Ways to Live More Sustainable in your Everyday Life

In honor of Earth Day, let's talk about sustainable living! Sustainable living is about caring for one another and the earth by living within your means. It’s important to be actively conscious about ways you can reduce using resources personally and globally. One person can make a difference. Changing just a few things in your life can have a major impact.

 It is all about progress, not perfection. By implementing these tips in your life slowly and gradually, you can make a huge difference for yourself, others, and the Earth. There is always room for improvement in aspects of your life. Learning to live more sustainably is important to help Mother Earth. 

1. Conserve Water. 

• Take shorter showers. Pay attention to the amount of time you normally take to shower and try to reduce it. (I’m guilty of taking long showers.. So this is something I need to work on!). The average american shower uses 17.2 gallons of water (https://www.home-water-works.org/indoor-use/showers) .

• Don’t run the sink when you are not actually using the water. For example: when you are brushing your teeth, run the sink only when you need the water. When you are brushing, water should be off. 

• Changing your showerhead to one that is WaterSense Labeled can save water. 

• Fix leaky or running toilets. 

2. Reduce meat and/or dairy intake. 

• If you are interested in going vegan or vegetarian, do it. Animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all worldwide transportation combined. These animals need lots of water, create pollution, and require a lot of land use. If a vegan diet isn’t for you, we suggest just trying to reduce meat and dairy intake. Taking this little step of reducing meat and dairy intake, can help exponentially.  

• See graph below to understand the impact one person has on their greenhouse-gas footprint by their diet choice.

3. Spend more time reading or outside.

• Use sources of entertainment that do not require energy. Reading a book outside is a good one. Riding a bike outside is another good one.

• Entertainment inside uses lots of energy. By reducing the amount of Netflix you watch, and picking up a good novel.. You can reduce a tremendous amount of energy. Don’t get me wrong.. I love Netflix! But there’s a balance with everything!

4. When you are not using something, UNPLUG it.

If you are not watching TV, turn it off. If you are leaving a room, turn the lights off. Everyone can do these! Very simple tasks that are helpful!

5. If you have bills, go PAPERLESS! Stop unwanted mail. 

6. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Everything we purchase has an impact. The materials used and the process of production emits pollution. 

• Cut down plastic use by using reusable bags when shopping. You can also ditch single use water bottles. 

• Reuse storage containers. 

• Buy and sell old furniture. Fix it up. 

7. Reduce use of fossil fuels.

• If you are traveling somewhere close, walk or ride a bike. 

• If you are going a further distance, try to carpool or take public transportation. 

8. Get Educated.

• Pay attention to leaders who are focused on the environment.

• Use your voice and vote for leaders that have the environment in their agenda. 

9. When buying big purchases.

•  Look for appliances that have an Energy Star label.

• For cars, look for more fuel efficient cars.

10. Pay attention to labels. 

• Fair trade. Ethical payment to farmers and other workers around the world so they can continue to produce their products. 

•  “Shade grown coffee” meaning it is grown while keeping the habitat intact .

• Buy organic food when you can. This reduces the amount of pesticides that goes back into the environment. 

Even if you just implement one of these small tasks in your life, it would be one step closer to making Earth a cleaner environment. None of us are perfect. We all have room for improvement in our daily lives to live more sustainably (me included). So let's join this fight together and do it for the greater good. So Happy Earth Day! Lets treat our Earth the way it deserves to be treated. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd, Earthday.org has 24 hours of Action! Check it out and try to take part in some of the good to help heal Mother Earth ! https://www.earthday.org/24-hours-of-action/

FUN FACT: The world’s first Earth Day was in 1970!