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#MyGreenAction Challenge

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#MyGreenAction Challenge
What are YOU doing for a greener future?

In light of Earth Month and the European Green Week approaching I’ve teamed up with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment (DG ENV) to promote a dialogue and actions around sustainability! I think one of the most important things to realize is that each of us has tremendous power to change our planet for the better!

Apart from our personal responsibility it is so crucial that governments and policy makers join the discussion and translate it into laws so that together we can create a greener, more sustainable future! I couldn’t be more stoked to participate in this year’s EU Green Week #MyGreenAction challenge and show you all the small changes I try and implement every day!

But, most importantly, I’m super curious to see what YOU are doing! Share your ideas and actions – no matter how big or small – with a photo, video or story on Instagram & Facebook and use #MyGreenAction + #TheTastyK so I can see them and repost them (and your accounts) in my stories! In addition to this, the top 10 contributions 🏆 will star in the video shown to European policy makers at the EU Green Week conference, 15-17 May in Brussels – how awesome is that? 🙂

Below you’ll find 3 things that we can do that have a significant impact on our planet! It’s not about being perfect – but we can all try our best and hopefully educate/inspire others with our actions!

For more information check out the following social media accounts on
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ourplanet_eu/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/EUEnvironment/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/EU_ENV
EU Green Week – https://www.eugreenweek.eu/en/my-green-action

EAT LESS ANIMAL PRODUCTS

#MyGreenAction Challenge
Did you know that eating animal products significantly contributes to land and water degradation, deforestation, pollution and wildlife extinction? Without meat and dairy consumption global farmland could be reduced by over 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – while still feeding the world! In that regard it’s important to note that loss of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife. Not only that but meat and dairy actually use 83% of our agricultural farmland and produce 60% of CO2 emissions but only provide 18% of calories, which makes them super unsustainable.

While 1kg of beef requires 15.000 liters of water and causes 1000kg greenhouse gases, 1kg of tofu only require 1/4 of that, while vegetables, fruits and other pulses rank even lower.

A recent study found that eating less animal products and buying more fresh and local produce is perhaps the single most effective way to help the environment! Moving to a more plant-based diet is not only better for the planet, but also much healthier for you and yet, equally indulgent (but, if you’re following my recipes you’ll most likely know that already)! 😉

STOP USING PLASTIC

#MyGreenAction Challenge
Plastic pollution is a real problem and it’s not going away! We’ve all seen the images of completely trashed beaches in South East Asia, the huge garbage patches floating in our oceans and most likely witness trash and specifically plastic pollution anywhere we go these days. Truth is, if we don’t stop our wasteful consumption, in 30 years there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish. I feel like statements like this may be hard to imagine for some of us… so here’s a more relatable fact:

Did you know that plastic takes between 500-1000 years to decompose? This means that every single plastic item you’ve ever used in your whole life, from the innocent plastic straw you get with your smoothie, the plastic lid you have on your daily coffee/tea to-go, to the single use razor, food packaging and everything else, will still be on this planet when your grandchildren want to have kids!
I know that avoiding plastic completely is very difficult, especially when it comes to food packaging as nowadays most vegetables are even wrapped in plastic. Until the laws adjust, however, there are very simple swaps that are reusable, plastic free and create less waste in general than can easily be implemented without that big of a hassle!
#MyGreenAction Challenge
I’ve already written a blog post on how to reduce plastic in your household items, and a zero-waste guide for hair care, but there are so many easy and innovative ideas to add to these lists! Exchange your single use razors with a safety razor, use shampoo, conditioner and soap bars, stop using plastic buds and replace them with cotton ones, use bamboo hair and toothbrushes, try toothpaste pills or the ones that come in glass containers, bring your own cotton produce bags, stop using straws, don’t buy plastic bottles and always bring your own refillable one, use glass containers for storage, and so on! The alternatives are endless and require as much as purchasing one item instead of another. Don’t throw away all your plastic stuff, that would be wasteful. Use it and when you run out, opt for sustainable options instead!
A more proactive thing you can do is engage your friends and family to join local clean ups to set an example for others! This not only helps your community, make the place you live prettier, but is also a fun shared activity, an opportunity to make new friends and do good at the same time! I’ve joined so many beach and city clean ups all over the world and it’s incredibly empowering to collectively do something good for the planet and share this experience with people that care about the same things as you do!

BUY LESS AND NO FAST FASHION

#MyGreenAction Challenge
Shopping and buying new stuff is fun, I know. The short-time happiness these items bring us is usually not worth the cost though. Especially when it comes to fast fashion. Did you know that the fashion industry is the 2nd largest polluter in the world (right after the oil industry)? And the environmental damage is increasing as the industry grows.
In most countries where garments are produced, toxic wastewater from textile factories is dumped directly into rivers, polluting marine life and ourselves with mercury, lead and arsenic, amongst others. And if you’re thinking that you’re too far away from that problem, think again. As the contamination eventually reaches the sea, it spreads into fish and affects the health of millions of people worldwide.
We live in a society where we buy way too much, way too fast yet the average consumer only wears 70% of what’s in their closet and creates 70kg textile waste per year! Instead of spending your money on yet another $4.99 t-shirt from an unknown origin, we could easily buy less and invest the money saved into more sustainable brands. Fixing your clothes and simply wearing them longer also has a tremendous impact. By just doubling the life of your clothes from 1 to 2 years you can reduce emission by 24%!
Organize clothing swaps with your friends, visit vintage markets and buy second hand! It might be a bit more time-intensive than just running to your nearest mall or buying online but I assure you you’ll select your clothes more carefully, love those pieces much more and wear them longer!

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Comments

  1. Hey! I really love keeping up with your instagram account because you keep inspiring me to reduce my negative impact on the planet. But I’m not sure anymore if you already said where you bought your safety razor and the metal boxes for shampoo/soap. They’re really nice!

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