Green Resolutions!

8 Easy, Impactful Actions You Can Take for the Environment in 2021

Recycle more! Try and recycle or divert more waste from the landfill - you can compost and potentially divert 40% of your garbage, or try and turn those old materials into creative reuse projects before throwing them away. You can also donate old goods and bring your hard to recycle items to KKB!

Shop seasonally & locally. Our food can travel a long way to make it on the aisles in our local grocery stores, particularly if you’re buying produce that’s out of season. One way to combat this oft-overlooked energy expenditure is to shop more at our local farmers’ markets, join a CSA, or shop at farmer-owned markets. You can also specifically look for the local sign in the produce section of most grocery stores to shop a little more mindfully. 

Buy second hand when you can! You can expand your wardrobe and style by thrift shopping, plus more often than not you can find great deals on nice furniture and household wares, all the while supporting a good cause. Of course not all thrift stores benefit a charity, but thrifting instead of buying new always benefits the environment. 

Utilize sustainable transportation like biking, walking, and busing whenever possible. You can reference our alternative transportation guide for Knoxville to learn more! 

Buying a new car? Buy an electric vehicle! The cost of electric vehicles has come down over the years and is very comparable to new gas-powered cars, particularly when taking in tax deductions and the lifetime cost of the vehicle. Plus, experts agree that they are almost always better for the environment than gas-powered vehicles, even when taking into consideration that you might be plugging into electricity from a non-renewable source. 

Eat less meat. Not everyone has to be vegan or vegetarian to help out the environment, and not everyone should be. We all have different genetics and anatomies and some of us need to eat meat, but it’s unlikely that any of us need to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week, particularly given the high cost of raising meat on the environment. So, try to cut back on your meat consumption and eat locally and humanely raised meat whenever possible. 

Air dry your clothes and wash them in cold water. This will save energy and lower your electric bill!

Switch to renewable energy. Consider adding renewables to your home or see if your utility company has the option to use renewable energy. For example, KUB has a robust and growing environmental stewardship program that recently included a Green Invest agreement with TVA to ultimately get ~8% of its electric power supply from solar. And their Green Switch Match program allows residential and commercial customers to receive 100% of their power supply through renewable energy.