Refillism is honored to be featured in a climate education series by WITF News! We’ll be covering each story in a mini-blog here on our website, so make sure to check out their Instagram page if you’d like to learn more.
WITF's news team interviewed different environmental specialists to pinpoint what the average person can do in their daily life to combat climate change! Featured in the intro video of the series, you can catch a glimpse of Refillism's very own founder, Elizabeth Bower.
Obviously, large companies tend to have the biggest impact on the environment, but you’d be surprised at how much little actions can make a difference. Take Refillism, for example. We have already saved over 3,000 bottles from going into the York city landfill, and that’s just from our community making small, everyday sustainable choices.
This first video in the news series emphasizes that small actions make a difference when it comes to saving our planet. They state that “75% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels. For powering and heating our buildings, getting us to and from work, making the things that we use, and growing and transporting the food that we eat.”
The University of Colorado grounds this percentage by relating it to the common person, pointing out that the refinement process to create plastic (which is made from fossil fuels) puts up to 213 tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. To tie it back to Refillism’s mission, this means every time you choose to reuse a bottle and refill it at Refillism, you are practicing conscious consumerism by preventing additional plastic waste and avoiding another unnecessary purchase!
While small changes make the biggest impacts, the real challenge is continuing to do the small things. However, habits can be hard to maintain! This week I challenge you to pick one zero waste change to make in your routine and continue making it throughout the week. Maybe you decide to only drink from your water bottle instead of buying a package of single-use water bottles. Try to continue on with this small change until it becomes an integral part of your life!
References:
What can I do about climate change? WITF News. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvhFF4DNizt/?igshid=NzZhOTFlYzFmZQ%3D%3D
V, Kayla. The Climate Impact of Single Use Plastics. University of Colorado Boulder. https://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/2021/02/25/climate-impact-single-use-plastics