Having a low carbon Lent

Whether you identify with a religion or not, many of us often use Lent as a way of tracking goals for the new season. This year, how about making yours one that will set you on the path to net zero?

We’ve had the New Year, with all its resolutions and goals, but if your year has already got away from you a bit, or you’re just in need of a ‘fresh start February’, then setting one clear goal for the Lent period between now and Easter can help you get back on track. While Lent itself has religious origins, and many choose to follow the traditional fasting associated, this period can also be used as a time of goal setting. The short timeframe is especially useful for habit formation, as you only need to stick to your goal for a short period – if it doesn’t work, you haven’t lost much, and if its useful you can carry it on in your daily life. There are lots of organisations and campaigns online and on social media with sustainable Lent ideas, so do have a look around if you still need ideas (e.g., https://www.pawprint.eco/eco-blog/ways-help-environment-during-lent). Below are a few ideas of possible things you could give up/start/change – pick one and stick to it until Easter, maybe it’ll be better than you thought?!

• Walk/cycle/use public transport to work (or somewhere else you go regularly in the car, like the supermarket) 🚲
• Follow a vegetarian diet 🫛
• Give up buying ‘new’ – no new clothes or material purchases, see if you can live with what you have for 40 days. This is a good choice if shopping is one of your more unsustainable habits! 👚
• Give up using the tumble dryer in favour of natural drying methods 👖
• Single use plastics – if you’re struggling to remember to use your reusable containers and cups, this would be a really good goal to help you make reusables a habit 🍴

These goals are great if you are new to sustainability swaps, and want to improve aspects of your life that have the most impact at the moment. As it is such a relatively short length of time, I would encourage you to pick one that will challenge you and isn’t just a passive easy fix. So many of the changes deemed ‘sustainable’ have additional benefits, especially for ourselves, so you won’t know unless you try.

Additionally, you could make your goals bigger if you want more of a challenge, such as following a plant-based diet or avoiding all single occupant car use. But alternatively you could set more introspective goals that aren’t directly linked to sustainability, such as giving up social media for 40 days, picking up a brand new hobby or going for a daily walk. Not just benefitting your health and wellbeing, working on yourself also means you’re less at risk of burning out and are able to sustain your positive actions. Moreover, while seemingly indirect to us, everyday habits like scrolling our phones and social media have their own carbon emissions and environmental issues (more information can be found from this blog by the Carbon Literacy Project https://carbonliteracy.com/the-carbon-cost-of-social-media/#:~:text=Cumulative%20impact&text=According%20to%20Greenspector%2C%20there%20were,the%20carbon%20footprint%20of%20Malaysia.). For 40 days, we can pause these actions and swap them with less intense activities like reading or crafting, and take time to notice any changes in ourselves. Th best Lent goals are the ones that continue long after Easter, so focus on making your actions work for you.

So wherever you are at in your sustainability journey, use this opportunity of new beginnings to set your own personal challenge to become a better, more sustainable you. Whether you give something up, make a change or gain something, enjoy your pancakes and then see where the next 40 days will take you – hopefully you’ll gain a lot more than you are giving up! 🥞