With the number of COVID-19 cases reducing this summer, even with the rise of the Delta variant, I’m sure we’ve all felt slightly relieved. However, the news about wildfires across various provinces in Canada has increased my climate anxiety considerably. I generally lean towards optimism so as I reflected on my hopelessness, it became clearer that I needed to remain hopeful. With hopelessness, it would often feel like I’m accepting this active destruction and its inevitable damage as the fate of our future. But with a continued sense of hope, I felt encouraged to reject a damaged present and future.
If your climate anxiety is increasing by the day, I want to encourage you to remain hopeful, because hope will encourage us to act. While the brunt of the responsibility lies on corporations and our governments, where their actions will determine substantial change at this time, it’s important to remember that our actions, collectively lead to substantial changes too.
I’m becoming even more conscious of my actions and the way I live and consume. I am not perfect at being eco-friendly by any means, but perfection isn’t the requirement. I think what matters is a dedication to living more aligned with the wellness of our environment in mind, however best you can do so.
Therefore, as we return to classes, I thought of some ways I can choose to be more eco-friendly, because the wellness of humanity is dependent on the wellness of earth, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts with you.
- Use What You Already Have
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what we already have. If you are like me, your notebooks from last year aren’t filled, some are even unused. I often look forward to back-to-school shopping because I thoroughly enjoy the experience of buying new supplies. We live in a society that relishes overconsumption. This year though, after sorting out my supplies, I realized new products were unnecessary. I had enough stationery from last year so I skipped shopping this year.
- Be Conscious of Your Internet Habits
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many of us and we’ll be using the internet almost exclusively, I thought this was worth mentioning. Because our work online requires electricity for operation and for storage, where the electricity is generated by fossil fuels, there is a carbon cost to what we do on the internet. Learning this was disheartening for me because it reaffirmed the fact that everything we do has an impact on the wellness of our planet and ultimately, ourselves. However, there are small but impactful steps that we can take! These include reading and deleting unnecessary emails, unsubscribing from unnecessary newsletters, and sending fewer emails when possible.
- Buy Items that will Create Less Waste
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hoices when buying with an intention of creating less waste. If you are living on campus, you may need to purchase your own personal care products. While I don’t buy everything in bulk myself, it is a worthwhile switch to make. There are several stores in Toronto that are dedicated to supplying products in bulk, where you can refill your containers as well. These stores include Bare Market, Refillery Market, and Urban Bulk and Refill. A great online store that offers a variety of eco-friendly school supplies is Earth Hero.
- Consider Buying Second-Hand Items
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The idea here is to reduce waste as well. With increased second-hand purchases, there is less demand for companies to keep producing items at their unsustainable rate and besides, second-hand purchases are often cheaper! Items to consider purchasing second-hand include textbooks, backpacks, calculators, and other technology. While thrift stores often have great finds, BackMarket is a good place to look for secondhand electrical devices.
- Consider Buying from Brands that are Conscious of their Social Responsibility and Are Making Eco-Friendly Choices as a Company
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It is becoming increasingly clear that the unsustainable practices of most companies play a significant role in the state of our planet today. Therefore, whenever possible, it is worthwhile to be conscious of the manufacturing practices of companies and brands we often support. I’ve noticed that smaller companies seem to be making an effort to align themselves with sustainable and ethical practices and it has been heartwarming to find them! For instance, in addition to creating backpacks from recycled material, for every purchase, United By Blue removes one pound of trash from the ocean.
As you return to classes in the middle of all that is happening in our world, I hope that some of my thoughts resonate with you. I hope that they provide you with a sense of hope and control over some of the things you can do to create change in our world.
Most of all though, I hope you have a safe and enriching academic year.