I am an environmentalist. I have been an environmentalist for as long as I can remember, however recently (like for the past year or so) I am slowly transitioning from an arm-chair environmentalist to a vocal environmentalist.

As a part of this transitioning phase I have decided to learn about the issues in greater detail and to talk about them with my peers. It is very surprising to see that people can care about issues like Feminism and Online Privacy while at the same time being completely ignorant to the issues that plague the environment. Personally I believe that Climate Change is one of the biggest issues humanity is facing and it deserves some attention.

Through this blog I mainly write about things that I care about and that is what I plan to do about the environmental issues as well. I will need to do some research on these myself for them to be blog-worthy.

I was an arm-chair environmentalist for a long time and it wasn't doing anyone any good. So I feel that it's time that I started talking about this.

What is the Planet List ?

The Planet List is a list of rules/guidelines that I follow during my everyday living.

My friends know that most of my decision are based on some environmental factor, no matter how small they are. I am to be as less wasteful as possible. I am going to share them today hoping that I can inspire at least one person.

I will try to make this list as exhaustive as possible and I will keep adding things to this list as I learn them.

The main goal of the rules in this list is:

  • To reduce the waste that I am introducing into the world
  • To reduce my personal carbon footprint
  • To reduce the environmental impact of my actions
  • To transition into a sustainable form of living

There is no free lunch. Every decision you make sets of series of chain reactions that ultimately screw over some unfortunate life-form on this planet for no fault of theirs.

The List

  1. Getting from point A to point B (aka transportation)

    1. Walk if the destination is less than 3kms from the source.
    2. Ride a bicycle is the destination is less than 10kms from the source.
    3. Use public modes of transport. ALWAYS.
    4. Use the Metro or other mass rapid transit system. (it probably runs on electricity)
    5. Avoid personal vehicles at all costs whenever possible.
    6. Optimize your daily schedule around public transport peak timings so that you can avail the system
    7. Optimize your vehicle. (i.e. take a two-wheeler to office if you are the only one traveling, cause this way you waste one seat while in a 4-seat-er car the other 3 seats are wasted.)
    8. Optimize your travel. Schedule things in such a way that you do not need to travel to the same area multiple times a day to get some job done.

  2. Eating Stuff

    1. Go vegetarian. Well this is not quite true. The problem is with beef and not any other form of meat. Beef production takes a huge toll on the environment. Washington Post article
    2. DO NOT accept take-out/parcel containers if they are made of plastic
    3. Carry your own containers if you want to get take-out/parcel
    4. Buy from the local market as much as possible instead of some supermarket chains. This is good for the local vegetable sellers as you will give him business and for the environment since the local markets have limited inventory so there is less wastage when things are not sold. Large supermarkets are super-wasteful from procurement of the resources to the final selling.

  3. Clothing

    1. Stay away from synthetic material as much as possible. When synthetic material is washed they release tiny micro-filaments which then filter their way down to the ocean and accumulate in marine life. guardian article
    2. Do not buy clothing online. This single move will reduce the amount of waste you generate. Packing of articles bought online is almost always useless and it can be easily avoided if we just buy clothes from physical shops.
    3. Buy clothing made from/using sustainable techniques and sourcing options.
    4. DO NOT BUY clothing. Most of the time when people think they need a new article of clothing they probably do not need it, they just want it. Think very hard about if you actually need that thing before buying it.
  4. Lifestyle
    1. Optimize your daily routine so that you can utilize the maximum hours of sunlight.
    2. Switch to energy efficient lighting and cooling solutions
    3. Avoid the air-conditioner as much as possible
    4. Avoid plastic/Styrofoam single-use cutlery (spoons, forks etc). Buy metal cutlery, they are better and last a long time.
    5. Avoid Use-And-Throw pens. Instead buy pens that will last a long time and are refill-able. If you the kind of person who keeps on losing pens then you should aim towards being more responsible. I recently purchased a Parker Jotter Steel. It is the most expensive pen I own, but I am confident that this pen will last me at least 5 years.
    6. Carry a pen always. Its better than buying one when you need it and in some situations you can use a pen as a self-defense tool.
    7. Switch from paper receipts to digital ones.
    8. You do not need to upgrade your phone that often.
    9. Bathing everyday is not required.
    10. Buy things offline as much as possible. This reduces waste in the form of packing material
    11. Buy shoes based on use and functionality and not design and other superficial qualities.
    12. Dispose off single use plastics responsibly. Throwing them away here and there leads to them filtering down to the oceans and messing up the ecological balance in the marine ecosystems not to mention cause grievous damage to marine life. wiki link, facts
    13. Carry a reusable water bottle.
    14. Stop using sanitary napkins. Sanitary napkins are non-biodegradable and are very difficult to dispose off properly. Instead switch to reusable cloth pads or menstrual cups. Check out BOONDH for information about menstrual cups.
    15. If you have kids stop using conventional diapers. There are very difficult to dispose off properly and are non-biodegradable. Instead start using cloth reusable nappies.

That should be it for now. I will add to this whenever I can.

This is a very exhaustive list and I will admit that following everyone of them to the final word is very very difficult and sometimes the circumstances are just not right, it is okay to compromise during such scenarios.

Even though it is hard, there are some communities might be helpful.

  1. Reddit Climate Change
  2. Reddit Zero Waste
  3. The Elephant Podcast

Updated on 18th, Aug, 2018