Before anyone calls me crazy or a hippie the fact is a lot of people should care about the environment, if you think you don't have to care well however you leave the environment, your children and grandchildren will have to deal with it, that should be enough of a reason for it to peak your interest. Now, you don't have to do everything I'm asking here but you can try a few things and realize they don't change a lot about your life. If you don't care about the environment at all well then everyone cares about money, here's a few ways to do it and stay green in the process
1. Grow house plants: I've been around plants for an extremely large portion of my life and besides, them making your lawn look great house plants are a great way to decorate your home, there are plenty of types that require minimum effort, and they last years. Besides making your home look great they also improve the quality of air in your home, which is great if you have breathing problems, plus they help in air circulation which will help keep your home cooler during the summers, reducing your electric bill on the AC.
2. Grow your own vegetables: Food is expensive but they are a lot of veggies you can grow with again not that much effort like peppers and tomatoes to name a few, it again will save you a lot of money, time and effort in the long run plus these pants are usually a buy once deal meaning if you plant them outside in a garden and they die during the winter, you can usually expect them to grow back again in the summer. Not to mention it's a fun hobby to try with a partner or by yourself
https://www.thespruce.com/top-tomato-growing-tips-1402587
3. Reuseable bags/ reusing bags: If you noticed most places like Walmart, Target, Tesco and so on make you pay for plastic bags, it's meant to discourage you from getting them, but if you're like me you like to buy all your food at once so you don't have to go back well, try getting reusable bags, they usually aren't that expensive, they can come with fun drawings on them and they are again a one time purchase, you can just leave them in your bag or your car and pull them out whenever you need a bag, if you really don't want to get a bag, then ask around for old plastic bags and use those instead of throwing them away. It will save you a little money in the long run
4. Avoid driving if you don't have to: Granted it's hard to get places, everyone knows that and I'm not going to car shame you but here's the thing if you have to go to the store to get some bread and its a 2-minute drive but a 5-minute walk, why not walk, yeah I know it's faster and I know it's a lot easy too but why not enough a good walk, it's great for blood circulation, which is great for your heart. It is actually really enjoyable once you get started not to mention it actually makes you happier. If you're rushing to work I can understand not wanting to walk but if you have the time and you live 30 minutes away why not uber or uberpool (with COVID going around, I would understand not wanting to take an uber and that's okay!). The reality is if you drive a car you may spend an average of 2,000 dollars a year and that's a lot of money you probably could spend on something else, so why not walk a little and try and save yourself some money.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4789405/
5. Try cooking your own meals: I love to cook, I do it all the time but it is expensive, there are ways to make cooking less expensive and maybe I'll make a post about that but, the fact is everyone loves takeout. I do, but it's one expensive over time, you order in your favourite meal with a side and a soda on the side so you don't have to get up. I have been there but it's not healthy for you long term either, the costs build up over time and with most people still working from home you'll start to gain a little weight and again you won't see it coming. So how to fix it if the average American spends 3,000 dollars to eat out the year every, if you cut that in half and cooked that same meal at home you'd save a lot of money. Plus I mean, you'd help the environment because it would reduce the run of cardboard boxes, plastic bags and plastic used.
https://www.vitacost.com/blog/5-benefits-of-cooking-at-home/
https://www.moneysense.ca/save/dining-out/?platform=hootsuite
6.Buy an office coffee mug: I'm looking at you office workers, it's not a huge change, I'm sure everyone after they turn 18 as getting a coffee mug as a gift so why not uses it. Take it to you at work and if they have a coffee machine (if they don't at your office it may just be Europe then) use your mug. Rinse it with a little warm water when you're done and put it back on your desk, easy you ever going to do the same thing anyways but you just didn't throw the cup out plus, you can waste 2-4 minutes cleaning your mugs so that's extra coffee break time. You can even go the extra step and get a little bottle with a mug and make your coffee at home. You save some money and you can enjoy your break without moving. (Not to mention they are collectable)
https://stanfordmag.org/contents/mugs-vs-paper-cups-essential-answer
7. Plant a tree or 100; Where I'm from we have national tree planting days, which were people take their families out and they plant trees together. It's a great way to bond with your kids or partner if you have any not to mention a great way to make friends. If you don't have something like that then just planting a tree in front of your home (if you own the property) is a great way to increase the value of your home when you're trying to sell it in the future. It's a sense of wealth to a lot of people and it tricks people into thinking the property is bigger than it actually is.
8. Thrift shopping; Thrifing has become pretty popular will younger people like myself, but why easy. It's fun and in some places cheaper. Thrifting is you don't know is basically buying clothes second hand, the clothes are usually in a good condition and then bought at a fraction of the old price. I personally love doing it because it's a lot cheaper than buying directly from he stores not to mention I can get more or less anything I really want and thrift shopping doesn't stop at clothes, you can get shoes, books, old movies, house decorates, electronic, hell you can get a whole sofa for maybe 30 bucks. This is why it is extremely popular with younger people cause a lot of us don't have stable careers so we can't off
https://www.demilked.com/small-things-to-help-environment/
https://www.naturespath.com/en-ca/blog/nine-things-you-can-do-to-save-the-environment/
https://greatist.com/happiness/ways-help-environment#shopping
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