We, as a human race, have come a long way, but in achieving what we have over many decades, we’ve overlooked things.
We have grown and learned new things but at the cost of this beautiful Mother Earth that we are blessed with.
Over the last few years though, a shift has started taking place. A shift in the way we wish to move forward. A shift in what we call ‘progress’. We have come a long way, but now, we wish to move ahead sustainably.
To be sustainable means to achieve a balance in a way in which we can avoid depleting natural resources. More and more people are becoming conscious of this and are making changes in the way they live. Every effort counts and you too can make simple changes to your lifestyle to live more sustainably.
11 Ways To Become More Sustainable
1. Avoid Single-Use Items
Unless we look around and assess how we’re living, we wouldn’t know what requires a change. Every day from the moment we wake up till we go to bed, we use single-use plastics in more than one way. You could avoid single-use plastics by making sure you carry your own bags when you go grocery shopping. Carry your own water bottles to avoid buying single-use plastic water bottles. It could also be something as simple as changing your plastic toothbrushes to bamboo ones.
2. Support Sustainable Shops & Organic Brands
Most of the time we end up shopping out of a compulsive habit. Almost always we end up buying a little more than what we really need. Think twice before you make purchases, as every single thing we buy has an impact on our environment. From what materials were used in making it, right down to the packaging and shipping of it adds to waste in some form. For the essential items that we need to buy, try buying them from local sustainable brands and do our bit in saving the Earth.
3. Save Energy
Nowadays every household literally has a different electric appliance for a different purpose. Whether it’s our kitchen gadgets or high-tech devices, they all increase the consumption of household energy. One of the simplest ways to become more sustainable is by turning off lights and ACs whenever we leave a room. This helps save energy and reduces the load from our electricity bills.
4. Buy Veggies Locally
Many of us have resorted to buying our groceries and vegetables online. Although one-stop purchasing is an easier bet, it adds to all the plastic waste. Instead, try buying your veggies locally by supporting organic farmers. You get to eat fresh organic produce while supporting the local farmers. You could also grow your own vegetables in your outdoor space. If growing vegetables seems overwhelming, you could have a tiny herb garden. It’s cost-effective and reduces food waste too.
5. Donate Things
If you get on a de-cluttering spree, you’ll come across so many things that you don’t need or don’t use anymore. But we’re also very quick to toss those in the bins. Instead, donate your used clothes or re-sell things that are in a perfectly good condition that you don’t use anymore. What’s old for you could be the best thing they’ve owned for someone else.
6. Make Your Own Cleaners & Soaps
We all use a bunch of things to keep our houses & ourselves clean. Whether it’s the cleaners to clean surfaces or our bathing products, they are all a necessity. But what if we started making our own cleaners and soaps instead? You could save those lemon rinds in a glass jar filled with vinegar and make your own glass cleaners. You could also make your own soaps and shampoos. It’s easy, cheaper, and reduces a whole lot of plastic consumption too. If that seems like too much you could always buy handcrafted soaps and shampoos instead.
7. Use Public Transport
Another way to reduce our carbon footprint is by using public transport. Every day we travel from point A to point B, but for the sake of convenience, we drive in our own vehicles. That leads to more cars on the streets and more pollution in the air we breathe. Whenever possible, we should use the local transport or better use a bicycle for shorter distances.
8. Get Sustainable Kitchen Products
For all those go-to lunches, we could switch to sustainable options. Instead of using foils and plastic wraps, we could buy bags and containers or use bee’s wax wraps. Instead of using paper sheets to clean counters, we could switch to re-usable clothes & for plastic straws, we could use metal ones.
9. Recycle
We’ve all heard this one in school yet it’s so rarely put to practice. So many things that we use, takes eons to biodegrade. Hence,it is super essential to recycle all that can be recycled. Make sure to separate your trash bins and empty out containers if you have a recycling pick-up service in your area.
10. Make Your Own Bread
Another way to live more sustainably is to make your own bread. When you bake your own bread, you use organic flour that is healthy and tastes fantastic. It has no preservatives or additives and also there’s no transporting and packaging. So thats good for the body and reduces the carbon footprint on Earth too.
11. Take Good Care Of Your Belongings
For things to last longer, we need to look after them well. Most of the time we have to buy new things because we didn’t take care of what we own. Take good care of the things you have and that way, they will most definitely last longer. That reduces our need to buy more things and is a sure way to be more sustainable.
Living sustainably is a journey of constant learning and growing. And like every new thing we embark upon, we must not get discouraged or beat ourselves up for mishaps. Take it easy, educate yourself, and be aware of your impact. With that in mind know that we all have a choice, a choice to live better every day, and a choice to choose a sustainable lifestyle.
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