The current quarantine has many people staying in their homes most of the time. Some people are worried that the drastic change in their daily lives will negatively impact their green lifestyle. While some habits and processes must change to accommodate your new everyday life, staying home during quarantine does not mean you must give up your eco-friendly living. With some creative thinking and alterations to your regular routines, you can continue living an environmentally friendly life and make your quarantine a green one.
Order Online
Most quarantine orders or recommendations suggest that you only leave your house for essential purposes. While buying food and picking up essential supplies is a valid reason to leave your house, you can stay home and still have all your items delivered. Almost anything can be delivered, including full loads of groceries with services like Amazon Fresh or Instacart. Ordering goods online and having them delivered to your house means you don’t have to waste gas or potentially expose yourself to other people who could be carrying the virus. With online orders, you can track your package and receive an alert when it arrives all without leaving your house. Delivery is convenient, but to maintain your green lifestyle, only order what you need and resist the urge to stockpile or overspend. If you were living an eco-friendly life before the quarantine, this likely won’t be a problem, but in these uncertain times, it can be tempting to over-prepare. However, there is no reason to stockpile as there will be plenty of food for everyone, so follow the rule of only buying what you need.
Eco-Friendly Products
When ordering products for delivery, pay attention to how eco-friendly your chosen products are. If you are ordering paint for arts and crafts or painting your walls, look for organic paints with low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Eco-friendly paint is not only better for the environment, but because organic paints have lower levels of VOCs, they give off fewer toxic fumes. You will still need to ventilate the room after painting with organic paints, but the smell will be less offensive and damaging to your health.
A common complaint during the quarantine has been that people are unable to go to the hair salon, but you can color your hair at home. While there are no genuinely organic hair dyes, there are clean, vegan, and cruelty-free hair dyes that use organic dyes. The FDA has certified that hair dyes are safe, but if you are looking for green, vegan, or clean dyes, look for dyes that don’t contain ammonia or stick to known brands like Overtone.
Save Energy
Quarantine means you will be spending more time than usual at home, and you may see your energy bill raise as a result, but there are steps you can take to combat energy usage. Turning your thermostat down or off will reduce how much energy you use each month. Setting your AC to 78 F instead of cooling your house below 75 F uses much less energy, and small fans that use very little energy will help keep the air moving so you don’t overheat. The same idea applies during colder months. Instead of turning on your heat, grab a sweater and a blanket to save energy.
Another way to save energy is to unplug energy vampires. Energy vampires are devices that continue to draw power even when turned off or in standby mode. TVs, computers, and other electronics are common energy vampires that you can easily manage. Unplugging energy thirsty devices when not in use ensures no energy is going to waste. Plug multiple energy vampires into a single power strip and unplug the power strip to stop the vampires from leeching electricity.
The quarantine might have disrupted your routine, environmentally friendly lifestyle, and habits, but you needn’t abandon your green mission because of quarantine. By making adjustments and solving new problems, you can continue living green. Order the items you need online and have them delivered to your door with no hassle. Buy eco-friendly products like organic paints and clean or vegan hair dyes. Save energy by limiting how much you use your thermostat and unplug energy vampires. By combining these tips and tricks with your personal experiments, you can easily stay environmentally friendly during the quarantine.