We put together this sustainability checklist to make hitting your green goals simple! Nowadays, it can seem impossible to improve your sustainability, but it is achievable with a little help! In this article, we’ll cover super easy ways to start curating a sustainable lifestyle in your home—all it takes is making small changes!
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You can follow plenty of tips to ensure that your choices don’t harm the environment, many of which will help your everyday life feel healthier.
You might think starting this lifestyle requires too much work, but you’ll be surprised how easy it can be! And you’ll feel good knowing that every day of your life from now on will help make the world a better place.
This post is about how to be more sustainable in your everyday life.
Learning Sustainability Has Never Been Easier with This Simple Checklist
Defining sustainable living can be confusing, but it’s about making healthy lifestyle choices for you, your family, and the environment.
When I started considering my impact on the planet, I realized I could make dozens of small changes to my life that would benefit me.
And while this lifestyle may not be suitable for everyone, it’s worth considering if you are interested in going green and living well with these sustainable living innovations.
We’ve lived a low-waste lifestyle (trash-free, plastic-free, zero-waste) for the past four years, and we love it! Use this easy checklist so you can start living sustainably, too.
Sustainability Begins with Baby Steps
Maybe you aren’t ready to overhaul your entire life and curate a sustainable lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start small.
Pick one habit (or room) and focus on making sustainable improvements in just that area of your life.
Each time you change in one area of your life, whether big or small, commit yourself to stick with it for at least 30 days so that your success is measurable.
After 30 days: How do you feel? What has been easier? What has been harder? Share your journey with friends. Doing good things is contagious!
Seek Out Alternatives and Sustainable Swaps
Choosing zero-waste options is a start to improving your personal sustainability. You could buy foods in bulk, organic foods, and products and seek out consumables made by local small businesses.
Many people think sustainability is synonymous with expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, cutting costs is one way you can live more sustainably.
The first step is knowing where your biggest expenses lie (e.g., rent, food, clothing) and then exploring alternatives that are just as good but don’t cost as much (e.g., using public transportation rather than buying a car; instead, sustainable shopping at thrift stores instead of high-end retailers).
Suppose you make smart choices in these areas. In that case, you can free up extra cash for more sustainable options—such as investing in energy-efficient appliances or renting an apartment in an eco-friendly building that uses geothermal heating and renewable energy.
Reduce Your Waste to Improve Your Sustainability
In 2011, a shocking 2.7 million tons of trash was dumped into our landfills. This number has been steadily increasing each year, and if we don’t figure out how to live more sustainably, it may grow even higher.
As individuals, we need to start thinking about what our actions are doing to our environment—and how we can start living in a friendly way to both people and the planet.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American generates nearly five pounds of trash daily, much of which is recyclable.
The first step in reducing your waste is learning how much you produce and where it goes—the easiest way is by starting with an empty trash can.
Next, find out which materials you can recycle for cash or donate for reuse, and try these six tips to become part of a more sustainable, plastic-free world.
Eat As Sustainably As You Can
When you try to become mindful about what you eat and how you buy food, sustainable eating becomes quite simple. Sustainable nutrition is arguably the most important way to make massive improvements in planetary health and the best way to prevent chronic diseases.
One thing that can make the biggest environmental impact is how we produce and source foods. Learn as much as you can about choosing more eco-friendly foods.
Buy sustainable food brands whenever possible, and you will make a real difference (especially to your health!)
Food waste is a huge problem. Learn ways to reduce food waste here.
Keep Learning More About Sustainability
You can’t be sustainable if you don’t know what it means. There are no quick fixes or magic tricks for living an environmentally friendly lifestyle. However, it is actually pretty straightforward.
Learning more through books, podcasts, blogs like mine, and YouTube is a great way to keep your commitment to sustainability.
From eating organic food and wearing ethical clothing, all the way down to riding your bike or taking public transportation instead of driving—sustainability isn’t just about preserving our earth for future generations.
