How to Change the World - Top Ten Tips For the Conscious Consumer

Alright, it's time to get serious about being an adult human. This means taking responsibility for your actions, and actually thinking about the way your daily actions impact the rest of the world. I know there's a lot of nasty shit in the world that you don't really want to be part of your life, so you'd rather ignore that stuff. But what if you could change the world? What if the tiny parts of your seemingly insignificant life could actually CHANGE the world? Yeah yeah, what difference does it make if one person starts doing things differently? Well you know what, that one person can be a shining example to the people around them, and then bam, five people have changed their lives. Those five people all influence another five people each. KABLAMO. The pattern continues, and before you know it, a shit tonne of people have changed the way they live, and are positively influencing the rest of the world. YOU can be one of those people! Are you ready? Let's go....

1. Stop using plastic bags. It's a pretty simple step. You just buy yourself (or even make yourself) a durable re-usable bag. Just remember to take it with you, everywhere you go, because you never know when you might need it. I have loads of them and am often kicking myself for leaving them at home!
2. Turn things OFF. Experience the beautiful sound of silence. Give your eyes a rest from the goggle box. Close your laptop. Marvel at the peaceful atmosphere. Just think about how much electricity you consume every day, and where that electricity comes from. It's not like batteries grow on trees. Most of our electricity comes from fossil fuels, burning a big stinky hole in Mother Earth's heart. See if you can switch to wind or solar-powered electricity, which produces fewer emissions.
3. Take a shower. Yeah I know how luxurious it is to take a long hot bath, but do your water bills a favour, and make it a quick shower instead. Pumping water from natural sources to treatment plants, to be filtered and cleaned with chemicals, and then pumped into your home, uses a lot of energy, contributing once more to Mother Earth's heartburn.
4. Drive less. Ha! I don't even have a car! So this one is pretty easy for me. But for those of you who do have a car, consider leaving it at home. Do you think you can walk it? All that extra exercise will be very good for you, and Mother Earth too! Also, imagine the money you will save on fuel! Maybe you can spend the money you saved on a bicycle! If the weather's not cooperating with you, how about public transport? I always get the train for long journeys.
5. Buy less synthetic fabrics. Pay special attention to your wardrobe. Do you see an array of fairtrade cotton, linen, hemp, bamboo, and recycled wool? They have a much smaller ecologicial footprint than synthetic fabrics, especially if they are dyed with a low-chemical or vegetable colourant. 
6. Go cruelty-free. I bet you didn't realise how much animal torture goes into producing your beauty products. From lipstick to hairspray, shampoo to deoderant, even the most "essential" hygiene products may have involved cruel tests on poor little defenseless animals. Find out if your favourite brands are cruelty-free. To make life easier, just look for a bunny logo on the packaging. This will tell you straight away if your purchase is cruelty-free. 
7. Choose natural materials. That stuff I said about clothes? That counts for everything else too. Just take a look around you. Is your home brim full of plastic? Not so nice. Think about how utterly gorgeous a certified sustainable wooden coffee table would be compared to a laminated fibreboard plastic bit of tat. Reclaimed and recycled materials are also a great option.
8. Buy to last. If you think something has a good chance of breaking and ending up on the rubbish heap, look for something more durable. If you think you're going to get bored of something, or chuck it out as soon as it's no longer fashionable, consider not buying things on a whim, and going for things you can make a heartfelt committment to. Get it because you really really love it, and not because it's the latest fashion trend. Get it because you're going to love it forever and ever, until it falls to pieces and you have to stitch it back together again.
9. Buy old stuff. Instead of buying something factory fresh and wrapped in a thousand layers of plastic packaging, take a trip to the second hand shop, the charity shop, even the dump. You have no idea how much awesome stuff I have found at the dump. You have no idea how many other-people's-cast-offs I lovingly foster. You have no idea how much I love getting free stuff just because someone no longer had use for something that is actually in perfect working condition. Welcome to the house of other people's junk. 
10. Ba-ba-ba! We have reached the final bullet point of my CHANGE THE WORLD hit list. And that is: buy local. This doesn't mean just taking a trip to your local corner shop. This means considering where in the WORLD your purchases have come from. Are your favourite fruits and veg shipped over from half way across the globe? How about all the other stuff you buy, where was it made? How much fuel was used to transport that stuff all the way to your doorstep? A truck load? A freight load? A jumbo jet load? Jesus! Put that stuff down and back away from the innocent stick of celery. Can you find something produced a little closer to home? Do you know of any local farmers' markets? Could you even grow your own food? Wow! Imagine that! Yeah, free food, in your back garden. It don't get much more awesome than that.

I hope you enjoyed my Top Ten list of stuff you can do to change the world. I know there's a heap load of other stuff you could do, but these are some of the first steps you can take. Thought of some more ideas? Let me know. Leave a comment in the comment section below. :)