12 Lifestyle Changes You Think Are Good for the Environment But Aren’t

Most of us try to do our bit for the planet by swapping out old habits for new, greener ones. It feels good to help Mother Earth! Unfortunately, some of those eco-friendly changes we make aren’t as green as we think. Here are twelve lifestyle changes that fooled us all. On the surface, they look good—but dig a little deeper and it’s a different story.

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Using Biodegradable Plastics for Everyday Use

Used Plastic bottles in close up ,selective focus
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While swapping regular plastics for the biodegradable kind sounds great, these biodegradable plastics need specific conditions to break down. For example, they need high heat & certain microbes you only find in industrial composting facilities. Most of the time, they end up in regular landfills, not breaking down and still causing problems for wildlife. It kinda defeats the purpose.

Switching to Electric Vehicles

Two White and Red Tesla Charging Station
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Electric cars are all the rage since they’re supposed to be a lot better for the planet. Unfortunately, making those batteries is quite a dirty job since they require mining for metals like lithium and cobalt. And unless the electricity powering your shiny electric car comes from renewable sources, you’ve basically canceled out any environmental benefits.

Adopting a Raw Food Diet

Nuts
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Going raw is another trend. Why? Because people think they’re reducing their carbon footprint by not cooking. Yet a lot of raw diets rely heavily on fruits & vegetables that aren’t local, especially in colder climates. Flying in all that produce increases the amount of carbon in the atmosphere—that’s nothing to brag about. Eating local is a smarter idea.

Using Paper Bags Instead of Plastic

Happy adult man carrying paper bag from grocery store while his wife talking by phone
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Paper bags are quite popular with eco-conscious shoppers yet producing these bags isn’t good for the planet. It takes a lot of water & energy—not to mention the trees that have to be cut down. These bags also need to be recycled correctly. If not, then they take ages to break down and remain in landfills.

Planting Exotic Trees for Reforestation

Planting Trees
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What could be wrong with planting trees to help the environment? Well, a lot. When the trees aren’t native to the area, they’ll mess with the local ecosystem and push out native species. This affects other plant life as well as the animals that feed on them. It’s okay to plant more trees—as long as you do your research.

Buying Organic Produce

Ripe Organic Cherry Tomatoes
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Organic produce avoids the use of nasty pesticides—but there’s a catch. This produce often requires more land to grow the same amount of food as conventional farming and this leads to farmers chopping down more forests and losing precious habitats. It’s a trade-off that’s not necessarily worth it.

Using Reusable Cotton Bags

Yellow Pears and Shopping Mesh Bag
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Even though ditching plastic bags for cotton totes feels like a win, it comes at a cost. Cotton needs a lot of water to grow and often a lot of pesticides too. You’ll need to use that cotton bag a lot of times before it’s actually a better choice than a plastic bag—at least 7100 times, according to a 2018 report. 

Switching to Cloth Diapers

A Mother Changing a baby's diaper
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Less landfill waste is always good and that’s why so many parents have decided to use cloth diapers for their babies. But the water & energy to keep those diapers clean makes the environmental savings rather slim. It’s even worse if you’re using hot water and a dryer—enough to make you question whether there’s any point to it. 

Choosing Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products

Cleaning Supplies in a Bucket
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Even though eco-friendly cleaning products promise greener cleaning, sometimes they don’t work as well. As such, you’ll end up using more. Plus, just because they’re “eco-friendly” doesn’t mean they have low-impact production since they often come in plastic packaging that can’t be recycled.

Installing Solar Panels Without Research

Solar Panels on Snow With Windmill Under Clear Day Sky
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There’s no denying that solar panels are great for cutting down on fossil fuel use. However, they’re not as green as you might think. They need a lot of water to keep the panels clean so they can keep making energy. Worst still, manufacturing companies mine materials like copper and cadmium to make the panels.

Participating in Fast Fashion Recycling Programs

Upset young woman with lots of clothes on rack in room. Fast fashion
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Many fast fashion brands claim they’ll recycle your old clothes in an effort to do the planet a favor—yet it’s not that simple. A tiny fraction of clothes get recycled into new ones. The rest are usually burned or dumped. Such policies also encourage you to buy more throwaway fashion and that’s terrible for Mother Nature.

Using Ethanol-Based Fuels

Molecules and a pipette on a table
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Biofuels like ethanol use renewable energy from plants so what’s not to love? Well, turning that land into areas for fuel production means there’s less room for growing food. And let’s not forget the deforestation & water use that goes with it! Sure, it’s renewable but it’s not without its environmental costs.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.

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