This page contains a list of green living tips that I either already apply in my personal life or I would probably apply in the right set of circumstances.
Everyone is different, so some of the following tips may seem useless or even downright stupid to you. That's perfectly normal. Feel free to apply the tips you find useful and ignore the rest.
Please send me an e-mail if you want to share some green living tips I haven't already included in the list. I'm always looking for new interesting ideas.
Only vote for politicians and political parties that are genuinely concerned about climate change and other major environmental issues, and are willing to take immediate action to mitigate them. Never vote for politicians and political parties that reject basic scientific facts and oppose regulating harmful industries of any kind.
Go car-free. Walk, ride a bicycle, or take public transportation instead.
Drink tap water instead of bottled water (only if tap water is drinkable in the place you live in).
Use a reusable steel water bottle.
Compost the following items:
Avoid plastic packaging.
Adopt a vegan diet. Stop eating animal products (e.g. meat, dairy, eggs, fish, honey).
Avoid air travel.
Avoid fast fashion.
Avoid advertisements. Don't watch television channels or listen to radio stations that broadcast advertisements. Install ad blockers on all your digital devices, and don't feel guilty about that.
Sell or donate all items that you no longer find useful but that could still be valuable to somebody else. By increasing the lifespan of such items, you will prevent the environmental costs of disposing them in a landfill. By reducing the demand for new items, you will also prevent the environmental costs of manufacturing them.
Don't buy electronic devices with non-replaceable batteries.
Don't throw away computers in working conditions just because they are old and they seem to become slower over time. That's almost always due to bloated proprietary software, not due to issues with the hardware itself. Replace all bloated proprietary software (e.g. Microsoft Windows) with lightweight free software substitutes (e.g. GNU/Linux). If that's not enough, you may also try to upgrade some specific hardware components instead of replacing the entire computer. For example, you can replace a slow hard disk drive (HDD) with a fast solid state drive (SSD), or you can expand the amount of RAM by either installing additional modules or replacing existing modules with larger ones.
Insulate your house.
Don't use air conditioning in summer when relying on a fan provides enough of a relief.
Install solar panels on your house.
Switch to a 100% renewable energy provider.
Grow your own food (e.g. fruits, vegetables).
Buy used items instead of new ones.
Dry your wet clothes on a clothes line. Don't use a clothes dryer.
Avoid buying gold (e.g. jewels, coins, ingots). Sell any gold you already have. By increasing supply and reducing demand, the price of gold will decrease, and mining will become less profitable.
Use your electronic devices as long as possible. Don't replace them just because a new model is out.
Don't use disposable plastic items such as:
Don't use disposable razors. Use safety razors instead.
Always dry the blade of your safety razor with a towel after every use. This will significantly increase its lifespan.
Always carry reusable shopping bags. Don't use disposable shopping bags.
Buy bar soap instead of liquid soap. The first reason is that disposable plastic is nasty, and while bar soap usually comes in a cardboard box, liquid soap always comes in a plastic bottle. The second reason is that liquid soap contains large amounts of water, while bar soap doesn't. Water is heavy, and transporting it with trucks over long distances is a source of pollution that can be entirely avoided in this case.
Use glass jars instead of plastic containers.
Only buy fruits and vegetables without plastic packaging. Put them in compostable or reusable bags instead.
Save water and energy by taking military showers. Basically, turn off the water while lathering.
Save water and energy by installing faucet aerators.
Don't litter. Pick up litter instead.
Don't iron your clothes.
Don't pour more water into a kettle than you actually need.
Avoid food waste.
Consider donating money to charities working to solve the most pressing environmental issues (e.g. climate change). Alternatively, donate money to charities promoting veganism (vegan diets are much more sustainable on average than diets that include animal products).
Don't go on cruise holidays.
Turn off lights when you don't need them.
Unplug appliances and devices when not in use.
Don't heat rooms you are not using.
Don't distract yourself or other persons when driving. Road accidents can be harmful to both people and property. Things such as surgery, funerals and vehicle repairs can have a high environmental impact, either directly or indirectly.
Don't hunt or fish.
Don't have kids. If you really want to expand your family, consider adopting children instead of having your own biological ones.
Wash clothes less often. There's no need to wash clothes after every use (unless they are dirty or smelly).
Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
Don't smoke and avoid producing lots of cigarette butts.
Suspend your computer when not using it for short amounts of time. Hibernate it instead for longer amounts of time.
Always cover pots and pans with a lid to keep heat inside and reduce cooking time.
Don't buy leather products (e.g. shoes, jackets).
Don't throw organic material in the trash because, once in a landfill, it decomposes anaerobically producing methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Don't buy ivory.
Buy "ugly" fruits and vegetables, as long as they are good to eat. The cosmetic standards many supermarkets and customers have come to expect are harmful because they cause a lot of perfectly edible food to be wasted.
Reduce the brightness of your computer display to an acceptable level.
When appropriate, consider replacing HDDs (hard disk drives) with SSDs (solid state drives) since the latter one use less energy than the former ones.
On the other hand, please don't forget about the considerable energy needed to manufacture new electronic devices.
If you don't need a performance boost or a longer-lasting battery and you already have HDDs that work perfectly well, consider using them as long as possible before switching to SSDs.