Sustainable Living Tips: Small Changes to Be More Sustainable in 2022
Try these sustainable living tips in 2022 to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle!
Living sustainably doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult. Small changes we make in our day-to-day lives can have a huge impact on our environmental footprint! In this post, I’ll share a few ways to be sustainable in everyday life.
These tips are not meant to overwhelm you, and you definitely don’t have to do it all! You can pick 1 or 2 things to work on, and focus on doing those really well.
This post is all about sustainable living tips!
10 Simple Sustainable Living Tips
1. Borrow Before You Buy
In a world where we can buy anything we want with the click of a button, it can be hard to resist the urge to buy something as soon as you think of it. But, taking a pause before making a purchase can make a huge difference (in your wallet and for the environment!!).
Before you buy something brand new, think to yourself – do I need to buy this brand new or is there an alternative? Borrowing or renting is a great way to reduce your waste.
If you read my post on 10 Things I Stopped Buying, you’d know I stopped buying new books and borrow from the library instead. It’s free, and prevents me from buying a book that I would only use once.
2. Grocery Shop With A Plan
Food can be a huge source of waste in a household. Have you ever bought a bunch of random groceries, only to find many go bad before you use them? Food waste is another habit that is bad for the environment, and bad for your wallet!
When you grocery shop with a list, you’ll only buy what you need and will use, which means you’re much less likely to have a ton of food waste.
In my household, we shop for groceries once a week. So, we make a list of all the meals we’re going to eat and the grocery items we need for each recipe. This prevents us from over-buying stuff that won’t actually get eaten!
3. Look for Zero-Waste or Low-Waste Alternatives
Substituting single-use or disposable products with low-waste alternatives is a fantastic way to be more sustainable!
This doesn’t mean you should throw out everything you currently own and go buy reusable products. Instead, focus on one thing at a time. If you currently use single-use paper towels, wait until you’ve used them all up, then purchase a set of reusable ones.
Are you interested in some suggestions for sustainable living products? I wrote a whole blog post on eco-friendly products that can help you get started.
4. Skip the Dryer When You Can
One super simple step you can take to reduce your carbon footprint is to skip the clothes dryer! A clothing rack is a great alternative that uses no energy. Plus, it can help your clothes last longer.
If you’re not ready to ditch the dryer completely, start with a small step like hang-drying your athletic clothes or delicates, and gradually work your way up from there!
5. Embrace Slow Fashion
“Fast fashion” is clothing that’s low-priced and trendy, but often relies on unsustainable and unethical practices to produce huge quantities of clothing. Fast fashion is a major contributor to global pollution.
In contrast, “slow fashion” focuses on making long-lasting, high quality clothing. “Slow fashion” offers a more sustainable approach to clothing production that often includes fair wages for workers, natural materials, locally sourced materials, etc.
Don’t know where to start when it comes to picking sustainable clothing brands? I found this blog post a super helpful “beginner’s guide”: 35 Ethical and Sustainable Clothing Brands Betting Against Fast Fashion.
6. Support Eco-Friendly Brands
It’s amazing to see so many companies making efforts to become more sustainable with initiatives like compostable packaging, using recycled materials, and more. One small thing you can do is support these brands with your purchases! I consider this an opportunity to “vote” with my money for brands with a vision I support.
While fashion is an obvious category (which I already discussed above), you can also think about companies that sell makeup and personal care, footwear, groceries, electronics, and more. For example, buy your bulk food from a store that allows you to bring your own jars instead of using plastic bags!
7. Get Walking!
Walking is by far the form of transportation with the least impact on the environment. Plus, it’s free and good for you! If you’re used to driving everywhere, start with small steps. For example, you could make a rule that if a destination is less than 2km away, you’ll walk there instead of hopping in the car.
8. Try to Repair Before You Toss
When something you own breaks or gets damaged, do you throw it out immediately and buy a new one? Instead, take a few minutes to see if you can repair it before you toss it. This can make a huge difference in keeping stuff out of landfills!
For example, if your sweater gets a small hole in it, try to sew it before getting rid of it! Or if your toaster breaks, spend 5 minutes googling troubleshooting options before you give up on it.
9. Get Creative With Up-cycling
Similar to repairing products before tossing, upcycling is a great way to reduce your environmental impact and keep items out of the landfill. This is one of my favourite sustainability tips, because you can get creative with it!
One example in my household is that I save glass jars (ex. glass salsa jar) and use them as pantry storage containers! It’s a win-win: my glass jars get a second life, PLUS it saves me from buying pantry storage containers!
10. Know the Rules of Your City’s Recycling Program
I think we all know about the importance of recycling to keep as much waste out of landfills as possible. But, how well do you actually know your city’s recycling program? I’ve moved around lots in the last few years, and every city has been so different. In some cities, paper towels can be composted whereas they’re garbage in others.
If you put something that’s not recyclable in the recycling bin, it can cause contamination. And on the flip side, if you put something that could be recycled into the trash, you’re adding to the landfill! All in all, take the time to learn your recycling system properly. In my city, they even have a waste wizard available where you can type in the exact item, and find out which bin it goes into.
This post was all about sustainable living tips!
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