In the ongoing battle to save our planet and its limited resources we must all make an effort to do our bit and conserve as much as possible.

Over the past few centuries mankind’s rapid technological development has been detrimental for the biosphere, and it is now more urgent than ever to change our ways and work more efficiently.

Though, as individuals, we sometimes feel helpless to effect change, we must always remember that every little bit helps.


  By changing just a few daily habits, you too could be having a major impact on the world at large.

There are a number of surprising habits that we have that may be affecting the environment negatively without our knowledge. Let's see what they are and what we can do about them.

Using Paper

This habit is adopted by most people at the workplace and carried onto other parts of life. Work usual involves tremendous amounts of paperwork and files which tend to mostly stack up and go nowhere.

The habit of writing stuff down and storing for later reference is also transferred home for most people. Although corporations and firms around the globe have realized the waste of paper and resources in recent decades there's still a long way to go and many businesses and individuals still use way more paper then they need too.

What You Can Do

The best way to motivate your employer or firm to adopt a paper-free work environment policy is to demonstrate the cost advantages of doing so. There's also substantial benefits companies can gain in the form of added efficiency by going completely paperless.

Individually you could harness the power of the internet to write and store documents you need for your work of to cloud storage platforms such as Dropbox or Google Drive.  Additionally, you should log into all of your banking and billing accounts online and see if there is a paperless option, an option that almost all such organizations offer now.

Dry Cleaning

For a cleaning process as widespread as dry cleaning it comes as a surprise to most that it is very hazardous to the environment. The biggest concern is the chemicals used for dry cleaning garments which are commonly a combination of percholorethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and tetrachloroethene. These chemicals not only cause pollutants in the air after being used but are also harmful for human beings coming into contact with residues left on garments after being dry cleaned.

What You Can Do

Dry cleaning is unavoidable for certain types of garments, so an eco-friendly way of doing it is to seek out dry cleaners that use liquefied CO2 as a solvent instead of all the harmful chemicals discussed before. Many new companies offer machines which pressurize CO2 and use it for dry cleaning in this way.

Forgetfulness

The most common habit that harms the environment is, of course, forgetfulness when it comes to turning off lights, electrical appliances and water. Charges and cables continue to consume energy when plugged in and not used. This habit not only impacts the environment, but also your bills.

What You Can Do

Simply pay attention to all the ways electricity is being used in the house. You could even use smart home monitoring systems such as the NEST thermostat to conserve energy usage by optimizing heat settings automatically.  You can also invest in motion detectors for lights so that they turn on only when needed. 

It may even be a good idea to post brightly colored signs next to light switches to remind you to turn off lights as you leave a room.  As for electronics, plug all items into power strips that can easily be switched off with one switch so that you don’t have to unplug everything.

Many people are intimidated and overwhelmed when it comes to what they can do to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle.  But there are many easy and small ways you can change your habits to lessen your individual impact on the environment. 
About the Author:  Jon Wikstrom is the president of Cool Clean Technologies, a Department of Energy endorsed company that specializes in dry CO₂ cleaning technologies for manufacturing in a wide variety of industries.  In his professional and personal life, Jon is committed to educating people on technologies and lifestyle changes that can help the environment.