Life
Small Sustainable Steps For Your Lifestyle
The quest to lead a sustainable lifestyle is a goal that many of us share. We understand that the climate crisis is not just real, but also an urgent threat to our society and our beautiful planet we call home. For myself, sustainability is about leading a lifestyle that has minimal negative impact to those around me and looks at the broader human picture. Do the products or services I use, care not just about the environment, but also the people that work with them and the communities they exist within? As a yoga teacher, I take a very holistic view on not just my physical fitness, but also how I view my mental health, my interaction with the people around me, and well – my whole life really! I want to take that same holistic approach when tackling the idea of making a difference in terms of sustainability too.
It’s very easy to fall down the trap of feeling like making a difference in this world, is near impossible. The challenges we face at times seem insurmountable, certain choices feel out of our reach, and we are left feeling powerless in the face of Governments or big corporations. But the truth is, the decisions and actions we take do have power. Sometimes they do not have an immediate large visual impact, but they always count.
When looking into making sustainable life choices, I think another important concept to consider is longevity. I don’t just mean in the sense that we want to add to the lifespan of our planet, rather that our actions should have longevity. While others might wish to make one drastic change to their lifestyle, I would rather see more of us making smaller steps, over a longer period of time. So that once we begin making changes, we will perpetually continue on the sustainable journey.
This year in particular I have been attempting to make more and more eco-friendly choices in my life, but I do believe to enact big change you do need to hold yourself accountable. So I thought I would put myself to the test and create a more concrete plan for these steps.
A Lightbulb Moment
Hence the idea of Small Sustainable Steps is born! My idea is to break down my choices into five categories, and every month, make choices or changes within these categories that take me closer to leading a sustainable lifestyle. These changes should by definition be small but impactful, they should feel easy to enact but have long reaching effect when continually acted upon. If you want to try alongside me, consider this ‘a choose your own adventure’. You could make a change in every category every month, or you could just pick a change in one or two. By making these changes spread out and at your own pace, you can also have greater control of how this affects your finances and your time. Unfortunately, more often than not, the more sustainable choice is usually the more expensive choice. But if you spread out the changes and make sure big budget hits are spread out with choices that are easier on the wallet, this approach will hopefully make your sustainable goals more achievable.
Category Breakdown
- Health & Beauty
- Household & Cleaning
- Food
- Fashion
- Travel & Lifestyle
First things first...
The absolutely critical first step is to take a moment to appreciate the sustainable choices you are already making in these categories! Whether this is a recent change or a choice you have been making for years, take a moment to acknowledge the efforts you have already made. You might be surprised at just how many steps you have already taken in pursuit of this goal.
I did this myself and it was a really uplifting process to focus on the positives for a moment, rather than the negatives. I won’t go into the details of that reflection here, because I want to get the ball rolling on the challenge, but I will share them at a later date.
Time to Plan & Decide
Once this first step is completed, decide on a choice or change for each category (take your time and do your research), then decide on your timeline – are you doing changes in all 5 categories in one month or a certain number per month? Remember you have the entire month to enact the change! Don’t feel like on the first day of the month, you need to race out and realise all these actions, spread it out a little both for your bank balance and your sanity. Though I would definitely not recommend leaving it the last minute either!
Then actually track your progress, whether that’s through social media, writing in a journal, or sharing your experience with a like minded friend (remember preaching is never the answer!). If you take a wobble or fall off the wagon for a bit, this is not a failure, it is merely a stumble. To fail would be to give up entirely. Sometimes life (work, travel, illness etc) will create a roadblock in your new choices. Circumventing the roadblock is necessary and doesn’t make you an evil human who hates the environment.
My Choices & Changes
Alright let’s get this started! Below are my choices and changes for the month of August.
Health & Beauty
Purchase a bamboo toothbrush. This should be an easy one, choosing a product which helps reduce my plastic consumption, and I need a new toothbrush anyway! A little bit of research to choose a brand is all I need and then I will be able to tick that box pretty quickly.
Household & Cleaning
Again my own current needs are fueling this one. I ran out of our bathroom cleaner the last time I cleaned my flat’s bathroom. So a great opportunity to choose a more sustainable choice. The only question is do I purchase a eco-friendly brand, or do I choose to try and make the cleaner myself. My flatmate has recently started making her own antibacterial surface spray for the household which is great, but I must admit to being cautious about making one for the bathroom… We have limescale, we have mold, I need a product that is going to 100% work. So research and further thought needed for this one.
Food
Waste free muesli! I eat muesli pretty much every day, and this month I am determined to stop purchasing it from the supermarket. I know that I can purchase waste free muesli at a couple of natural health food stores near my house, so it’s simply a matter of making the time to do this, as it will be outside of my normal shopping habits. I am a little anxious about the price involved in this, but I’m hoping it won’t hit my pocket too hard.
Fashion
Again tricky… I don’t at this current moment need any new clothes or accessories (though of course this may change by the end of August). So I’m feeling a little uncertain on how to proceed on this one. Initial thoughts are I could perhaps look to attend a sustainable fashion event, or even just start listening to a sustainable fashion blog to educate myself better. Or maybe I could even attend a clothes swap (or host one amongst friends), or even just donate some of my less worn clothes to a charity shop. I think further brainstorming is required and I might need to get back to you with a definite answer on this one later in the month.
Travel & Lifestyle
This is a big one! I am somewhat ashamed to say that despite being a very avid traveller, I have never offset the carbon miles associated with my flight. Partly because I’m a bargain hunter and so I’m trying to organise the lowest cost travel I can, but also partly because I’m wary of ticking that little green box on some airline booking page that says they will donate to a carbon offset. I would prefer to pick a charity myself for that carbon offset. So again some research is required, but I will need to act fast, as I have trips in August that I would like to offset, a trip to Menorca and a trip to Sweden.
Well here goes! I hope you will all join me on this journey and help to keep me accountable and on track. Advice and suggestions are of course, very welcome!
Cheers,
Mimi x
Photo Credits:
Featured Image by Felipe Correia; Image 2 by Noah Buscher; Image 3 by Raul Varzar; Image 4 by Kyle Glenn. All images from Unsplash.
