Living a more sustainable lifestyle can feel impossible, but there are some simple things you can do to actually make an impact.
By now, we all know that sustainability is critical to the future of our planet (and our current well-being).
What’s not as obvious is how you can actually be more sustainable. It’s hard to know which actions have positive impacts, and not all sustainability initiatives are practical for everyone.
It also just feels daunting to try to do anything. After all, since the situation is so bad, will doing a little recycling or reusing actually help at all?
The truth is that when it comes to sustainability, every little bit counts. It’s easy to feel discouraged and give in to the bystander effect, but we each have to do our part, however small.
By looking at each area of your life and figuring out how you can be more sustainable, you can make small adjustments that will add up and help you significantly reduce your environmental impact.
Need some direction to get started? Read on to discover some simple changes you can make today.
8 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable
For this list, it was important that we included things almost everyone is able to do. Buying an electric car may have a big impact, but it’s just not possible for everyone. These 8 actions are all easy to put into practice, and most of them won’t cost you a thing.
1. Buy Less
One of the best ways to be more sustainable in almost every area of life is to simply buy less.
On a global scale, the production of consumer goods puts a huge strain on the environment. The harm doesn’t stop after purchasing, either, since people tend to repurchase items instead of repairing them.
Buying less overall is a fantastic way to reduce your personal environmental footprint. By consuming less, you’ll produce less waste, and you’ll also get more mileage out of what you already own.
I’ll get into some specific examples below, but this first point is more about the overarching idea. If you can apply this concept to your life as a whole, you’ll become much more sustainable.
2. Eat Less Meat
While meat has always been the focal point of the Western diet, that’s slowly changing as people are being encouraged to reduce meat consumption for a slew of environmental reasons.
Meat production has several harmful effects on the environment, including colossal greenhouse gas emissions, widespread pollution, loss of biodiversity, and excessive water and energy consumption levels.
In addition, most carnivores in the US are eating more meat than they should.
The more plant-based your diet is, the more of a positive impact you’ll make. While completely switching to a plant-based diet is optimal, even small reductions in meat consumption make a difference.
(Want an easy way to get started? Participate in Meatless Monday).
3. Reduce Plastic Consumption
You probably know that plastic isn’t great, but you may not know exactly how it damages the environment throughout its entire life cycle.
It starts with plastic production, which not only produces enormous amounts of greenhouse gases but also creates about 8 million tons of yearly plastic waste.
After production, much of this waste ends up in the oceans and waterways, causing animal deaths by entanglement. Oceanic plastic waste also produces microplastics that spread into the water supply and environment, posing danger to both humans and wildlife.
Finally, there’s the problem of plastic incineration, which produces mind-boggling amounts of greenhouse gases and pollution.
In short, it’s more important than ever to cut down on plastic use. To do this, take stock of your current plastic consumption and invest in reusable options where possible.
It’s especially important to avoid single-use plastics at all costs. These are particularly wasteful and damaging, but thankfully there are better choices.
Here are a few sustainable alternatives to get you started:
(And if you have to use plastic, make sure it’s properly recycled).
4. Drive Less
In the US, transportation is the #1 producer of greenhouse gases, producing 29% of the country’s total emissions.
Unfortunately, there aren’t yet any universally feasible alternatives to driving. For example, public transportation is a great solution, but many smaller or medium-sized cities lack the infrastructure to provide adequate, reliable transit options.
This means that the most practical solution is to drive less when you can and change the way you drive to be more eco-friendly.
Walking, biking, using rideshare services, and taking public transit are all excellent alternatives to driving, so use these when you can.
But if you’ll still be spending considerable time behind the wheel, then here are a few tips to follow to reduce your environmental footprint:
- Drive more efficiently (i.e., don’t stomp on the gas and brakes)
- Keep your car maintained (e.g., getting regular tune-ups, keeping tires inflated, etc.)
- Consolidate your trips instead of making several short ones
- Avoid idling
5. Shop Locally
Buying locally-made artisanal products is no longer just for hipsters — it’s a highly effective way to increase your personal sustainability.
