When you hear the term ‘social responsibility’ what do you think of? I know what I think of – the responsibilities that businesses have to work in an ethical and sustainable way. However, what I’ve learned recently is that this responsibility is not something that only applies to businesses, but also to each and every one of us.

Believe it or not, we each cause an array of positive and negative impacts on the environment, which is why we need to know how to make changes to do more to help save the ice caps from melting and the orangutans in Borneo from going extinct, which is where #MySocialSpirit comes into it. This is a new campaign that’s taking off that is all about each individual doing their bit to reduce their impact on the environment.

Wondering what you can do to take better care of the environment? Below are some tips and ideas for simple things that can make a big difference!

Reduce, reuse and recycle

Up until the 1980s, in the UK there was a culture of reusing and recycling, no one liked to waste anything. However, since then we have developed into a community that wastes a lot and doesn’t take the time to reduce, reuse and recycle because often, it’s easier to simply throw things away. 

Take clothing, for instance, it’s cheap and easy to buy clothing from stores such as Primark, which makes us think it’s acceptable to throw it away when we feel like it’s been over worn, is slightly damaged, or has been outgrown. However, we need to start taking a leaf out of our grandparents’ books – these are the generation that ‘mend and make do’ because they are the generation that were born during wartime or just after and know what it’s like to have to make things last.

 

Need some tips and ideas for how you can reduce, reuse and recycle? I found that there was some great ideas and advice on https://uk.glasdon.com/recycling-bins – in addition to some fantastic recycling products!

It’s not just clothing, of course, it’s everything, from furniture to food and packaging. We need to be reducing our waste, reusing what we can, and recycling anything that is recyclable.

Go low waste (zero waste even)

Talking of waste disposal, it’s important to find little ways that you and your family can go low (or even zero) waste. Of course, this isn’t always easy to do, as it’s no easy reducing what you’re wasting. However, it is possible. The key here is to know how to ‘make do and mend’ and how to use up all of the food in your house without wasting any of it.

Say, for instance, you cook a roast chicken on a Sunday and you have some leftover, instead of throwing the chicken away, use what you have. You could turn the leftover chicken into a curry or stew and then use the bones to create a stock or soup. They key is using up as much of every as possible so that the amount you are wasting is minimal.

 

Reduce energy usage

Another step that you can take to reduce the impact of your carbon footprint is to reduce your energy usage. There are lots of ways that you can do this, it’s just a case of determining which options work best for you.

Simple steps like switching from using normal light bulbs to using LED bulbs or long-life bulbs can be a good step to take. Or, choosing to turn off all electronics when not in use, instead of leaving them on standby is another good way to reduce your energy usage.

Reduce your global impact

For me personally, reducing my global impact is an important step to take. I am a major lover or orangutans, so hearing about their home’s being destroyed by palm oil makes me want to help in any way that I can. So I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of palm oil-containing products I use and the foods I eat, and I always try and look for sustainably sourced palm oil products. Find a global sustainability issue that you feel a pull to and try your best to reduce your impact.