Top 5 best eco-responsible practices.

Your future is close to your heart, but your good old lifestyle habits have been rooted for quite some time now and you are wondering what to do to improve them? You don't have to drastically change everything to do your part. You just need to make a few small changes, one at a time, and step by step you will enter into a more environmentally friendly way of life, in addition to setting a good example for future generations.

So here are some examples of actions to take on a daily basis to direct you towards a more promising future for our beautiful planet.

#1 Avoid food waste.

Did you know that “Canadians are the leaders in food waste”?

Article on food waste / Radio-Canada

According to this article by Radio-Canada, each Canadian wastes an average of 175 lbs of food per year. Impressive, right?

In a world where food is almost limitless, it's hard not to be tempted by all the options available to us.

First, it would be better to limit our purchases of perishable products to the essentials. We should prioritize local and seasonal products. A plus would be to buy our products in bulk. Thus we obtain the desired quantity, avoid losing the surplus, in addition to limiting our purchases of useless containers! You can visit the store Écolovrac d'Amos (or a bulk shop near you) to learn more about how bulk works and its benefits on our ecosystem.

Buying local is a great way to reduce our ecological footprint. This is valid for food as well as for beauty accessories and even clothes. For Quebec consumers, even Canadians, it is not very complicated to find a producer in the region to buy vegetables, for example.

Here is a site where you can search for the type of products according to your region and thus find a producer nearby for your weekly purchases.

https://www.fraicheurquebec.com/producteurs

For beauty products, you just have to prioritize small local shops that promote the sale of products from Quebec companies. In Amos, we have the boutique Isabelle & Coccinelle.

LIX is also doing its part by favoring the use of recycled polyester in our manufacturing process and in offering local bike delivery during the summer.

#3 Make your own garden.

Having your own garden can be very economical, in addition to becoming an interesting family activity; children love tending to a vegetable garden. You can even share it with those around you by sharing your food surpluses. Community gardens are an excellent alternative for those who do not have the appropriate location on their land. In addition to bringing together people who have the same gardening interest, you can find several tips and tricks to improve your skills. It's a win/win situation.

Here are the best tips for a successful garden.

https://www.selection.ca/maison/jardinage/jardinage-les-meilleurs-conseils-pour-reussir-votre-poptager/

#4 Recycle and compost.

One of the bases of ecological responsibility is to sort our waste. We all know that reducing our garbage bin goes through recycling and composting (and consuming less, of course). I believe that recycling has been in place for quite a number of years to be firmly rooted in the habits of Quebecers. However, composting is more recent. It is very important to do the checks in your respective municipality to comply with the requirements of each in this area.

Here is a link for residents of Amos.

https://amos.quebec/services-aux-citoyens/gestion-des-matieres-residuelles

Each city has its own charter, just check your respective city's website.

#5 Shopping for used clothes.

In addition to being good for your wallet, buying used products avoids overproduction and thus overloading the ecocentres. The items that end up in these shops have been sorted out, so only those that are still in use are found. You will be surprised at the quantity and quality of the objects that are found there. New products are put back on the shelves daily. Do not hesitate to visit your shop regularly and take the time to search to find the rare pearl. You will be proud of the unique and financially beneficial discoveries you will make.

You have several options when looking for a specific item. The first step would be to go around the people around you. Maybe he wants to get rid of something that would make you happy?

Another alternative would be to search on sites such as Marketplace on Facebook. Again, it is possible to search by region and find something nearby.

Otherwise, several cities have their own second-hand shop. In Amos, we have La petite boutique.

In conclusion:

There you go, all you have to do is introduce some of these practices into your daily life. Perhaps you already practice several of them and have already mastered them to their full potential. In this case, share in the comments the steps you are taking to improve the ecological situation of our planet. It could give us ideas and push us to improve.

We are by no means experts in the ecological field. We just want to start the discussion and try to improve the situation with regard to the pollution of our beautiful planet for the future of our children through our daily actions.