The Power Of Small Actions

We may not know where to start when it comes to make a difference for the future of our planet, with small actions. However we have to believe in our power to save the environment, turning the world into a better place to live.

So, this article intends to show you how changing is possible, and gives you ideas on how to get started helping the health of our world. 

It can be difficult to think about all of the things that we can do each day to reduce our waste. But, in fact, every year we produce over 2 billion tons of waste (2018, Eurostat). So, it is very important to have in mind the real impacts that our actions have, and how to invert the cycle towards a circular economy that eliminates discard.

There are many policies and implemented programs that work with the aim to reduce these impacts. EU waste management policies aim to reduce the environmental and health impacts of waste and to improve the EU’s resource efficiency. The long-term aim of these policies is to reduce the amount of waste generated and when waste generation is unavoidable to promote it as a resource and achieve higher levels of recycling and the safe disposal of waste.

It is also very important that people start to be more conscious about what they consume and buy.

Conscious Consumerism

Conscious consumerism is when buying practices are driven by a commitment to making purchasing decisions that have positive social, economic, and environmental impacts. Furthermore, it is when consumers go "beyond the label" and want to know more about the company from which they are buying their products. There are many actions that we can adopt to have a conscious consumer and do our part in making the world a better place.

To adopt a more conscious and eco-friendly way of buying, we suggest you to start doing some easy swaps during your daily routine. These can save amounts of trash each year!

However when you begin your zero waste and more conscious journey, the goal is not to go out and buy all the things. We suggest you to:

• Use what you have first;
• Keep reusing and re-purposing items;
• Repair as much as possible;
• Consider if you really need what you are buying.

So, let's begin:

• Replace your plastic toothbrush for a bamboo one, and you can avoid 4 plastic toothbrushes from going to the landfill, in 1 year (1 bamboo toothbrush = plastic toothbrush);
• Replace your plastic water bottle for a reusable one, and you can avoid 167 plastic water bottles from going to the trash, in 1 year (1 reusable water bottle = 167 plastic water bottles);
• Instead of using plastic bags, opt for a reusable bag, and you can avoid 170 plastic bags from going to the trash, in 1 year. (1 reusable bag =170 plastic bags);
• Instead of always using plastic straws, opt for a metal straw. This will make you avoid the waste of 540 plastic straws in 1 year;
• Switch for soap bars. Liquid soaps costs a fortune over a year, is not durable and creates extra waste;
• Make your own DIY products!

We think that we all should try one of these actions at a time. It’s totally fine to adopt better habits progressively. The most important thing about the process is actually the beginning.

It may not seem like much, but small actions can have a lasting impact for years to come.

Commit yourself and start your journey!