How You Can Help Your Local Area Become More Sustainable

Protecting wildlife, the natural environment, and the planet as a whole should be a consideration on the minds of everyone—regardless of their gender, age, or walk of life. 

Without diligent and passionate efforts for preservation and sustainability, serious environmental issues already affecting the Earth could spell disaster for every living being. 

So, with this in mind, here is how you can help your local area to become more sustainable. 

Organize a Garden for the Community

First and foremost, a fantastic idea for a sustainability project that will definitely appeal to green-fingered people; why not task yourself with forming, organizing, and maintaining a drive for a community garden? 

Especially pertinent should you live in an urban area, creating a green space that everyone can enjoy is an excellent way of bringing people together, looking after the nature and wildlife in your neighborhood, and providing residents with local food. 

As with any other community venture, be realistic when it comes to your plan. Look into the advantages of cultivating an organic garden and make sure you thoroughly prepare the soil and remove all weeds before you begin. 

Remember that Big Difference Comes from Small Changes 

When looking for ways and means to be considerably more eco-friendly in your own local community and neighborhood, it is always worth conducting your own research into how a notably sustainable city tries to constantly reduce its carbon footprint.

On a city scale, the following areas are concentrated on by councils and local governments with a view to having a more positive and less destructive influence on the planet:

• More cycle routes in the inner city
• Accessible resources for the public
• Walkable neighborhoods
• Charging stations for electric vehicles
• Cleaning drives for buses and trains
• A more regular timetable for public transport
• Local food production 

Often, individuals believe that if they change their ways in just one area, that this will cease to have even the tiniest of positive impacts on the natural environment. Fortunately, they could not be more wrong, as even the smallest changes can have a positive effect on sustainability.

Start Carpooling

For people who live in a smaller town or city and work for a larger company which employs many people, in different job roles, near to where you live, then another great way to reduce both noise and air pollution (not to mention traffic hold-ups), is to start to carpool.

Essentially, if there is no way you and your colleagues can bike or else use public transport to get to and from work each day, meaning you do need to drive, arrange for a different person to be the driver each day. 

This way, you will only be using one car per group, which is obviously much better for the environment. You will also save money on gas, you will be less stressed and anxious when you are running late for work, and the life of your current car or truck will also be prolonged. 

Plant Trees on the Weekend

Just in case you are not already fully aware of the essential role that trees play in allowing the human race to exist in the first place, the following list of benefits that trees provide across the world will be of interest –

• Trees help the fight against climate change 
• Trees are a source of many essential foodstuffs
• Trees help to combat the negative effects of light pollution 
• Trees create oxygen 
• Trees vastly improve the quality of the soil 
• Trees combat at least some of a city’s noise pollution 
• Trees help to prevent the erosion of the soil 
• Trees help to prevent floods

Start Buying Food from Local Stores 

Finally, by far the simplest way to increase the sustainability and indeed, the success, of people and places in your local area, is to start buying food from smaller stores in your neighborhood. 

There are numerous advantages to buying locally, not least the fact that this will drastically reduce the distance your food travels, meaning that if more people chose perishable items from their local grocery store, supermarkets would not ship in bulk from Europe, Australia, Asia and even from the other side of the US. 

Buying fruit and vegetables from your local store will also help to connect you with the food you are eating, its history, and culture and provide talking points from your new, more enlightened perspective.

Other key benefits of buying food locally include protecting genetic diversity by reducing the need for expensive and polluting heavy machinery used in commercial agriculture, supporting local growers and farmers, and fostering a true sense of community.