How To Live A Sustainable Lifestyle

In the kitchen

There are so many ways to bring a sustainable lifestyle into your kitchen. You can start by growing your own herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Try going vegan for a while. Not only is it a superior health move, but vegan options today are plentiful, and many people don't feel restricted at all in their diets because of the many choices in vegan cuisine. Don't buy bottled water, or any other single-use plastic food and drink options. Repurpose your glass jars from food items like spaghetti sauce. You can use them for storage of thousands of different items, use them as drinking glasses, or make your own sauces with veggies from your garden.

Be sure to take your reusable grocery bags with you when shopping so you can avoid plastic bags. Try starting a compost pile with your organic kitchen scraps. You'll be able to use the compost in your garden, which will greatly enhance the quality of your fruits and vegetables. Also, stop using paper and Styrofoam plates, and invest in a set of melamine dishes. They'll work great outdoors, and are tough and inexpensive options that can easily replace single use plates.

Everyday living

Making conscious choices to live a sustainable lifestyle can happen hundreds of times every single day. For example, simply spending more time outside, in turn using less electricity, can directly aid in living a more sustainable lifestyle. Adopting a pet is a great way to make a new friend, save an animal, and make being outside a fun and exciting experience. While you're at it, commute by bicycle for your shorter trips, or back and forth to the office. If you have to drive, consider purchasing an electric or hybrid gasoline/electric vehicle to reduce emissions and save fossil fuels.

Try to shop local merchants only to do your part to keep goods from being shipped elsewhere, using massive amounts of fuel to move it from point A to point B. Check out your local merchants and verify they are environmentally ethical, and environmentally conscious brands and vendors. It's pretty easy to verify the environmental standing of a merchant by a simple internet check, so make certain that you buy from shops who take extra steps to be kind to the environment.

Try refurbishing items to use in place of buying new items. You can get thousands of refurbishing ideas from DIY websites. Everything from general household items, to furniture, to clothing and more can be refurbished or upcycled to get maximum mileage out of everything that you buy. This helps to reduce the need to buy new consumer goods, and keeps your items out of landfills.

Help slow down the cycle

From purchase to landfill, many of the items we buy are needlessly shipped overseas, causing emissions and pushing local vendors out of the market. Not only is this disastrous for the local economy, it's a terrible waste of natural resources in an effort to save a few cents per item. The average American produces 4.4 pounds of waste every single day that goes directly to a landfill. Reducing that waste by even one single pound per day adds up swiftly, and can make a huge difference to your local environment.

By composting organic material, ending the use of single-use plastics in your household, and upcycling items where it's feasible, you can push your community in the direction of sustainable living. Just a few small changes every day lead to big dividends in the overall conservation effort, and once you start the habit, it's hard to remember a time you ever lived a non-sustainable lifestyle. When you focus on the sustainable living steps that work for your current lifestyle, you can quickly see where the small changes made a great impact on the life you can be environmentally sure of living.