While it is becoming increasingly necessary to live more sustainably in our changing world, choosing to do so can be overwhelming. It’s virtually impossible to completely go green due to the world’s established supply chains. It can feel like you’re fighting a losing battle.
Even though it may seem like you’re not making a big enough impact, don’t give up. Making an effort is useful and doable, so consider some of these ideas for living more sustainably.
1. Shop for Versatile, Long-Lasting Clothes
If you’ve ever heard the term “fast fashion,” then you know how problematic it can be for the environment. These popular brands use cheap materials to make low-cost, low-quality, fad-based clothes with no regard for sustainability. As a result, their products often last a very short time in your closet — and a long time in the landfill.
Instead of saving a few bucks in the short term, think about shopping instead for higher-quality clothing that will endure. Buying clothes that are made of more durable materials benefits the environment. It will also save you money in the long run.
Focus on shopping for brands that emphasize high-quality goods and/or eco-consciousness. A set of mindfully crafted silk pajamas, for example, will last you much longer than their fast-fashion counterpart. You don’t even have to find a perfectly sustainable brand provided you’re buying clothes you can keep. Just by knowing how to source items that last a while, you’re already making a huge difference.
Thrift stores are also a good solution for durable clothes because they often have items from decades in the past. And you are doing good, too, by giving a new home to clothes that otherwise would have gone to waste. If you see something that is old but nice, chances are that it will continue to last.
2. Reduce Your Home’s Single-Use Waste Output
Even a single-person home produces incredible amounts of waste throughout each week. This regular output can be easily overlooked. Take the time to assess single-use products in your home and how you can replace them with more reusable solutions. Instead of buying paper towels, for instance, you can purchase reusable rags from a hardware store to clean up messes. Then you can throw them in with your weekly laundry instead of tossing them into the trash.
You can make similar changes with most other products in your home. Plastic bags and wraps are some of the most wasteful home products. They can be replaced with eco-friendly, reusable totes and containers. These include metal, glass, wood (and wood-derived materials like paper), cloth, and beeswax among many other options.
Single-use water bottles can be similarly replaced — the market is brimming with reusable water bottle choices of various materials. Metal bottles are a great option because they last a long time and can preserve a liquid’s temperature. In whatever direction you want to go, avoiding single-use plastic will have a marked difference on your waste (and hydration!).
3. Use Transportation Responsibly
As time goes on, more and more vehicles are being created to run on an electrical charge instead of gasoline. There are also many models that run on a mixture of the two, which will still reduce gas emissions substantially. Once the time comes around to think about a new vehicle, make sure to consider these options and their potential impacts.
If you live close to the places you regularly need to go, it could even be worth trading in your car for a bicycle. Some bicycles are motorized with solar power and, combined with public transport, won’t add any carbon emissions to the atmosphere. If public transportation in your city is reliable and accessible, get to work via bus or subway.
According to the EPA, the transportation sector emitted 29% of U.S. greenhouse gases in 2019. It’s important to note that this number refers to the entire industry rather than just individual drivers. Trucks and commercial aircraft are responsible for much of this, so don’t blame yourself for not being able to do more. Still, any effort you can put in makes a difference, no matter how small.
4. Cook at Home
Making meals for yourself each day can be daunting if you live a busy life or work long days. It’s so much easier to order in or pick up some lunch on the way to work. Still, cooking is not as difficult as it sounds, and it provides several benefits for the environment and you.
First, eating at home is significantly cheaper than eating out. A plate of pasta carbonara at a restaurant could set you back 25 bucks. The ingredients to make it at home for a family of four would likely add up to $5 or less.
Second, ordering in uses a lot of packaging materials, and the food will often not stretch nearly as far. Unnecessary utensils and napkins as well as the bags containing the food will ultimately go to waste. By cooking at home, you won’t be introducing any of that into the equation.
Finally, cooking at home is healthier! You can sustain yourself much better with healthy meals and ingredients, which can themselves be obtained from environmentally friendly sources.
5. Purchase and Properly Store Local Produce
Cooking at home also paves the way for a deeper look into the origins of your food. Local farms are great sources for high-quality ingredients with reduced environmental impact. Your direct purchase does away with the need for bulk transportation, processing, and preservation, thereby avoiding the resulting pollution.
Shopping locally also cycles your money into the local economy rather than a grocery chain. Local growers can then continue to respect the environment and provide fresh, healthy produce.
Sometimes after going grocery shopping, ingredients will go bad in the refrigerator before they can be used. Pay attention to the life cycle of the foods you buy and make sure you properly store them right away. Then you won’t have to worry nearly as much about spoiled food.
Several types of vegetables will actually last longer if stored outside the fridge before being cut, such as root vegetables. Soft herbs like basil will stay fresher in a water-filled jar at room temperature. Researching proper food storage methods will help you keep food waste to a minimum.
Living with sustainability in mind is not as complicated as it may seem. You have the ability to make it worthwhile and enjoy the benefits besides. We can’t all live a fully zero-waste life, so don’t expect yourself to be perfect. As long as you put in the effort, though, your carbon footprint will be smaller than it used to be.