
Credit: Shutterstock
Credit: Shutterstock
What does sustainability mean to you personally? How can you engage with issues such as poverty or sustainable consumption that relate to the SDGs?
One approach may be to start by looking at your individual values and establishing a personal sustainability action plan. This should be an achievable, realistic plan to take on a short-term project that you believe in that can lead to a more sustainable lifestyle! Identify changes you would like to make in your daily or weekly activities and start to practice these changes until they become a habit. When establishing your personal sustainability plan, check that it meets the RISE criteria: is it repeatable, inspirational, sustainable, and enjoyable?
There’s no reason to wait till the New Year to make a resolution! Raise awareness now, and take action! Inspire others to join the movement. Remember that challenging yourself or someone else can make a big impact through building strong communities of passionate and like-minded people. Be creative and come up with a plan to make the most of the last month of 2017. For example, how about trying to live a…
FREEcember
…with possible action points such as the following:
If this is something you are already doing, maybe you find some more idea with a
DOcember
Your passion is the fire that fuels your action, so keep helpful reminders about why you want to live more sustainably. We dare you to establish a sustainability plan that can help guide your way to a more eco-conscious lifestyle.
Have you ever considered the potential positive impact to the environment and to your pocket of a paperless kitchen? We all use paper towels for cleaning up those little culinary mishaps; we use paper napkins at the dining table, and many of us carry our snacks to work in paper bags.
Take up the challenge of going paperless in your kitchen.
Most paper towels cannot be recycled. Many are made of recycled paper and the fibres are at the end of their life cycle. Used paper towels also harbour bacteria and this not only raises concerns about hygiene but could also damage, potentially, other perfectly recyclable materials.
N.B. : Used paper towels, napkins and tissues are compostable
Adopting a paperless kitchen is a simple switch to reduce your kitchen waste and paper costs!
Getting started can be a challenge – but in developing this positive approach you can make a huge difference to your lifestyle.
Photo credit: The Linen Works
1. Set a timeline
A slow yet steady transition is the best course. Remember to use a cloth whenever possible and you can gradually reduce the dependence on paper towels. Set yourself a deadline for dispensing totally with the paper alternatives!
2. Buy natural-fibre fabric
Invest in new towels and napkins before you run out of paper napkins and paper. Choose eco-friendly natural-fibres for your napkins, dish towels or hand towels whenever possible. Browse sites such as PaperlessKitchen.com to find your perfect natural cleaning cloths.
3. Replace paper towels with reusable rags
Look around your house for items such as old bathroom hand towels and cotton t-shirts. Cut them into manageable sizes for use around your home. Learn how to turn old t-shirts into rags.
4. Develop a system that works for your kitchen
Make the switch to a paperless kitchen easy to implement. For example, use colour coding for all your cloths in the kitchen and bathroom. When your whole family is on board, going paperless is possible.
Check out these useful links:
• Clever Ways to Store Your Kitchen Linens
• Declutter Kitchen Towels & Dish Cloths
5. Laundry
Worried about the extra laundry? Soak the cloths in warm water with baking soda or vinegar to remove any grease before washing and rinsing as normal.
Being paper-free in your kitchen can be a challenge. It needs dedication and commitment and it does require a little extra work – the rewards are found in the cost savings and the benefits to our environment.
Image Source: plasticfreejuly.org
Plastic is used daily, in the form of bags, bottles, packaging and many more. Sometimes we use plastic for only a brief moment to carry our groceries home or to drink a cup of coffee, but it can take up to 1000 years to decompose. Plastic is destructive for the environment, it lowers the fertility of our soils and is harmful for wildlife. More plastic has been produced in the first ten years of this century than its predecessor. So try to start reducing plastic waste by reusing daily plastic items and recycling.
Here are 8 ways to reduce plastic waste:
What Are You Doing For Plastic-Free July?
Learn more about how to reduce the amount of plastic in the environment with these 17 tips to use less plastic. For more tips on how to make this plastic free July most successful click here!
Take action and join the Plastic Free July Challenge now; a challenge accessible to everyone to educate us on how to reduce plastic waste.