10+ Shocking Things You’re Doing Right Now That Harm the Planet

Saving the planet on a tight budget? It’s possible, and some people are doing it in the weirdest ways. You don’t need to spend a fortune to make a difference—sometimes all it takes is a little creativity and a whole lot of resourcefulness.

• Recycling is meant to reduce the consumption of virgin resources. If you recycled 24 plastic water bottles when you could have just purchased a reusable water bottle instead you’re not doing anything helpful. Unknown author / Reddit
• Eat less meat. Meat has an enormous carbon footprint. Added advantage of actually saving you money. piezeppelin / Reddit
• Volunteer to help with trash collection along rivers and creeks in your area. It removes refuse which is dangerous to animals. Uknown author / Reddit

• Eat less meat, eggs, and dairy products. You don’t have to go full vegan or something, but just eating a once-a-week plant-based burger instead of a beef burger saves a bunch of resources. Unknown author / Reddit
• Don’t buy stuff with Palm Oil in it. Opting for “sustainable” palm oil is better than a blanket boycott. Always consider the effects of your chosen alternative when you boycott something. Reduce your consumption of resources in general where possible. floralc***/ Reddit
• If you stop buying so many fast fashion clothes, you won’t throw out so many clothes (that end up in landfills). If consumers as a whole decrease fast fashion spending, the fashion industry will stop producing so much (especially in excess, which also ends up shredded in landfills). Focus on buying clothes that will last a decent amount of years with two or three trend pieces per season/year instead of getting a whole new wardrobe whenever a new style is released. itsbayr / Reddit

• Consume less, really easy to do if you don’t have a lot of money. Only buy what you need to survive and buy the most durable, well-made basics you need so you don’t have to replace them. I know, but never take more than you need and if you have resources to share, help someone else out. redditzendave / Reddit
• Microfiber cloth releases a lot more microfibers when washing than a normal cotton cloth. Contributing to microplastics in the ocean. die_fast_eat_trash / Reddit
• “Flushable” wipes. They’re NOT flushable and what happens is they clog up septic systems and make the pipes burst, etc what also happens is they back up in your toilet and cause an ungodly sewage smell because they don’t break down like toilet paper does! The only way to clear it up is to use draino or yeast in your toilet to dissolve it. STOP FLUSHING WIPES! Unless you wanna pay an expensive $50k sewage replacement and repair fee which insurance WILL NOT COVER! Known-Pop-8355 / Reddit

• Letting balloons go. STOP DOING GENDER REVEALS WITH BALLOONS wallyx22 / Reddit
• Kids toys. People keep buying kids’ toys and they bring them home from school and events, our house is full of plastic toys that the kids use maybe for an hour, and then they go back to video games and movies or playing. Alpha_Meta_man / Reddit
• You really should be cleaning your shoes thoroughly before you step foot in another country. Microscopic seeds will take root and will have the chance to be a destructive invasive species, possibly being a threat to the ecosystem. Going along with that, don’t bring firewood with you more than 50 miles away. Buy local firewood and burn it where you are. Transporting firewood is a really easy way to spread diseases and pests that will kill local trees. GuacShark / Reddit

Many things can harm our planet, like certain beauty products we should avoid using to help keep our environment safer.