Trying to lower your impact on the environment can be challenging at times, especially when you consider how little your impact is against everyone else – but it takes all of us to do our part to make a difference. The food that we eat every day is contributing to climate change, and the best way to combat that is to make sure you’re eating as sustainably as possible and not supporting damaging practices.

Eat less meat

If you weren’t aware, the meat industry is producing a huge amount of greenhouse gasses and is the larger portion of the environmental impact that the food industry is having on our planet. While it can be hard to find alternatives that are meat-free, and difficult for some people to adjust to – there are plenty of different meals out there to try that don’t include any meat. You don’t necessarily have to cut out the meat completely, but if we all made an effort to cut down on the meat, the environment would benefit from it significantly.

Grow your own food

Not everyone has their own tools and space for it, but you could consider growing your own food. Of course, it’s not as simple as just producing everything for yourself, and you wouldn’t have to in order to make a difference. Simply growing a small number of your fruits and vegetables can help you to cut down on various issues that are damaging the environment. There’s no use of plastic wrap, no waste, and no other chemicals being used as preservatives. Not only is it eco-friendly, but you’re also saving yourself money and providing yourself with a sense of satisfaction.

Use less plastic

The food industry produces a lot of non-recyclable waste, due to the plastic that’s used to wrap and keep food fresh and clean. It’s not the easiest problem to solve, as it’s the cheapest option for businesses – but there are ways you can cut down on plastic usage. For example, the amount of plastic bags out there that can’t be recycled is a huge concern, and that’s somewhere you should start. Don’t throw out your plastic bags, keep them for the next time you need to go shopping – you can use them just fine and you won’t bring them home any more bags.

Look into more sustainable products

If there are products that you simply can’t cut down on, you should look into alternatives to see if there are more sustainable options. Even when it comes to health products like what you might find at CBDistillery, there are always companies that vow to do more for the environment, and by supporting them – you’re investing back into the environment. It’s important to set an example for other businesses to show them that being eco-friendly is the better option and that producing so much waste will only get them so far.

You might have to do some digging to find the right alternative, but there’s always one business trying to make a difference.

Giving up alcohol is a common change people make when they’re trying to be healthier. We all know that alcohol contains a huge amount of calories, so cutting it out is a quick and easy way to drop some excess weight without making too many other changes.

Alcohol also has a big impact on mental health and can lead to addiction in the long term. Many people that suffer from alcohol addiction find themselves in need of a rehab center to help them manage their intake, so giving up before you reach that point is a good idea. But cutting out alcohol isn’t just good for your physical and mental health, it’s good for the planet too. Here’s how quitting alcohol can reduce your environmental impact.

Water and Pesticide Use

The environmental impact of alcohol starts with the crops that are used to make it. Lots of grains, grapes, and hops are grown to make alcoholic drinks and that requires huge amounts of water. There is also a lot of pesticides used on these crops, which causes further environmental damage. Alcohol is not a necessity, so all of this water consumption and pesticide use is unnecessarily damaging the environment. 

You also need to consider the water that is used to make the drinks themselves. Beer and wine require a lot of water to be put in before the fermentation process. In fact, it takes around 60 liters of water to produce 1 liter of beer. Water scarcity is becoming a big problem around the globe, and alcohol production is contributing to it in a big way. People often talk about the impact of bottled water, but they don’t think about bottled beer and wine.

Energy Consumption

Next, you have to consider the energy produced in the huge factories that make alcoholic drinks. These factories are big energy consumers, and they use the power to distill alcohol, bottle it, and transport it. This process uses a lot of non-renewable sources of energy like coal, oil, and gas. Although some companies will use renewable energy sources, many of the largest alcohol producers in the world are not. 

There is a lot of energy used to ship alcohol products around the world too. When you add up all of the emissions from factories, as well as ships and lorries to deliver it, you start to see the true impact of alcohol on the environment.

Packaging Waste

Alcohol is traditionally sold in glass bottles or aluminum cans. These are very recyclable, but they will often end up sitting in a landfill for decades before being broken down. Although a lot of companies are looking for alternatives at the moment, many canned beers still come with a plastic ring around the top. These are known to cause a lot of problems in the ocean because animals are easily trapped inside them. If you’re trying to cut back on plastic packaging, be mindful about the alcohol you buy.

Many people decide to give up alcohol because it is better for their health. But even if you aren’t concerned about that, you should think about how it would benefit the planet if you cut back on your drinking.