Sustainable living is about being conscious of how you consume the Earth’s resources and how your choices affect the planet. It’s a movement toward minimising your environmental impact and reducing your carbon footprint, with the goal of making positive changes to preserve our planet for future generations. In a perfect world, everyone would choose to be sustainable in every aspect of their lives. However, we live in a world of humans with competing needs and aspirations, and often, sustainability doesn’t play a big role. That’s why it is important for governments and business (who are consumers, too!) to help provide information and access to sustainable goods and services that are affordable, desirable and effective at bringing about behavioral change.
The good news is that even though there are 7.7 billion of us on this planet, we can all make an impact when it comes to sustainable living. Individuals can help preserve the planet by taking small steps that reduce energy consumption, water usage and pollution. The impact of these individual efforts may seem minimal, but they add up to create a significant collective effect, and they also set an example for businesses and government policies that encourage eco-friendly behaviors.
Using reusable shopping bags, avoiding single-use plastics and choosing to drive less are simple ways that anyone can go green. Those who want to go even further can consider carpooling, using solar panels or investing in energy efficient appliances and installing LED lights.
Another way to be more sustainable is to eat plant-based foods and limit the amount of red meat you consume. The industrial meat industry causes massive environmental waste, deforestation and methane emissions. Eating less meat can be done by choosing plant-based alternatives or by buying locally sourced organic meat.
It’s also a great idea to recycle, buy secondhand items and invest in repurposed products, such as furniture made from recycled materials or cosmetics that come in glass or jars instead of plastic packaging. Many companies are now seeking reclaimed materials to create new products, which helps the environment and saves money at the same time.
Other steps to take can be as simple as buying locally produced food and supporting community agriculture or CSA programs. The farther away your food has to travel, the more greenhouse gases are emitted in its transport. Growing your own fruits and vegetables can be fun for the whole family, and you can also grow edible flowers to cut down on floral waste.
Holidays, birthdays and weddings can be very wasteful in terms of decorations, gifts, wrapping paper and single-use food and drink containers. Try celebrating in more environmentally-friendly ways by foraging or planting plants, giving homemade or secondhand gifts and serving meal on reusable dishes.