Environmental concerns in 2018

Climate change has sped up dramatically in the last 50 years, with global warming accelerating during the last 35. The warmest years on record have taken place since 2010.

Global warming causes melting ice caps and hotter oceans. In fact, the Arctic’s thickest and oldest sea ice is starting to break up as a result of Earth’s rising temperatures.

Sea levels are rising due to melting ice caps. Currently, seas are rising by 3 millimetres a year, but predictions say the rate could more than triple every year by 2100. That puts hundreds of coastal towns, cities and islands around the world at risk of being underwater within the next century.

Alongside these concerns, other changes happening around the world include:

Worldwide eco-friendly practices

It’s likely you’re aware of recent efforts to combat the deteriorating health of the environment. Companies are becoming more conscious of their emissions and how to ensure a sustainable future. Being green is a goal for many major corporations around the world, including:

IKEA is an example of a forward-thinking company, with the Swedish corporation boasting a staggering 700,000 solar panels powering their stores worldwide. IKEA also sources 100% of its cotton from farms meeting the Better Cotton standards, as well as announcing a goal to be powered entirely by renewable energy by 2020.

Another example of a progressively green company is Unilever, the Dutch enterprise which has made sustainability a part of its corporate identity. Its extensive efforts led to Paul Polman, the company’s CEO, being awarded the Champions of the Earth award by the United Nations in 2015.

Although, some countries are considerably better than others at being environmentally friendly. Finland, a country dedicated to creating a carbon-neutral society, is currently the most eco-friendly in the world with an Environmental Performance Index rating of 90.68. The UK isn’t too far behind, at number 12 in the rankings.

How it benefits your health

Introducing practices in your home that are good for the planet can also help your health.

Getting rid of things at home that could be causing harmful emissions will eliminate any toxic fumes. Volatile organic compounds (or VOCs) are a common issue with many household items, from paint to furniture, with these toxins causing:

Irritation in the eyes & throat

Headaches

Nausea

Alternatives are now becoming more readily available, including mould and mildew resistant materials – two more common issues in the home that can have serious effects on your health.

By doing your best to replace these substances, also often found in many cleaning products, you’ll stop VOCs from affecting both your health and the planet.

Added benefits of eco-friendly living come as a result of natural lighting, improved air quality and a healthy indoor environment. You’ll feel more relaxed and comfortable.

How it'll save you money

It may not come as a surprise, but going eco-friendly in your home will save you money.

Here are some of the most significant areas to save:

Being eco-friendly has more perks than simply benefitting the Earth. Your wallet will thank you for it, too.

A lower carbon footprint

Reducing your carbon footprint is something many people are becoming conscious of. There are plenty of ways to do so by changing things in your life that you may not even realise are harmful to the environment:

Reduce how much meat you eat

Not only is a balanced vegetarian/vegan diet better for your health than a meat-based one, as studies have shown, but agribusiness emissions are actually five times higher than that of fossil fuels. To get a single pound of beef, it takes 5,000 gallons of water – a massive contributor to water scarcity around the world. Reduce the demand for beef and other meat, and you’ll help these numbers dwindle.

Do business with companies that care about the environment

Many companies around the world are making a conscious effort to be more green, introducing eco-friendly practices within their businesses in order to ensure sustainability for the future. Choosing these companies over less environmentally-friendly competitors will reduce your carbon footprint.

Make the switch to an electric car

Electric cars are becoming much more common on our roads, as manufacturers look to produce more eco-friendly vehicles. The government offers plug-in grants for certain cars, in order to reduce the price you pay for your chosen model.

Why should I care about reducing my cabon footprint?

Reducing your carbon footprint will positively affect the lives of people across the Earth. With climate change damaging agriculture and growth of crops in many parts of the world due to droughts and global warming, hunger is a tangible threat. Many undeveloped parts of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean are currently suffering. Droughts also reduce access to safe water, and the heat allows illnesses such as malaria to spread due to mosquitoes being able to survive in places that were previously too cool for them.

You’re part of a bigger picture – being eco-friendly contributes to creating a sustainable future for those after you.

Think about the long term effects if nothing is done:

Of course, predictions about our future vary. Stephen Hawking famously declared we realistically only have 100 years left on the planet, urging us to relocate and become a multi-planetary species – but by thinking about the above events, it should be concerning enough to spur change at home.

A lower carbon footprint

Water usage is one of the areas where many homes could improve. Whether you leave taps running while brushing your teeth, wash up with the hot water constantly flowing or run full baths frequently, wasting water is a common issue for many homeowners.

Thankfully, there are many ways to introduce an eco-friendly approach to water usage in your home:

Swap baths for showers

A bath may be tempting when you want to relax, but it’ll cost you a lot more than a shower – and it’s also a lot worse for the environment. According to the Energy Saving Trust, you could save £40 a year on your gas and water bills if a family of four switches from having regular baths to taking 5-minute showers.

