Sometimes it is hard for a person to know how much impact he or she has on the environment through the decisions made in everyday life.  The important thing is to keep thinking about changes that we can make and to continually try to reduce our impact on the environment.

When I lived in Germany, it was common for people to hang up clothes to dry and certainly this saved some electricity.  I can still remember the fresh smell of clothes and sheets dried in the spring and summer air, and yet I can also remember how long it took for clothes to dry on racks during the winter indoors.  In the US, it is no longer common to dry clothes outside, and some neighborhoods even forbid it.  Now that I am back in the US, my neighbors would be very surprised if I hung up my sheets and clothes outside to dry! In this case, social expectations make it difficult to be eco-friendly.

LED light bulbs and more efficient household devices save energy.  Electric cars may or may not help the environment:  it depends on how the electricity is produced to power the car and how much energy and resources are needed to make the car battery and motor. When I lived in a big city, I enjoyed taking public transportation, but this is not always possible for people who live outside of big cities.

There are shower heads that use less water and faucet fittings that reduce water flow.  In my experience though, water-saving toilets generally do not work.  People simply flush twice because it is necessary. There is wishful thinking and then there is reality!

Perhaps one of the greatest areas where we can reduce our impact on the environment is simply to use what we have for longer and buy less in the first place.  Do we really need the latest fashion every season if this means getting rid of our old clothes that are still functional and buying new clothes?  Do children really need so many toys?  American children have so many toys that sometimes they are overwhelmed and do not know what they should play with first.  The toys lose their meaning and are no longer special.

I remember a neighbor who was getting new furniture for her living room, and I was really surprised because her previous furniture looked like new and was beautiful and elegant.  I asked her if she was giving her old furniture away or donating it to charity, and she said no, it was too much trouble and easier to throw it away.  I can only hope the garbage men realized the potential and diverted the furniture to someone who could use it.  I think if we no longer need some of our possessions, it is responsible and kind to donate them to others if the items are still usable. 


When I left Germany to move back to the US, I gave away almost all of my possessions to friends and people who needed them.  I know who is enjoying tea with my pink teapot and who has a washer now to wash her clothes.  I imagine my friend sitting at the table that I gave her with other friends, enjoying life.  Every item that I gave away means one less thing that someone had to buy and one less thing that had to be produced.

If we use things that we own for a longer time and donate what we no longer need,  we will reduce our impact on the environment. Less pollution will be produced if fewer items are made and fewer items will go to landfills.  I am not an economist, and I cannot answer those who say the economy would fail as a result of less spending.   An economy that is based on a high turnover of inexpensive poorly made goods does not make sense to me.  I try to buy items that I like that are of good quality and will last. 

Remember that even small changes made by many people can make a big difference!  Make a change and then see if you can make another.  Together we can make the world a better place, one step at a time!

 
(All photos are from Pixabay.com)