Shopping for whatever you need or want has never been easier. Nowadays, you can do your entire shopping with just a flick of your finger, without ever leaving your home. However, due to this, there has been a sudden influx of producing new items from factories all over the globe. Carbon footprint is at its all-time high, and this doesn’t bode well for the environment.
When you think of the material needs of humans and ongoing environmental issues, it can be easily surmised that the two ideas are at odds. Producing new items require the use of raw materials that need to be harvested from the environment, adding more to the ever-increasing stress on nature. As humans, we need to consider the effects of our actions on the environment. This is our home after all, and we should take care of it is that this is our only home.
Being simple individuals, it might feel like caring for the environment is a losing battle. Despite this, we have the power to make a difference by lessening our carbon footprint. How you ask? Simply by buying second-hand items whenever we can. This has a lot of benefits, not just for the environment but also for you, and that’s what we’re going to take a look at today.
Used Cars Might Be Better than Hybrids
Among the major culprits in affecting the environment is the amount of energy and resources we need for traveling. From airplanes to trains, from cars to motorcycles, these methods of transportation all consume precious resources that will run out soon.
While innovations in technology, allow for the development of more resource-efficient modes of transportation, they are still currently expensive. The process of creating this ‘eco-friendly’ cars doesn’t help either, as manufacturers still need to acquire raw materials that will inevitably come from nature.
An easy way to go about this is simply purchasing a used car. Now you might think that won’t make a difference, but it does. Many cars of the past few decades are more fuel-efficient than you might assume, saving you money on not just the actual purchase of the car but also in gas consumption. This also prevents older but still functional cars from going to the slammer and polluting the earth with the dangerous chemicals and metals it stores.
Last Year’s New Tech is Today’s Standard
Smartphones are computers are being developed at a rapid rate. It has become normal for the top of the line model of yesteryears to be today’s mid-range devices. Unfortunately, marketing and the innate desire to have more than what you have can easily fool us into thinking that these older devices aren’t worth it today.
Purchasing older phones or computers are still very much sensible, however, as older models have something newer ones don’t have: steady testing. While they may be older, there is still a lot of support for past models, making sure that your user experience won’t be marred by bugs and software problems. The price isn’t all too bad as well, as you can purchase 2018 or 2019’s flagship phone for around the price of a mid-range phone today. You’re not getting the same power as the latest, cutting-edge devices but do you really need that much power? The technological gap between last year’s and this year’s models is becoming slimmer and slimmer. And most use cases for these devices are for regular daily or office use only, with very little resource-intensive tasks involved. You might find that you can still stay connected and accomplish your tasks on these machines just as you would on a newer one.
Thrift Shop Clothes are the New In
Thrifting for clothes has become a popular hobby in recent years, and it just makes sense. They’re cheaper and have a wide selection for you to choose. Our society has evolved to accept fashion of all styles as well slowly, so you no longer have to worry about ‘looking weird’. Self-expression is in, and it doesn’t seem like it’s about to go away soon.
Besides the obvious aesthetic and financial benefits of buying sued clothes, you’re also helping the environment by preventing textile waste. As clothes get thrown away or discarded, it creates a large amount of waste that will inevitably end up in a landfill, or worse, in the ocean where it can be a hazard to sea creatures. This also helps reduce the need to manufacture newer clothes, something that costs an enormous amount of resources to create.
Buying used clothes is easier as well, as there are many software and apps that connect you to used clothes vendors. This allows you to look for the piece that suits you best- while helping the environment along the way.