Replace your shower head

Replacing your shower head with an efficient one will use a lot less water. The Energy Saving Trust claim you could save nearly £200 a year by doing this.

Swap baths for showers

Putting on half a load at a time will still use the same amount of water as if you simply waited to fill them up. Many people are guilty of doing a quick wash of a couple of items, but it’s wasteful.

There are plenty of devices you can purchase that will help you conserve water in your home, but the biggest change can come from simply being mindful of how much you’re using. Cut down on your water usage to make a massive change to your bills.

Heating and insulating your home

Fuel costs are continuing to rise, and with heating and hot water making up over half of the average household’s fuel bills every year, finding efficient ways to heat your home is crucial.

Central heating is the most common system within homes in the UK, but it’s also one of the least efficient – especially if your system is old. It’s one of the biggest emitters of energy, and can be costly. Those costs can further increase if your home isn’t insulated very well.

A lack of insulation leads to people turning their heating up, especially during the colder months. That leads to more carbo dioxide emissions, as well as higher energy bills every year. Although most boilers installed in homes since the mid-2000s have been designed with efficiency in mind, there are a number of ways to heat your home whilst remaining eco-friendly:

Consider replacing your boiler for a more efficient model

Depending on the age of your system, there may be newer alternatives to opt for. And although the price of replacing your boiler may put you off, you could save over £500 every year by doing so – as well as cutting down dramatically on your carbon dioxide emissions.

Take steps to insulate your home

Insulating your roof and loft is one of the most effective ways to cut costs and reduce emissions. As heat rises, insulation will keep it in and allow it to circulate around the home, reducing the need for heating. Insulation could save you almost £300 on your energy bills a year.

• Cavity wall insulation is also on the rise, as a home loses 35% of its heat on average through its walls. Newer homes often have cavity wall insulation installed during construction, but should you live in an older house, this is a cost-effective way to keep your home warm and your emissions low.
  
• Triple glazing is also becoming the standard for new homes due to how efficient the technology is at keeping heat in. If you think it’s time to replace your windows, triple glazing is the best choice for sustainability.
  

Install heating controls

Instead of simply turning your heating on and leaving it to warm your home, smart heating controls can be controlled from your phone.These adjust temperatures easily, so you’re only using the energy you actually need. It’s one of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions, as well as save money – and you don’t need a new boiler in order to get smart heating controls.

Waste and recycling

Recycling has become the norm for many people in the UK. With kerbside recycling introduced in the country fifteen years ago, people often don’t think twice about disposing of their rubbish in one of these bins. But there’s still some improvements to be made, as there’s a lot of confusion about how to recycle correctly.

Under 50% of UK residents are frequently recycling. That’s below the rate set by the EU as a default to try and achieve. Although the rate has risen by over 15% in the last ten years, there’s still plenty of room to make recycling the norm throughout the country.

But why should we be recycling? It may seem like a menial thing in your day-to-day life, but the effects of waste disposal are widespread and considerably harmful to the environment. Not only does recycling help to conserve our dwindling natural resources, including the world’s trees and forests, but it also saves energy by reducing the need for mining, extracting raw materials and producing new products from scratch. It also means less of our waste ends up in landfills, which pollute the air and cause an impact on biodiversity.

Here are just a few ways to make recycling more straightforward.

How to check if your home is environmentally friendly

• Do you use your own shopping bags? Reuse them instead of buying new ones every time in order to reduce the demand for them.
  
• Turn down the temperature on your washing machine. Most detergents work just as well on much lower temperatures.
• Wait until you have a full load of washing before doing a wash.
  
• Dry your clothes outside or on a clothes horse instead of using a tumble dryer.
  
• Fix any leaking pipes around the house to save water.
  
• Buy locally grown or sourced foods – or grow your own. It reduces the emissions from long-distance produce.
• Remember to unplug appliances when you’re not using them. Leaving them on standby is still a massive waste of energy.
  
• Keep your showers short and sweet. Try and time yourself and keep it under five minutes.
• Use some reusable cloth rags instead of paper towels.
  
• Turn off the light every time you leave a room.
  
• Make sure you turn off the tap whilst you brush your teeth.
  
• Try to eat less meat in your diet – have one meatless meal a week, for example.
  

These tips will help you examine just how environmentally-friendly your home is. Making big changes by being eco-friendly will create positive results in many areas, from your emissions to your expenditure – pay close attention to how they’re changing.

Making the transition to becoming environmentally friendly is something many people should start exploring. With the statistics for climate change suggesting the planet is changing quicker than anyone had previously anticipated, now’s the time to make some changes in your own home.