5 Things You Can Give Up For Lent That Will Help The Environment

^{Photo by Ahna Ziegler on Unsplash}

Today marks the first day of Lent and if you're a practicing Catholic this is a wonderful opportunity to give up something that can help the environment. Rather than giving up some of the popular indulgences like chocolate or alcohol why not try some of the ideas below.

1. Take Shorter Showers

I would challenge you to take a 5 minute shower, but if you're the type of person who spends 30 minutes in the shower maybe start off with 10 minutes. Showers are typically the third largest water use in a home with people on average spending 8.2 minutes, which uses 17.2 gallons of water. Just reducing your shower by 2 minutes can cut your water use by 10 gallons. Apart from saving you money, you also reduce the amount of energy used to treat, deliver and heat water. It also helps to keep the environment healthy by diverting less water from our rivers, bays, and estuaries.

2. Don't Buy Any New Clothing

Over 11 million tons of recyclable clothing, shoes, and textiles are thrown away each year in the US alone! The worst part is they're full of chemicals like lead and pesticides, so while they're sitting in a landfill not breaking down they are polluting the air. I've only touched upon some of the environmental issues caused by the fashion industry as I could write a novel about it. If you're interested in learning more I highly recommend the Netflix documentary True Cost. 

3. Don't Drive Anywhere in Walking Distance

Pollution from cars is one of the major causes of global warming as well as air pollution in the US, so reducing the amount of time you spend driving can definitely make a difference. While you will need to use your best judgment as walking on a days below freezing might not be the safest idea especially with a small child,  you can do your best to avoid taking the car down the street to pick up dinner.

4. Take Out 

Eating at home reduces both food waste, which is the number one material that goes into landfills and incinerators, and single use packing which is usually made of plastic. Each year the restaurant industry generates 11.4 million tons of food waste! With cooking at home you have the ability to compost and control plastic packaging with an added bonus of saving money.

5. Give up Meat or Dairy 

According to "Emissions impossible – How big meat and dairy are heating up the planet" report, meat and dairy companies are on pace to be the world's biggest contributor to climate change. Not only does the meat and dairy industry produce more greenhouse gas emissions but it uses more land and water. Just giving up meat for just a day can have a big impact on the environment as well as your health so just think of how much you can help by doing it for 40 days!

And who knows maybe after 40 days your recent change will become a habit!