People are becoming more conscious of what is bringing harm to the environment. From an individual perspective, the responsibility for living a sustainable lifestyle is a personal decision.
Tips to Start Living a Sustainable Lifestyle
Sustainable Living at Home
Sustainable living begins right from your home. We should strive to take deliberate steps to reduce greenhouse gases from our homes.
A good example is your home lighting system. Consider the use of natural light as opposed to incandescent lighting. Think about changing your roof by adopting sunroofs. You can also try putting in place tubular lighting systems.
Installing solar for lighting and power needs is another quick win. Solar is renewable and a clean source of energy.
In your home, you may adopt a - No paper home policy. That way, you stop contributing to deforestation, helping to conserve the environment.
How about minimizing or stopping meat consumption? A UN report shows that the rearing of cattle produces more Co2 than that produced from transportation.
Support the Environmental and Protection Agency (EPA) in their slogan, "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" Reduce means using natural resources wisely. Reuse applies when an item is still functional-pass it to someone who needs it if it no longer interests you. Recycling simply means converting wastes to new products.
Instead of heating water for washing, how about using cold water. You may choose rechargeable batteries over non-rechargeable ones. As much as you can, make your food at home, avoid takeaways whenever possible. Home preparation of food requires less packaging and wrapping materials. Try shortening your showers to save water.
These little things and more unmentioned ones contribute to a sustainable lifestyle at home.
Green Gardening
Green gardening is a practice used by farms lately. But not many of them use sustainable gardening techniques, so there is still danger from the use of chemicals.
To be safe, why not start your eco garden? A green garden is a small farm that uses organic manure, which is safe for your health.
You can grow fruits and vegetables in your garden and avoid buying from unknown sources. If you live in a drought-prone area, grow drought-resistant plants that require little water.
Also, create compost manure from organic wastes in your home. Why buy when you can make it? You can choose to rear chicken and use the waste as manure too.
With your green garden, give a thought to the use of natural pest control methods. Try using peppermint and chili powder for your pest control. Alternatively, keep beneficial insects like ladybugs that help with controlling pests.
During harvest, saving seeds reduces the cost of buying new seeds later. Also, preserving native plants that grow well in your area increases success in your future farming activities.
Another sustainable way of conserving water in the farm is by mulching. The practice conserves water in your garden while suppressing weeds too.
If you can, STOP using gas-powered lawn mowers. According to the EPA, using a gas lawnmower for one mow is like driving a gasoline car for 45 miles.
Eco Shopping
When you think about shopping, one thing comes into mind are the single use plastic bags. Shopping bags form a large chunk of the items that cause environmental pollution.
To shop green, go for reusable shopping bags. Cloth bags are best because you can reuse them.
While shopping, select products wisely to ensure that they complement your green lifestyle. For example, you can:
- Buy clothes made from recycled material
- Go for wool instead of synthetic
- Buy reusable water bottles like the DYLN Water Bottle
- Shun disposable coffee cups, go for reusable ones
Another tip when you go shopping is sticking to a shopping list, which helps you avoid buying unnecessary items. The chances are that when you impulse buy, you may end up buying things that aren't eco friendly.
To live green, try the minimalist lifestyle. Mend clothes, if you can, and air dry your jeans many more times to reduce your energy usage.
For food supplies, choose buying from a farmers market rather than in a food store. That way, you avoid processed food and multiple packaging as well.
There are many more green products to try out in the marketplace. Some examples include compostable plates, biodegradable waste bags, organic towels, recycled paper, eco paper, and more.
Beauty
The beauty industry is a hotspot for chemical-based products. Too many chemicals aren't good for your skin. Some products could have a damaging impact on your health.
Sustainable beauty is something you can work on achieving. Unfortunately, as per the FDA cosmetic products do not need their approval before they go to the market.
Go for products with natural elements. Products made of avocado oil, chamomile, cucumber, coconut and aloe vera are generally safe.
You can also try home fixes. For example, you can use baking soda to make toothpaste or use vinegar to make homemade shampoo.
Sustainable Office
For the main products used in the office like paper, computers and furniture, try as much as possible to use recycled or reused materials. On computers, prefer refurbished ones. In most cases, refurbished are as good as new, so no need to worry about quality issues while saving some money by not buying new.
Travel Green
Traveling is a thing to consider when implementing a sustainable lifestyle. Check vehicle emission standards and work towards achieving the required levels recommended by the EPA.
Carpooling is another way of getting more cars out of the road, which contributes to a reduced carbon footprint. There is also the option of using public transport like trains and buses for travel.
If you do not live far from work, practice walking to work. Walking is healthy for your body and reduces your overall carbon footprint too.
For cars, buy those that are the most fuel-efficient. As a car buyer, it is advisable to work towards achieving tier 3 standards of emissions proposed by the EPA.
Say No To Plastics
Plastic pollution is having a devastating effect on the environment leading to health issues. Plastics destroy marine life, they aren't biodegradable and therefore take over 1000 years to decompose.
There is a UN Resolution to reduce plastics by 2030. In the meantime, there are better alternatives to buying plastic water bottles to get the best water. One such example is the DYLN Water Bottle.
Other tips
There are a lot more ways to live a sustainable lifestyle. Let us wrap up by listing a few more:
- Replace plastic straws with biodegradable alternatives.
- Avoid disposable cutlery.
- Join associations advocating for a green lifestyle.
- Donate for the environment.
- Buy carbon offsets when traveling by air.
Summary
Living a sustainable lifestyle is a choice and a good one for that matter. It is a way to reduce greenhouse gas in our environment, helping us live a better life. Attaining decreasing levels of CO2 emissions requires discipline, and we shouldn't relent in making sacrifices that improve the state of our planet. From sustainable living at home, in the office, in the garden, and everywhere, those little efforts make an impact.
