When it comes to starting an eco-friendly lifestyle we always have to measure up what is important to us and how our daily choices align to our values. Here are some simple yet effective tips!
Living a more sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle starts with the choices you make at home. The good news is there are a lot of ways you can reduce your footprint and make an impact for the better. Here we explore some very simple ways that you can make an impact from today:
Look for Sustainable Products
As a platform that attempts to raise awareness on ethical consumption, here at Ourgoodbrands we break eco-taboos & share ideas to make consumption sustainably easy. As a one-stop magazine we discover ethical brands, sustainable products, eco-living tips, zero waste, vegan & organic “everything” to live a healthy & meaningful life!Â
In this ethical brand directory, we feature social + eco enterprises worldwide, with over 1,000 brands (and growing!) across all categories: from fashion, home, baby products, toys and children’s clothing, technology, beauty, food & beverage, travel, and even pets. Here you can also filter by your ethical values: are you into veganism or does cruelty-free matter to you? Or do you want to support businesses that pay fair wages to their employees? Do you want to purchase products that are made with sustainable materials or organic ingredients? Here you can literally filter what is best for you, including by location – simply add your country to access the sustainable products that support your local economy.Â
So what is stopping you from looking up for sustainable products that’ll get you into a more eco-friendly lifestyle?
Reduce Your Amount of Driving
We have a lot of options to cut back on how much you are driving. If you get a bike, you can go even further than if you were relying on walking alone. Biking or walking is better for both your health and the environment. And if the weather is bad or it is not feasible to walk or bike, consider using public transportation.Â
For many people, their commute is the biggest commitment each week, so try to focus on reducing how much you drive your personal vehicle to work. Working remotely is also a potential way to make it happen; this might not be possible in every industry, however definitely trending and you may be surprised that your employer can support the idea.Â
Depending on your career goals, you might need to do some job training to be able to enter an industry that allows you to work remotely and more sustainably. In this sense, getting your degree can give you the necessary experience to find a great career in an area you love. While it can be expensive to go back to school, taking out Earnest private student loans can help cover the cost.
Being Sustainable in Your Eating Habits
One way of cutting down on your environmental footprint is to reduce how much meat you are eating regularly. That’s because raising animals for meat can cause both waterways and the land to be polluted.Â
You can consider growing your own food, which can help you save money and be better for the environment. Even better, by doing this you can make sure you are not putting any harmful pesticides on your crops that can end up in the waterways.
How to minimize the carbon footprint in your diet (even as a vegetarian)
When you switch to a plant-based diet and choose to grow your own fruits and veggies, you’ll simultaneously avoid the need for fuel to transport the food.Â
When it comes to food, it’s also very important to try to avoid wasting any produce, no matter where it came from. Leftovers can be saved for the next day’s lunch so you can avoid having to buy it out somewhere. Depending on the food, it might be possible to freeze leftovers until even later. Still, if something does go bad, you might be able to compost it for the garden (as long as it does not have any animal products in it.)
With Fashion: Reinvent, Reconfigure, Restyle, Reproduce, Recreate & Reclaim
Have you ever heard of the 6 R’s in fashion? They are a framework for global consumers to shift the ways we interact with our clothing!!Â
The Fast Fashion impact is HUGE. Around 40 million people are working at the garment factory, from which 4 million people are located in Bangladesh. Here, more than 5,000 factories produce for western brands. Here you can explore the real impact of the fast fashion industry in the world.
And what’s the true cost of fast fashion on the Earth?
- We purchase over 80 billion pieces of new clothing each year.
- We buy 400% more than two decades ago.
- Only Americans throw away 82 pounds of textile waste each year. Massive amounts regarding that 11 million each year of textile waste is from the U.S.A only.
- Most of this waste is non-biodegradable sitting in the landfill for 200 years or more, releasing harmful gasses into the air.
Clothing is one area you can really save money in by increasing your sustainability. Consider creating a sustainable wardrobe shopping at thrift or consignment shops to find gently used clothing instead of purchasing them brand new.Â
Some ideas are to look out for local groups on social media or pages dedicated to thrifting, where people offer up their second-hand clothing for a lower price or even free. If you do love new clothing, consider shopping from eco-friendly brands.Â
The benefits of the Sharing Economy in our Wardrobes: thrifting & second-hand clothes renting!
Create your Toxin-free Home
You might also decide to go for environmentally-friendly cleaners around your home or even DIY natural cleaning products using essential oils. That’s because some might have chemicals that can harm the environment, especially if they go down your drain. They are also often better for the people in your home. Something as simple as vinegar and baking soda can be effective and inexpensive.
12 Ethically-made & Organic essential oils: the bliss of natural healing
When it comes to achieving a toxin-free home, you’ll also want to especially look for zero waste laundry products. Why? The laundry wastewater that comes with our laundry is of serious concern.
With the average household washing 7.4 loads per week (about 50 pounds or 22 kilograms of laundry). If we put this into perspective, just US consumers wash more than 660 million loads every week. This equals about 35 billion wash loads a year, totaling 100 million tons of clothes. That translates to 1,000 wash loads started in the United States every second of every day.Â
And what about sleeping? Most of the big foam mattress brands are made from petroleum-based polyurethane chemical adhesives and flame retardants. Time to move to a healthier option? Here are our favorite organic mattress brands.
6 Sustainable bedtime habits for a more eco-friendly sleeping
Nevertheless, when it comes to creating a more sustainable home, you can choose to focus in different areas based on what it’s more important to you. If you have children, you may also want to look into organic baby products or choose to buy eco-friendly toys that truly make a difference.
As you can see there are many ways to start an eco-friendly lifestyle, it’s a matter of just tapping into your set of values and make choices accordingly!
If you have any tips and ideas, make sure to share in the comments below to inspire other like-minded consumers and increase the global positive impact 😉