Since local businesses tend to source on a smaller scale, their goods and materials often don’t have to travel as far, and the finished products don’t have to be shipped to you. This drastically reduces carbon emissions.
Local businesses also tend to produce much less waste, consume less energy, and use less plastic than larger companies.
If you haven’t surveyed your local economy before, you might be surprised at what you find. Food, body products, furniture, and home goods are typically easy to find locally, but it doesn’t stop there.
Depending on where you live, you might be able to shop for locally-made clothing, other dry goods, and more.
6. Monitor Your Energy Consumption
It’s easy to forget about energy waste since it’s not as obvious as, say, heavy plastic usage, but it’s still important to manage.
In most cases, becoming more energy efficient is an easy fix and only requires buying different products or making small changes to your energy consumption.
One simple method is to look out for appliances and products with ENERGY STAR certification, a government-backed program that endorses more energy-efficient options. If a product is certified, it will have the blue ENERGY STAR label on the packaging.
Another easy change to make is to completely power down as many appliances and electronics as you can.
Even though keeping things always on or on standby mode is convenient, it’s a significant waste of energy. Standby power accounts for as much as 10% of residential energy use.
You can curb this by grouping your appliances and electronics using power strips so you can simply flip the strip switch to turn everything off. For standalone products (like lamps), unplug them from the wall when they’re not in use.
7. Avoid Wasting Water
Water waste is another common sustainability sin that’s easy to overlook.
According to the EPA, less than 1% of the world’s water is available for human use, yet the average American family uses more than 300 gallons per day at home.
Water waste is often the result of both water-hungry appliances and user behaviors. For example, the average washing machine uses a whopping 31 gallons per load, and an eight-minute shower uses about 16 gallons.
Installing low-flow appliances and fixtures can make a big difference, so if you can, spring for water-efficient toilets, dishwashers, showerheads, taps, faucet aerators, and washing machines.
Whether or not you can replace all your water-draining fixtures, you can conserve water by:
- Taking shorter showers
- Turning off faucets when not in use
- Fixing leaky taps and other fixtures
- Ensuring your dishwasher and washing machine are only used for full loads
- Drinking more tap water
8. Purchase Fewer Clothes and Choose Slow Fashion
It might seem weird for a men’s style blog to tell its readers to buy less clothing, but that’s exactly what’s happening. Why? Because landfills receive over 12 million tons of textile waste every year.
A major problem is that people tend to buy more clothes than they need. Adults spend over $200 a month on clothing, but the vast majority of those purchases are unnecessary.
As a rule of thumb, only buy a new garment if it meets at least one of these criteria:
- You don’t already have one (and you’re 100% confident you’ll wear it often)
- You need it for work, school, or another practical reason
- You had a similar one, but it literally fell apart
Ultimately, if you know you’ll wear something, then don’t feel bad buying it. But if you find yourself making impulse purchases (browsing r/frugalmalefashion too much?), then try to rein in your spending.
When you do buy clothing, consider shopping secondhand or supporting slow fashion brands with more sustainable production practices. Whatever route you take, opt to spend more on a better-made (and thus longer-lasting) garment whenever you can.
Sustainability FAQ
Still got some lingering questions? Here are some quick answers:
Why is sustainable living important?
Sustainable living is critical to the quality of the environment. It reduces pollution, maximizes natural resources, mitigates waste, and improves public health, among other things.
Overall, the less of an impact we make on the natural world through our everyday life, the better off the environment will be.
Can you be 100% sustainable?
It’s impossible to be 100% sustainable. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to get there. It’s completely possible — and practical — to dramatically increase your sustainability level through simple choices and habits.
Final Thoughts
For many people, sustainability seems like an overwhelming goal that would require too many big changes and impractical actions.
In reality, sustainability is a process that we’re all part of. Don’t worry about becoming an overnight activist or being “sustainable enough.” Just do what you can where you can.
The steps outlined in this article provide a fantastic starting point, but if you’re looking to continually lessen your environmental footprint, be sure to do your own research so you can find more opportunities to be sustainable.
What do you do to be sustainable? Share your ideas in the comment section!
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