Lifestyle
How to Start Living Sustainably
Learn the ways in which you can reduce your footprint, practice sustainable living, and help save the planet.
By Iryna Bilohorka and Lex Kiefhaber
July 29, 2020

Sustainable living is becoming increasingly popular, and everyone seems to be talking about it. But what does it really mean to lead a sustainable lifestyle? Sustainable living encourages people to minimize the exploitation of the earth’s resources. It’s actually not so difficult. It doesn’t require you to start living off-grid, abandon your car for a tandem bike, or even be vegan for the rest of your life. The only thing that is really necessary is making more informed and conscious decisions about our habits and purchases. Every such decision allows us to make a healthy choice for the planet and ourselves.           

There are 3 pillars of sustainability: environmental, societal, and economical, and sustainable living helps to achieve all of them. By reducing our use of natural resources, we not only protect the environment but also help to improve the economy. Burning coal and oil releases tons of CO2. These emissions pollute the air, cause climate change, and make our health worse. These resources are also finite. Based on BP’s Statistical Review, oil and coal reserves will be depleted in 50 and 115 years respectively. So saying no to fossil fuels ensures that we will always have clean energy supply and hence stronger economy. Solar and wind energy generation implements innovative technologies that increase productivity and significantly lower cost in a long-run. It results in the creation of products that have less environmental impact. These goods are also cheaper since manufacturing costs are decreased.           

Choosing sustainable products is not only good for the planet but also much better for you. One of the biggest myths about eco-friendly products is that they are much more expensive. These products just use better-quality materials. Of course, cosmetics without harsh chemicals seems more pricey, but they also guarantee healthier hair and skin in both short and long-term.  

It’s not surprising that when washing off, these chemicals don’t just disappear. Instead, they pollute the water and negatively affect fish that live there. You know what happens next: we buy the fish and harm our health again. So buying sustainable shampoo or soap today will help you save costs in the future. It is essential to practice living sustainably if we want to preserve the natural beauty of our planet. I want to share with you 5 my favorite sustainable lifestyle practices that you can start trying today.

Buy locally produced food

Fruits and vegetables that are produced locally usually use fewer chemicals. It is because they don’t need to be transported and stored for a long time. Seasonal produce also tastes better and has greater health benefits. And of course, it helps to support local farmers.

Go to sleep early

Surprisingly as it might be, going to sleep before midnight is good for the environment. It is because we use less electricity for lighting. Going to sleep early also decreases stress and boosts our productivity.           

Avoid single-use plastic

Single-use plastic doesn’t improve the product in any way, but it takes 450 years to decompose. It can be difficult to stop buying plastic completely since so many products use it for packaging. Yet bringing your reusable shopping bag, water bottle, or coffee cup is a great first step.

Learn about the product

Many large companies market their brands as sustainable. Unfortunately, it is not always true. The product is considered eco friendly if the company practices environmental sourcing and manufacturing, pays fair wages and uses high-quality materials.       

Reduce meat consumption           

The meat industry is one of the biggest emitters of CO2. According to a 2016 study, business-as-usual, adopting a vegetarian diet decreases our environmental impact by 63%. Of course, radically changing our diet is not so easy. But even one meatless day per week will have a tremendous environmental effect.

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