What is Sustainable Living?

With the knowledge that climate change, resource depletion and global warming are becoming increasing problems for the planet, many ecologically aware people are making an effort to live sustainably. Sustainable living is the practice of living in such a way that the need for natural resources is reduced. Making a conscious effort to reduce, reuse and recycle reduces an individual’s carbon footprint and helps to make a difference to the earth’s overall health.

The good news is that when you start looking for ways on how to live more sustainably there are plenty of practical easy changes that you can make to your lifestyle without breaking the budget or going to any great inconvenience.

Starting a more sustainable lifestyle

When faced with the enormity of the task to make the world sustainable, it is easy to throw our hands up in the air and say that it is all too hard. However, all is not lost. There are big issues that need to be addressed, but if we all begin to take steps to make our own lives more environmentally sustainable then the bigger steps become easier to make.

Starting the journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle begins with little steps. One of the easiest steps to take is to recognise our reliance upon electricity and make sure that all power and light switches are turned off when not in use. It's a great practice to get into and will provide you with a few extra dollars in your pocket when the power bill arrives. This power consciousness can lead to further changes such as investing in solar power and LED lighting. One step naturally leads to the next. Similarly choosing to walk, cycle or use public transport instead of a car is a responsible sustainable living choice.

These simple first steps can lead to many other sustainable living ideas that will help have a positive impact on the environment.

Benefits of sustainable living

The benefits of living more sustainably at home are many. Some of the benefits, most notably for our environment and the planet as a whole are obvious, but there are many good reasons from a personal perspective to adopt a more sustainable approach to everyday living.

• Economic - reducing energy consumption, generating power, reducing water consumption, growing your own food, and changing buying habits will have a positive effect on your household budget’s bottom line as well as helping the environment.
• Health benefits - Choosing sustainable living choices like walking or cycling instead of driving, eating less meat and buying (or growing) and preparing quality food are sure to help your overall health and improve your sense of wellbeing.
• Eliminates toxic chemicals from your environment. Switching from commercially produced household and cleaning products to natural organic alternatives is going to reduce your exposure to many toxic chemicals present in such products. That’s a win for your health, your budget and the health of your home.
• More community involvement - Living sustainably is reliant to some extent upon people working together. This happens naturally when you start buying locally-produced goods or become involved in a local project. The opportunities to meet new people with similar mindsets will keep presenting themselves.
• Improved skills and knowledge - as you move toward a more sustainable lifestyle you will find the need to do things differently. This new way of doing things leads naturally to a new skill set and knowledge in areas that you once were ignorant of. You can use that new knowledge and skill to inspire others to follow your lead.
• Improve your quality of life - the little changes you make to your lifestyle accumulate to noticeable differences in the way you go about living your life.. You may notice that your money goes further and it is easier to save, while you feel healthier, and maybe more connected with your local community. All of these factors will contribute to a better quality of life and that’s not a bad pay off for making a positive contribution to the future of our planet.

Handy ideas to help live more sustainably

There are many easy ways for you to begin sustainable living practices. Some of the best ideas are the easiest to implement. Here are some very practical tips on how we can be more sustainable.

