{"id":2125,"date":"2022-12-08T20:26:50","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T20:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/?p=2125"},"modified":"2023-05-05T10:30:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T10:30:04","slug":"becoming-environmentally-aware-some-simple-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/?p=2125","title":{"rendered":"Becoming Environmentally Active – Some Simple Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"feature<\/p>\n

Over this past year, we experienced the hottest temperatures the UK has ever seen. Pollution levels in cities are astronomically high, and studies have suggested that this can affect the development of children and increase those who suffer from asthma. It\u2019s becoming more and more common to see a dam or reservoir much lower than intended due to rising global temperatures.<\/p>\n

Climate activists are quick to emphasise the importance of making individual lifestyle changes to create a positive environmental impact; however, often advice, like buying an electric car, requires money, paperwork and comes with age limitations- you can’t buy an electric car if you can’t even drive it! The same applies to energy resources: as we are currently suffering one of the worst economic crises in history, sustainable energy can’t necessarily be everyone\u2019s priority.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, here are some easier and less impactful ways to be more eco-friendly.<\/p>\n

Food<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you can, eat seasonally. There are plenty of fresh berries from the UK during summertime but during the winter, they are imported from countries much further away. Keep an eye out for the labels detailing where your produce is from the next time you shop and, if you’re still craving berries or other unseasonal fruit, buy frozen variations. These are cheaper and have less of an environmental impact. You can also find charts online to show seasonal fruit and veg.<\/p>\n

\"seasona<\/p>\n

Try to collect compost\/ food waste and don’t just throw it away. It can be harder if your area doesn’t collect food waste but decreasing the amount of food you are throwing into the bin, even if that food isn’t seasonal, at least returns it to a small or large-scale compost to be broken down, instead of sent to landfill.<\/p>\n

Plastic- free packaging around food, in particular fruit and veg, isn’t always available- choose the non-packaged option as much as you can.<\/p>\n

\"vinted<\/p>\n

Clothes <\/strong><\/p>\n

A popular website to buy and sell from is Vinted https:\/\/www.vinted.co.uk Create an account and sell any excess clothes and buy second-hand clothing and shoes for cheaper amounts.<\/p>\n

It is possible to securely message those you are buying or selling from\/to via the app or website and to view the condition of the objects before paying for them- refunds are available if you are unhappy on arrival.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the website is a great way to make a bit of money and get into the habit of recycling clothes and shoes.<\/p>\n

Other websites with similar premises but less focus on environmental benefits are Poshmark https:\/\/poshmark.com and depop https:\/\/www.depop.com. If needed, check with your parents before starting a profile and selling your clothes on any of these websites!<\/p>\n

To check how bad a brand’s environmental and ethical situation is, there is a website called the Ethical Comsumer https:\/\/www.ethicalconsumer.org where you can search over 40000 different brands including food, clothing and beauty in concise articles. Though it’s not always easier,<\/p>\n

using more brands that promote sustainability and treat their employees fairly sets a good precedent for others to follow.<\/p>\n

Re-useable items<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the easiest changes we can make is using metal or re-useable water bottles instead\u00a0of plastic, single-use ones. Not only are they better for the planet, they are also higher\u00a0quality and can store many drinks at different temperatures.<\/p>\n

We all love a Starbucks (or if not, a Costa)! Next time you go, bring your own coffee or plastic cup to hold your drink of choice; these can be the company’s or just something from home. Every time you bring your own cup, you also get a 25p discount, which will add up over time, especially if you like to visit Starbucks a lot!<\/p>\n

\"starbucks<\/p>\n

Finally, most people are aware of single-use plastic, but often forget to consider single-use wood, like cutlery. Wherever possible, bring your own cutlery and try not to use the wooden options provided in shops such as Pr\u00eat \u00c0 Manger. This is arguably more hygienic as well.<\/p>\n

\"book<\/p>\n

Some of these ideas are included in Isabel Losada’s book, The Joyful Environmentalist: How to Practice Without Preaching, https:\/\/www.waterstones.com\/book\/the-joyful-environmentalist\/isabel-losada\/9781786784704 which presents simple solutions to environmental issues. It can be bought from Waterstones or Amazon as well as second-hand book stores! You could also try out the Climate Worrier by Colm O\u2019Regan or 365 Ways to Save the Planet by Nergiz de Baere:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.waterstones.com\/book\/climate-worrier\/colm-oregan\/9780008534875<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.waterstones.com\/book\/365-ways-to-save-the-planet\/nergiz-de-baere\/9781529397413.<\/p>\n

Personally, I would recommend trying to bring along your own cutlery and cups and to set up a Vinted profile (or an equivalent) to sell some old clothes- lots of my friends and I have done this with unwanted clothing to make small amonts of money and get some great deals. Frozen berries work well in smoothies and reduce packaging.<\/p>\n

Any small changes can make a difference in improving your environmental awareness and helping prolong climate change.<\/p>\n

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By Lucy Johnstone 10C<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over this past year, we experienced the hottest temperatures the UK has ever seen. Pollution levels in cities are astronomically high, and studies have suggested that this can affect the development of children and increase those who suffer from asthma. It\u2019s becoming more and more common to see a dam or reservoir much lower than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-4","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2125"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2295,"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125\/revisions\/2295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theview.boltonschool.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}