Over the course of the past few weeks, a large part of my internet browsing has consisted of ways to adopt more sustainable habits into our daily routines. This “trend” per se (I’m very hesitant to call the surge of consumer-conscious content on the internet a trend; this kind of conscious consumerism should be practiced by everyone out of respect for the planet) has started to populate social media even more in the last two years due to the now persistent news warnings of scientists claiming that we have nearly reached the tipping point of climate change, where the planet will begin to see permanent, drastic changes unless we start to take action to reverse the effects of climate change.
I have a tendency to get really overwhelmed and at times very anxious when I see things in the news about the perilous state of the environment. I know I’m not alone in this anxiety; several young individuals are naming climate change as one of the key sources of their anxiety, and several millennials are choosing to change things about their lifestyles. Being tasked with the responsibility of saving the planet is an enormous burden that leaves many of us in the general, middle class feeling helpless, and unsure where to start.
In this stressful day and age, the vast majority of people can find some solace in the fact that we can directly combat climate change through our consumer habits. There have been a number of personalities on social media demonstrating their own consumer conscious habits, from Levi “Save the World” Hildebrand’s YouTube channel, where he illustrates the convenience of repairing clothing and household items to the alternative of throwing things away regularly, to Arden Rose’s recent YouTube videos advocating for keeping an ethical closet by shopping less, supporting sustainable brands, and taking better care of our clothes.
While repairing clothing and shopping less may seem like extremely minor steps to be taking to help combat climate change, there are also other steps we can take to further assist the planet. For example, bringing your own coffee cup to Starbucks before heading to a morning class, trying to shop locally instead of from massive chains or ordering things online, switching from single tampons to the Diva Cup and, of course, avoiding plastic straws at all costs. Together, by adopting a multitude of consumer-conscious practices into our daily routines, we can reduce unnecessary waste from our lifestyles. By being more conscious of our consumer habits, we can effectively take the right steps to better the planet.