I talk a lot about sustainable living, eco-friendlier lifestyles, and the like, but more than anything else, I think it’s important we all understand what sustainability is. The truth is, the specifics look different for all of us, but the general principles are all the same. So what is sustainability?
What is Sustainability?
Individual sustainability efforts fit into the basic tenets of reducing and reusing (and very lastly – recycling correctly of course). Whether we’re talking about food, fashion, travel, home decor, ANYTHING – we want to create less demand and less waste.
We’re all so accustomed to wanting and working toward new things, bigger things, better things, and MORE things! We easily discard items that may used used or worn but are still functional. So we need to slowly start scaling back – really analyzing what we NEED rather just than what we want.
Below are a few big sustainable living topics I discuss here on Luci’s Morsels. If you’re just starting out, feel free to pick one category and one practice. Then a second. And a third. With time you’ll start adopting more and more practices and you’ll be living sustainably.
If you want a little more guidance (a little less work for you), sign up for the sustainability email series. It’s one month of emails with quick and easy tips to do that aren’t a lot of work but will quickly start to make an impact on how sustainable your life is!
Remember perfection shouldn’t be the goal. If we all make changes to be better (demanding less), we’ll be just fine!
Benefits of Sustainability
Saves You Money
It may not seem like it, but those more expensive reusable options will eventually cost much less per use than those single-use items.
It’s Healthier
Most single use items are made of plastics, which can easily transfer into your food and then your body.
Mitigates Climate Change
Yes, all your little things add up and all of us slowly working together is where the magic happens. While it might not feel noticeable immediately, I promise present and future generations will be able to tell the difference. You’re also creating an ability for future generations to meet and exceed our standards. Pat yourself on the back!!
Helps Your Community
The less trash you produce, the less of a burden your household is on your community’s infrastructure. The fewer trips to the store and deliveries you have, the less exhaust emitted into your local communities provides clean air with no work. And with proper disposal and water saving practices, you can help with clean water!
Makes you Happier
This feels like a stretch, but I can’t tell you how many friends and followers share how happy they are about their sustainability wins big and small. Living sustainably is good for your mental health as well as your physical health!
Sustainable Food + Eating
The biggest thing we can all do is to create less food waste. We’re always hungry and food is oh so good, but it’s overwhelming just how much food goes to waste (throughout the food supply chain).
Did you know food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills? WOW!
Three Ways to Cut Back on Food Waste:
- Meal Planning – If you decide weekly what most or all of your meals will be, you can work to only buy what you need and to use it all up!
- Meal Prepping – Meal Prepping allows you to use up food you have instead of using ingredients here and there!
- Cook based on what you have in your kitchen, not just what sounds good. Every night for dinner, we decide what we’re having based on what’s in the fridge. With this approach, you’re actively working to use up what you have before getting anything new!
And don’t forget to embrace those leftovers! If you have kids at home, check out my tips for avoiding food waste with toddlers!
Shop Locally, Seasonally, + Organically When Possible
Shopping locally, seasonally, and/or organically when possible is a great way to live sustainably as well.
Local shopping means food doesn’t have to travel as far (hello greenhouse gas emissions) to get to your home.
Seasonal foods can be found locally rather than being flown in internationally. Get this free downloadable what’s in season cheat sheet. And this printable How to Store Produce Guide is SO helpful!
And organic foods drastically reduce what goes into your body, the bodies of any animals we consume, our water supplies, and the earth that grows our food.
While these changes can be expensive (I do know) – do what you can, when you can. Any difference will make a big difference in your family’s health and the health of our environment. I’m also a big proponent of voting and advocating with your dollars, meaning your economic activity tells businesses what’s important – they’ll start to shift to it (that’s just good business).
You can get loads of homemade, sustainable food and recipe ideas here!
Composting at Home
If you’re looking to go one step further, look into composting. Some cities offer it with trash pickup. You can also get into backyard composting. Or you can take the easy way out (like we used to) and use an electric composter!
Whether you’re composting or not, however, these compostable kitchen bags are the perfect sustainable swap to make!
Clean Beauty + Sustainable Living
Clean beauty and cleaning products may be really popular, but they’re really good for our health and it’s better for our environment (everything we put on our skin eventually gets washed down the drain). So while we all shop differently, we can all shop clean…
Clean Beauty at Nordstrom
Clean Beauty at Sephora
Clean Beauty at Target
Clean Beauty at ULTA
Clean Beauty at Walmart
I always recommend delving into clean beauty one thing at a time and start where you want! This Low Stress Guide to Low Tox Living is SO helpful!
Common questions include do shampoo bars really work and how do you use them? What natural deodorant actually works? What’s the cleanest skincare brand? And how to clean your makeup brushes (on the cheap and easy)!
Reusing + Recycling
You know the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle?” Do you say it in that order too – cuz you should!
Once you start reducing what you bring into your home, you’ll want to start reusing. Not everything can be reused, but you’ll find the items that work for you. I talk about how I reuse glass containers here – plastic too.
While we want to focus on reducing and reusing, recycling (meaning disposing of things properly) is also important. There are a lot of things to learn…
Recycling Basics
How to Recycle Old Clothes + Donating/Recycling Undergarments
Household Good + Electronic Recycling
Plastic Bag Recycling + What Store Drop Off Means
What does Carbon Neutral Mean?
Sustainable Businesses
When you look outside of your home, start paying attention to business practices, namely sustainable business practices. Are businesses prioritizing sustainability or adding it on haphazard? Are they creating items for the long term? Are they locally-based? Do they follow guidelines for fair treatment of laborers and animals? Do they consider clean water practices? What sorts of materials do they use? And do they put any money into environmental sustainability? Companies that are doing this, tend to brag about it, so you should have to work to hard to find out!
I love B Corp companies. They’ve been through testing based on a variety of benchmarks to determine if they exceed most businesses in environmental and social issues – within the company, for their customers, and in their sourcing and manufacturing processes.
