How to you make a real impact on your immediate environment?

Date of the last update: 07.03.2022

“Be the change you wish to see in the world”. Mahatma Gandhi’s famous words have the power to spur desired attitudes, values and behaviours, provided that more and more people start incorporating them into their daily lives. In this article, you will learn about 5 simple yet effective practices that will help you make your own contribution to changing the world around you, and perhaps inspire others in the process.

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Promote local activists

You may be a proactive person, someone who takes the initiative yourself and shows others the direction of change. But if this is not the case, it’s worth supporting people who have these qualities, for example local activists. Those who devote their time to developing projects under civic budgets, initiate charity actions and collections or report local problems to local government bodies. We need such people to change our environment for the better, so support them as much as you can and encourage others to do the same!

Develop kindness to others

Although we like to think that “Pole is wolf to Pole”, according to psychologist Miłosz Brzeziński, studies show that Poles are increasingly kinder to one another, less aggressive and more willing to help. Especially young people highlight kindness as an important value, according to the study. Importantly, apart from improving your well-being, being kind to others simply pays off, because as Brzeziński argues – people who cooperate generally achieve more than egoists.

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It’s good to have a neighbour!

The words of Halina Kunicka’s famous song aren’t as relevant today as they used to be. For a number of reasons, contacts between neighbours are much less intimate than they used to be, if you can describe them like that at all. The contact is mostly limited to solving current problems in the neighbourhood’s Facebook groups. But why not try to find out who lives next door by initiating a casual conversation in the lift or while walking the dog, for example. Keeping good relations with your neighbours is among factors that can greatly boost your satisfaction with living in a given location.

Buy second-hand clothes

The increased interest in second-hand clothes is cited as one of the strongest trends in the fashion industry. The 2021 ThredUP report reveals that up to 80% of Z Generation, that is people born between 1995 and 2010, aren’t embarrassed about buying pre-owned clothes. The scale of this trend is confirmed by a rapid development of Vinted dedicated application in Poland. By buying (and selling) second-hand clothes, you contribute to strengthening this trend, which is good for the environment.

Support local businesses

It’s no secret that large, international sales chains are gradually squeezing small, local businesses out of the market. So the only thing we can do is to take matters into our own hands and, as far as possible, use and promote products and services of smaller, often family-run companies. To this end, it is worthwhile to look around the nearest neighbourhood in search of alternatives to large chain stores and start visiting local confectioneries, restaurants, vegetable shops or antique shops more often. This is the way to create a self-sufficient space in our community, full of places offering good quality products and services.

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