1. Eliminate plastic bags by making use of reusable shopping bags . These practical items will help reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in either landfill or worse still, our waterways. Plastic in landfill takes centuries to break down while many sea creatures are heavily impacted by plastic bags. Additionally, long term use of reusable bags will save money as most supermarkets charge for the use of plastic bags. Reusable bags have an added advantage of being more durable and reliable as well.
2. Wherever possible use organic and biodegradable skincare and beauty products. Choosing products like this have the added advantages of not having harmful chemicals added to them. Using natural skin and hair care products and body washes will allow you to naturally skin cleanse, detoxify impurities and bacteria, reduce redness and irritation and promote a healthy glowing skin complexion without damaging the environment in any way.
3. Use natural cleaning products to reduce the impact on waterways and air pollution that many commercial cleaners cause. Again, the resultant health benefits for you are not to be sneezed at. Buy Organics Online has a range of eco friendly cleaning products that you can choose to keep your home spic and span while contributing to your sustainable lifestyle.
4. Eat less meat. Meat production contributes massively to climate change and pollution. Making a decision to eat less meat will help to reduce these impacts. There are many meat substitutes and vegan friendly meals available to help make the transition from meat to other options.
5. Look at ways to save water. This includes using grey water for gardening purposes, watering plants either at the beginning or end of the day, Also look to control your water use by attending to any leakage. Consider installing a water efficient shower head, to conserve water use.
6. Use insulated drinking bottles to keep your drinks cool or warm while also avoiding harmful BPA plastic water bottles that tend to leach chemicals. Research suggests that using plastic water bottles as drink containers is an unsanitary habit. Choosing insulated drink bottles makes a safer choice for you and the environment. The key to sustainability here is that stainless steel is made from natural elements making them easy to recycle when their use by date finally arrives. While plastic bottles are usually made from recycled plastics and can be recycled again, the plastic recycling process is not as eco friendly as stainless steel production and recycling.’
7. Consider switching to healthier organic and/or reusable feminine hygiene products. Most commercially produced pads and tampons are made with a lot of synthetic material and often contain harmful chemicals that can pollute the environment as well as cause harm to the user. There are several options for the woman looking for how to be more sustainable . These include reusable sanitary pads that contain no toxic chemicals or plastics, fully biodegradable and hypoallergenic organic tampons as well as eco friendly reusable menstrual cups.
8. By growing your own fruit and vegetables you reduce the demand to transport produce and also take control of the amount of pesticides and chemicals used to produce your food. Every little action makes a difference and growing your own food makes sustainable living that much easier.
9. Choose renewable energy. You can elect to install solar panels and solar batteries in your home and perhaps even contribute positively to the power grid. Alternatively you can talk to your existing power supplier and see if they provide green energy plans. Most energy suppliers offer this alternative and if yours doesn’t there are plenty of market competitors who do. Choosing solar panels in your home will also have long lasting cost benefits to your costs although this benefit has to be weighed carefully against the short term cost of installation.
10. Stop using plastic straws. The straw that you use once for twenty minutes will last close to six hundred years before breaking down. Worse still, plastic straws fall into the category of hard plastics and can’t even be recycled. Regrettably many plastic straws end up in the ocean and are often found in the stomachs of turtles, fish and sea birds. Making the decision to not use straws at all or switching to a reusable straw like those available at Buy Organics Online will ensure that you are doing your bit to reduce the amount of plastic pollution.
11. Reduce or eliminate paper entirely. There is not much today that can’t be viewed or stored electronically. Start paper reduction by asking for all your bills and financial statements to be delivered online. Reducing paper use cuts down on the amount of trees being harvested for the specific purpose of producing paperWhile we’re on that subject, consider purchasing toilet paper made from recycled paper.
12. Eliminate all disposable items that it is possible to eliminate. When you do a little thinking there are a lot of disposable items that we have become conditioned to using. These items include such staples as razors, towels, crockery, cutlery, nappies, batteries, pens, ink cartridges, coffee filters, heating and cooling filters and many more. There are reusable alternatives for all of these items. Many of them are available at Buy Organics Online while a little research will allow you to locate suitable alternatives for stationery and hardware items. The choice is always yours. Choosing reusable items makes sound economic success as well as contributing to sustainable living.
13. Rather than buy new, look to borrow items that you may use very rarely. Go a step further and set up a sharing network with your friends and family. Books, magazines, tools, games and movies are all items that can be ethically shared. You can build on this sharing initiative by sharing knowledge on how to do things yourself. You can make, grow and build many things using wholly sustainable methods. The knowledge is there, all you have to do is tap into it.
14. Look for energy free entertainment alternatives. Much of our entertainment options draw on energy. There are other options. Reading, playing games or playing acoustic musical instruments are all activities that cost no electrical energy. Furthermore they are more likely to positively stimulate your brain cells than passive enjoyment of watching television. Turning off the TV and seeking other sources of entertainment reduces your carbon footprint and exercises the mind and body. Make the most of your daylight hours and spend as much time as you can outside in the natural light.
15. Begin to change your home environment. In a perfect world, people living sustainably would live in a house that would be the right size for their needs. Is your house the right size for you? Would it be possible to live in a smaller home that would use less power and cost less to heat or cool? Other things you can do with your home environment is to use green home building ideas that will save energy . These ideas may include proper insulation, energy efficient windows and such concepts as harvesting geothermal energy.

How Australians can become more sustainable

Making the move towards a sustainable future does not need to involve massive changes all at once. Many of the suggestions listed above involve making small but significant lifestyle changes.

The key is to make a start by choosing easy changes that you can make. With each step you take, you will get closer to your goal of living sustainably. To help you make the move to sustainable living, Buy Organics Online has sourced a range of eco friendly products that are sure to help you make better choices. You can choose from a range of reusable and natural products that are organic and/or biodegradable. Browse our website today and begin to make the move to a sustainable future.