Also, we are doing this because it helps us live healthier, more fulfilling lives in the present.
Avoid Packaging and Single-Use Plastics
As with food waste, excess packaging may seem small in isolation but can add up to a major environmental impact over time.
It’s also one of those habits that it’s easy to get used to and then extremely difficult to change.
Practice zero-waste living! Making small changes like cutting down on single-use plastic can lead you toward a more sustainable, plastic-free life.
Sustainability Means Becoming Less Dependent on Fossil Fuels
Transportation and energy comprise nearly two-thirds of America’s greenhouse gas emissions, but switching to an eco-friendly lifestyle doesn’t mean trading in your car. Driving less will reduce your carbon footprint.
Consider installing solar panels on your home. This is a great way to reduce your dependence on fossil fuels and improve sustainability.
Bring Your Own Reusable Containers & Shopping Bags
Plastics can leach chemicals into your water; single-use plastic bottles are one of our most wasteful habits.
Luckily, sustainable and affordable solutions can help you ditch plastic while staying hydrated. For instance, investing in reusable water bottles is a great way to kick your plastic habit.
A reusable coffee cup is another easy way to go plastic-free. By giving up disposable cups, you’ll protect marine wildlife and ensure your daily routine is safe from dangerous chemicals like BPA (Bisphenol A) and phthalates.
And there are plenty of choices regarding reusable cups in terms of looks and materials.
Some companies prey upon eco-friendly consumers. Learn about how you can avoid greenwashing.
Stores offer reusable bags for sale, but why not just bring them on every trip? You never know when you’ll need one.
If you have zero-waste awareness, bringing your bag is second nature; if not, learning how to do it is easy and painless.
At home, I keep an extra reusable bag in my car, so I always have it when I go grocery shopping or run errands—just in case.
Recycling for Sustainability
If you live in an area where curbside recycling is available, there’s really no excuse not to participate. Recycling reduces your carbon footprint and helps keep our environment clean.
It’s worth investigating community drop-off recycling options if they’re unavailable in your area. Even if you only occasionally recycle, that small gesture goes a long way toward creating sustainable living habits and preserving our planet for future generations.
Sustainability Means Supporting Local and Small Business
It’s as simple as finding and buying from companies that have sustainable business practices. These businesses are always looking for ways to make their operations more efficient and eco-friendly—which means they’re constantly developing new technologies that other businesses could use.
Your support enables them to continue innovating and finding better ways to do things that can benefit you, too!
Get Involved to Be More Sustainable!
Community is vital for fostering a sustainable lifestyle. It’s important not only for healthy living but also for happiness and fulfillment.
Joining groups or starting activities you’re passionate about will help you feel more connected to your community—whether it’s getting active with others in your neighborhood or contributing through social media.
Volunteering is an especially effective way of feeling more fulfilled; research has shown that volunteers are likelier to report higher happiness and well-being than those who don’t!
If you want to start volunteering, check out websites like VolunteerMatch or Idealist—both can connect you with opportunities in your area.
Stay Motivated to Reach Your Sustainability Goals
Starting something new, like creating a sustainable lifestyle, can be tough. It’s easy to lose motivation when things get difficult or inconvenient. The trick is sticking with it even when you dislike it.
Remember that finding ways to make healthy living easier for yourself makes sustainability more likely in your life – and might even make it enjoyable!
For example, you could Pack your lunch and snacks every morning, then enjoy them at work instead of going out each day; create screen-free Fridays so you have time for real-life connections with family and friends; join an online community of other people making sustainable changes in their lives; or try things out for a month at a time instead of doing big overhauls all at once.
Green habits can have a big impact on your life. They make you feel better, save money, and benefit our environment! To live a sustainable lifestyle, you can take some practical steps.
This post was all about how to be more sustainable in your everyday life.
Just remember that we vote for the kind of world we wish to live in every time we swipe our cards! Work on your sustainable development goals by making smarter, healthier shopping decisions.
