Five tips you can use to help the planet

Are you looking to make some sustainable changes to your life this year but you’re not sure where to start? Check out our five top tips and supporting resources to give you a helping hand.

1. Go on a Plastic Diet

Plastic seems to be everywhere these days. However, it creates harmful emissions when it is produced and takes a long time to breakdown when disposed of. So, why not try cutting down on your plastic consumption? We held a workshop with ‘Sisters Against Plastic’, self-described ‘normal people’ who have become experts in plastic pitfalls and top tips for reducing plastic consumption, following their year-long ‘plastic diet’. Sisters Against Plastic are on a mission to inspire people to give cutting down on plastic and trying more environmentally friendly alternatives a go. Watch the workshop here on OpenLearn.

2. Eat for the Environment

‘You are what you eat’, goes the old adage, but what you eat also has an impact on the environment. Where did your food come from? What processes were used to farm it? and How did it get to you? These are all important things to consider when eating for the environment. To help you get thinking about all this and more, check out the free Eating for the Environment course on OpenLearn. What changes could you make to your plate to be ‘greener’ and more sustainable?

3. Fight Food Waste

Food waste doesn’t just mean money wasted on purchasing unused produce, it can also have a big environmental impact. Food that ends up in landfill produces large amounts of methane (a greenhouse gas more powerful than CO2) contributing to climate change. And this is a big problem – in fact WRAP estimated food waste in 2018 in the UK was responsible for around 36 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

So, how can you fight your food waste? We held a workshop with Ann Storr, expert in dealing with food waste and getting creative with what's in the fridge, to talk about 'tackling food waste' in a way that will save you time, money, and carbon emissions. Watch the workshop here on OpenLearn.

4. Join Giki Zero – make cutting your carbon footprint fun

Most of us have heard the term ‘Carbon Footprint’ to describe the emissions we produce. But how do you know what your footprint is and what are the best actions to take to reduce it? Giki Zero is your free personal guide to understand, track and lighten your footprint on the planet. Using the free Giki tool, you can find out what your carbon footprint is and a range of useful steps on how to reduce it. There are currently over 100 manageable steps (ranging from easy to expert) that you can select to suit your lifestyle and budget. Give it a go today.

5. Expand your knowledge

Understanding our impacts on the planet, the causes, and what we can do to bring about positive change gives us the tools to make informed decisions. The OpenLearn Sustainability Hub brings together The Open University’s free articles, interactives and courses relating to learning about and living more sustainably. Dive in and discover more from diverse perspectives around the world, ranging from ecology, energy and food choices, to economics and design solutions. Explore the issues, empower yourself with knowledge and decide what you want to do to make a difference.