5 tips on how to easily make the world a better place in everyday life

Help with climate protection - many small steps in everyday life also help.

We present 5 tips for more sustainability that are easy to implement.

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Julia Felicitas Allmann gives in "Every day save the world" suggestions for a more climate-friendly everyday life.

© Julia Walter Photography

• Climate protection: With all the renunciation roll calls, you quickly lose track of things

• Even small changes in everyday life help to make the earth a better place

• Food, household, shopping: we present 5 simple examples

Cologne

- Help save the planet?

For journalist Julia Allmann this has long been a matter of course, you don't have to be called Greta Thunberg * or

flag

on

.

But when she became a mother for the first time and asked herself more often what kind of earth we want to leave our children with, the Cologne native remarked: Keeping track of all the advice on

and repeated renunciation appeals is not that easy.

“Guidebooks often show how to switch completely to zero waste or, for example, how to make deodorant ourselves - but I always asked myself what we can do with all the many things that we do every day anyway.

And tries to find answers. ”The result is the little booklet

with 66 inspirations for everyday life: nutrition, consumption, household, travel.

Julia Allmann herself calls it a “self-service shop for improving the world”.

Everything is possible, nothing is neccesary.

The Cologne resident is convinced: "All in all, we can make a difference together and ensure in our daily lives that the earth has a better future."

Julia Allmann gives 5 tips for more climate protection and sustainability in everyday life

1. Oat milk instead of cow's milk: why it is worth making the switch

Anyone who wants to help

reduce

, land use and water consumption can do so by foregoing cow's milk: The production of one liter of

produces 3.2 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a 17 kilometer drive consumes 9 Square meters of land and requires an impressive 628 liters of water.

The alternative is the

.

The plant-based milk requires only 0.9 kilograms of CO2, the land use is 0.8 square meters and the

is 48 liters.

I often hear other people argue that they just don't like oat drink.

It's hard to argue that away, of course, but it really is the case that oat drinks from almost every manufacturer taste different - even if that's weird, because they actually contain the same thing.

Just test it out, maybe there is a variety that fits.

Julia Allmann, author "Saving the World Every Day"

2. Oven: When you can save yourself preheating

In recipes for cakes, pizza or bread it is often said: "Preheat the oven to 200 degrees ..." So we turn on the empty oven while the raw dough waits outside.

Does this make sense?

It all depends on the dish.

In many cases, the following applies: "If possible, you should avoid preheating", says Prof. Marlen Arnold, sustainability expert from the TU Chemnitz.

In this way,

of up to 20 percent can be achieved.

But of course we can no longer rely on the baking time in the recipe, because it applies from the moment the oven has reached full temperature.

So we have to keep an eye on our dish (at least the first time).

But there are

- and that includes pizza.

In order for the dough to be crispy, the oven must be hot from the start.

Other things such as choux pastry, some fish dishes or soufflé only work in a preheated oven.

Here we should accept the high energy consumption in order to rule out that the dish fails and, in the worst case, ends up in the trash.

3. Wine: It should be one with a real cork

Wine

enjoyment with an environmental bonus:

on the wine bottle are more climate-friendly than the screw cap.

The reason: They contribute to the preservation of valuable biotopes: cork oak forests, which only exist in the Mediterranean region and which make a major contribution to climate protection.

"All cork oak forests annually convert 14 million tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into versatile cork," says BUND.

In addition, the forests are home to rare animal and plant species that are threatened with extinction.

If cork production is no longer worthwhile because all buyers are switching to screw caps, there is a risk that the cork forests will be replaced by other plantations.

Tip: It is best to take the cork to a cork collection point afterwards.

There it can be recycled and, for example,

or floor coverings are made from it - that is also good for the environment.

4. Aluminum foil and cling film: Don't be afraid of the alternatives

Aluminum foil: practical, but unfortunately a burden for the planet.

is a valuable raw material that is manufactured with great effort.

It is made from bauxite, which is mainly mined in Australia, China and Brazil.

In some cases, the rainforest is being cut down, say critics.

And what if we throw the aluminum foil in the recycling bin?

Are you okay because it's recycled?

Unfortunately not: "Because the material is so thin, recycling aluminum foil results in very high losses," explains Deutsche Umwelthilfe.

Cling film is also not a good option: it is made of

,

or

PE for short.

It is still considered a “better plastic” because it usually does not contain any plasticizers and is comparatively easy to recycle.

Nevertheless, PE is a plastic that is based on crude oil and natural gas - and PE production also consumes many resources, just like subsequent recycling.

So it's best to choose alternatives:

cloths that are available in bulk stores, online shops or in well-stocked drugstores are

slowly

gaining ground.

Food cans are also a good solution, as is the simple way of covering a bowl with a flat plate.

Even if that sounds stupid: I have never thought before that aluminum foil is actually made of aluminum and the complex processes behind its production.

Since I've known that, I winced every time someone brings a cake, for example, has covered it with foil and then immediately crumples it up and throws it in the trash.

Julia Allmann, author

5. Use paper bags correctly: saves money and protects the environment

Most of them have already got used to

the paper bags in the

.

If they are not coated or printed with poisonous inks, they can rot better in nature - in contrast to

, whose small plastic particles are preserved for hundreds of years.

Everything fine with the paper bag?

Not quite: when it comes to manufacturing, paper bags aren't winners.

Production requires a lot of energy and water and unfortunately not all paper bags have a high

content

.

To be tear-resistant, they are thicker and therefore heavier than plastic bags.

The result: more material is used - and it also increases emissions during transport.

So if you want to protect the environment while shopping, you should use your bag again and again - even if it is made of paper.

BUND experts calculate: “Depending on the size of the bag, a paper bag must be used three to eight times to replace a plastic bag that is climate-friendly.” Incidentally, this also applies to bags at the baker's: Bun bags are usually not reused, but after a short one Thrown in the trash way home.

A small

would clearly be the better way to transport it.

I have to admit that in the beginning I was uncomfortable going to buy bread rolls with my own bag.

But that was a few years ago and it has become much more popular now.

And the more people do it, the more normal it becomes.

Now I feel rather bad if I forget the bag and then get a classic bag.

Julia Allmann, author "Saving the World Every Day"

The book “Every day save the world” by Julia Felicitas Allmann was published by “Gräfe und Unzer” and costs € 9.90.

(KEM)

List of rubric lists: © Julia Walter Fotografie