10 Ways to Live More Sustainably
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Yall. We live on one of the most beautiful planets in the entire galaxy (disclaimer: I’ve never been to any of the other planets, so there is a slight bias). But anyways, we honestly are incredibly blessed by the jaw-dropping and breath-taking beauty of this place we get to call home.
Now, I want you to take a second to think. Really think and imagine the single most beautiful place you’ve ever seen in your life.
Did you find one yet?
When scrolling through all the amazing memories in my mind, my top one is a breath-taking waterfall in Costa Rica. I’ve never been one to pay attention to detail, so I have no idea what the name of this waterfall is or if I even have a picture of it! I can just picture it and it takes my breath away every time I think about it.
The things we find the most beautiful aren’t the million-dollar freeways or the shopping center parking lots. They’re the beautiful, natural parts of our planet.
Think about your most beautiful place again. Think about how it made you feel. In awe? Inspired? Captivated?
Now, when thinking about that feeling, wouldn’t you want others to experience that same feeling? Your family, your friends, your kids, even your kids’ kids?? That is why we need to change our lives and start living more sustainably today.
Mother Nature is hurting, and we have a duty to nurture this planet we’ve been given.
I know that might sound incredibly daunting, but I can almost guarantee you, it’s not as difficult as it sounds. Making small changes in our daily lives, in time, can have massive impacts on the overall well-being of our planet.
Check out these 10 simple ways to start making a big difference by living more sustainably!
Some ways we can help our planet are by making small changes to our daily routines.
- Stop wasting unnecessarily
- When not at home or in the room, turn off the lights, fans, and air conditioners. Why throw away money for no reason?
- Another habit that could be wasting millions of gallons of water is not turning off the faucet when brushing your teeth. Use the water when rinsing, but besides that, keep that nozzle turned off.
- Don’t let the car idle
- You may not think that four minutes of idling when sitting at the bank window or picking up the kids from school isn’t that big of a deal, but that four minutes multiple times a day, every single day by thousands of people around the world is actually causing MASSIVE amounts of carbon emissions into our atmosphere. Roll down those windows and turn off that ignition (it even saves gas, and in turn, money!)!
- Carpool, rideshare, or bike when possible
- We all know that the emissions from motor vehicles are having a huge detriment on our atmosphere. Why not do our best to reduce the amount we find ourselves alone in the car. Find friends to carpool with, or utilize rideshare apps! Better yet, emit no carbon gases by riding a bike or scooter if you have the option!
- Eat less meat
- Meat production companies are a huge component of greenhouse gas emissions. Not to mention the amount of deforestation they cause to build their farms and factories. I know we all love our steaks and hamburgers, but try to go meat-free just one day a week. In the long-run, that can truly make a huge impact! #MeatlessMondays
- Support local farmers and businesses
- No matter what they are producing, huge corporations and factories produce a substantial amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Why not shift your business to support your local farmers and community. That greatly reduces the amount of transportation emissions and is great for your local economy, it’s a win-win!
One of the best ways to protect the environment is making one-time purchases of reusable items that we are already using! Think about the thousands and thousands of pounds of single-use products that are ending up in our landfills, oceans, and forests every single year. By switching to eco-friendly reusable products we are not only helping ourselves economically, but we are making a huge and positive impact on the planet!
- Reusable water bottle
- Hydroflask, Nalgene, Yeti, SandCloud… These are just a few of the hundreds of companies making reusable water bottles out of anything from glass, to metal to silicone. Making a one-time purchase of a reusable bottle will have you set for life! Want to feel even cooler, decorate your new bottle with some awesome travel stickers!
- Reusable straws
- Sadly, everyone has probably seen the heartbreaking pictures and videos of sea turtles getting plastic straws removed from their eyes or nose. Well, think about those sea turtles next time before using a single-use straw. You have the option of metal, silicone, bamboo, or hard plastic reusable straws. Carry this around in your bag and say no next time you’re getting your usual at Starbucks or McDonald’s.
- Bamboo toothbrush
- When I first heard about bamboo toothbrushes, my mind was completely blown! We hear all about plastic bottles and straws ending up in the ocean, but I feel like we never even think about the other plastic household items we use daily. Switching to bamboo toothbrushes is an incredibly easy transition and is great for the planet!
- Reusable grocery bags
- This is a big one, yall! I know we all think our garbage makes its way to landfills and it’s just fine and dandy after that. Sadly, that’s not always the case. Think about how lightweight soft plastics are. They sadly, don’t have much fight against the wind. One big gust of wind can take hundreds of weightless plastic bags on a journey into our natural lands. Try to start bringing reusable bags when you’re out grocery shopping, or just say “no thank you” when you’re getting only one or two items that you could easily carry. In many places in the world, plastic bags are actually banned because they are seeing how harmful they are to the planet. Let’s help out our Mother Earth and start using reusables!
- Menstrual cup and reusable pads
- Ladies, this one is for you. Guys, you can skip over this one if you want. Not only are single-use feminine products terrible for the environment, they’re also very harmful to your body, filled with so many harsh chemicals. Using a silicone menstrual cup and bamboo/charcoal pads will help you look out for your health, the environment, and your wallet! Think about how much money a year you spend on feminine products. Making a one-time purchase of washable products can save you hundreds, or even thousands of dollars in the long run!
There are honestly a dozen other ways to live a more sustainable life. However, I hope this doesn’t overwhelm you. Altering your lifestyle can sound incredibly daunting, but I can almost guarantee just by making small changes in your everyday life, overtime, you will start to develop new and beneficial habits. By living more sustainably, you are not only helping yourself, the rest of the population, and the environment, but you are also looking out for the future generations of the world. If we don’t start making drastic changes in our world today, there won’t be much of an environment to look after in a few hundred years from now.
One phrase that hurts so much when I hear is “I’m just one person, I can’t make a difference”. That is the farthest thing from the truth! Think about if 800,000 people said that same sentence, then that would be 800,000 people who could be making a difference, but aren’t.
Remembering to bring your reusable bags to the grocery store one single time can save about ten plastic bags from ending up in our landfills, forests, or oceans. Think of all the sea turtles you could save! It took me about 30 times of going grocery shopping to finally remember to bring my bags with me. Now, it has become such a habit that I literally do not leave the house without them. I always keep my bamboo utensils and straws in my purse to reduce the amount of plastic utensils that are provided at fast food places and some restaurants.
Making daily changes has turned into life-altering habits and has helped keep hundreds of pounds of waste from ending up in landfills. If every single person in the world started making small changes, we could have an amazing impact on the planet we get to call home. Let’s go out and start making a difference in the world!
Check out the Eco-Friendly section on my products page to get your hands on some of the sustainable products that I personally love!
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The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it
Robert Swan
