrounds going back and forth from work, and the extra time it gives us with our family. As we take our incipient steps into 2022, know more advantages of WFH in this article, and let us continue to telecommute whenever we can.
2) Make art out of everyday knick-knacks
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder- a saying we all must have heard. If there is something that the lockdowns have shown us, it’s that we all have latent talents we had forgotten in the everyday humdrum of our lives. But what if you find a way to unleash your creative side again, using everyday items lying in your home. We throw away so many reusable items that we don’t even give a second thought about. Cans, bottles, plastic (all of which take years to decompose) can be easily repurposed and recast in new avatars as pieces of art or useful knick-knacks around your house. Bottles can become vases, plastic bottles can become sculptures, and the list goes on. So here’s a chance for us to tap into the artist in us this new year and help the environment at the same time. If you are lacking ideas on how to get started, check out this link. As an added bonus, you and your family can also make an evening out of this little project!
3) Be minimal, live maximal
While the application revolution has taken hold of all our phones and bank accounts, we continue to accumulate more and more clutter around our houses. Things we never use, books we never read, clothes we never wear. So make this 2022 a year we will adopt a more minimalist attitude to life and more importantly, our consumption. Being a minimalist doesn’t mean living like a monk, it just means prioritizing your purchases and seeing what you need and what you don’t. This will reduce our ecological footprint and also reduce the amount we consume, two important factors in cutting personal emissions. You can learn more about the benefits of a minimal life here.
4) Be mindful of microbeads
Microbeads are small, solid, manufactured plastic particles used in a wide variety of everyday products that do not degrade or dissolve in water. For instance, certain lip balms we use contain Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHS) which increase the toxicity in the environment. Microbeads are the biggest environmental hazard that gets the least coverage. These products harm the environment and are not discussed as products we could phase out. As we make our way into 2022, we could be more aware of the products that use this, and how we can reduce the use of such items in our daily needs. Despite the Indian government banning wash-off products which contain microbeads, certain imported products still use them. Check out this link to know more about microbeads, and how we can be more mindful of their usage.
5) Sharing is caring
While EV mobility is seen as a way of protecting the environment from the harmful emissions of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, within this sphere is shared EV mobility. Shared EV Mobility as a Service (MaaS) not only mitigates the harmful effects of climate change by reducing the direct carbon footprint of a user but in a country like India, where cities have limited infrastructure, the use of shared vehicles reduces the problem of road congestion as well. So this year, we can make a pact with ourselves, and with the environment, to use shared EV mobility whenever we can and help make the planet greener, and less crowded!
Every individual effort counts, and even if you pick up just one habit today, you’d be helping yourself and the world in a great way in the long run. Yulu plans on riding further towards a greener future this 2022, and we’d like to take you all with us on this journey of sustainability!