The future is in your hands, so what are you doing to make it better? Every single person on the planet has the ability to make a difference to the environment. However, not everyone is convinced they can make things better. According to a recent poll by All Things Hair, for example, just 75.25% of people believe in their ability to make a difference with their plastic use. This means there’s still some way to go to help the other 24.57% understand that they can make a difference.

With that in mind, here are five suggestions of ways that you can change your behaviors to better benefit the world.

1. Take part in Plastic-Free July

Reducing the use of plastic in the kitchen and bathroom has the potential to make a huge difference to the environment if we all work together to achieve it. Refillable and reusable products, buying local produce and swapping from liquid to solid products in the bathroom all play a part here. Why not make a list of all the changes you could make and try to tick off one per day throughout Plastic-Free July?

2. Spread the word

As the statistic above shows, more needs to be done to educate people about their ability to make a difference. You can help do this by spreading the word about environmental initiatives such as Plastic-Free July, Recycle Week and World Car Free Day.  

3. Use your car less

You can make the world a better place and benefit your own health at the same time by reducing the use of your car. Walk, cycle, stake, pogo, take the bus… whenever you have to make a shorter journey, try to use an alternative form of transport. Or if you really need to use your car – we appreciate that getting the weekly shop home on a skateboard isn’t entirely practical! – try to car-share with friends or colleagues so that the number of vehicles on the road is still reduced.

4. Reduce food waste

The production of food – including that which is grown to feed the animals which so many of us consume – takes a huge toll on the environment. Yet according to Feeding America, 130 billion meals per year are thrown away in the United States alone.

There’s plenty that each of us can do to reduce food waste. It starts with thinking twice before buying and being more creative with using up items left in the fridge and cupboards. You could also join a local scheme to swap and share unwanted food items or grow your own produce and only pick it when you need it (and you can share any excess with your neighbors or those in need).

5. Recycle

Did you know that the recycling rate in the US stands at just 32%, according to the United States Census Bureau? This throws into stark relief the need to urgently encourage more people to recycle whatever they can from their household waste. It’s also important to support people to recycle right – that is, to only put items that can be recycled into their household collection boxes.

All of these things are easy to do. Simple changes made by each of us can make a huge difference to the planet.