How to Live a Sustainable Lifestyle in 10 Steps

Being conscious of your environmental footprint is the first step in living a more sustainable lifestyle. Every day we make choices with the food we eat, items we buy, what we throw away, and our actions that can have a negative impact on the environment. 

If you’re interested in becoming more eco-friendly, there are ways to do without making a drastic lifestyle change (unless you want to). In this guide, we’re teaching you how to live a sustainable lifestyle so you can do your part in making the world a better, healthier place.

1. Ditch Plastic Materials

One of the easiest ways to live sustainably is to switch from plastic materials to something more reusable. 

Plastic is not a biodegradable material. It takes hundreds of years for plastic items to break down, so when you throw away straws, bags, or bottles, those items build and build in landfills or the ocean and pose a major threat to the environment.

So, what materials can you switch to for a more eco-friendly lifestyle? Try these items instead:

• Reusable canvas shopping bags (perfect for the grocery store!)
• Tumblers or other reusable water bottles
• Bamboo straws, tableware, or cutlery 
• Stainless steel or wood kitchen essentials
• Paper or cardboard items
• A plant-based plastic like Astrik

2. Start Composting

Composting at home offers several environmental benefits, like reducing waste in landfills, cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions, and improving soil health.

Plus, getting started is easier than you think!

Many people are hesitant to start composting because they believe the myths that it smells bad (breaking news: it doesn’t) or that it’s an overly complicated process that demands a lot of your yard space.

The good news is that you actually don’t need to dig up your yard to start a compost pile at home. 

All you need is our handy countertop composter bin to collect kitchen scraps before you follow the easy steps for composting at home.

3. Install High-Efficiency Shower Heads

Too much water consumption can pose a threat to the environment from high energy usage, straining water supplies, and polluting the earth with untreated wastewater that’s released into rivers and streams.

But, installing high-efficiency shower heads in your bathrooms is a great way to practice an eco-friendly lifestyle since these systems can save up to $100+ in energy costs and nearly 5,000 gallons of water every year. 

4. Go Paperless

Another easy, modern way to live sustainably at home is to switch to a paperless form of life, especially with your bills. 

Going paperless not only helps reduce the amount of paper that’s thrown into landfills every year, but it also helps to decrease the number of trees that are destroyed for production.

Luckily, most companies in the U.S. today allow you the choice to receive and pay all of your bills electronically. To set this up, you typically only have to reach out to your service provider and let them know, or you can check online to see if you can make the switch there.

5. Shop Smartly

Even if you’re in the habit of not buying plastic items, every product on the market has some ties to pollution and carbon emissions. They also contribute to landfill whether it’s from packaging or the item itself when it’s no longer needed.

To help cut down on waste and landfill buildup, practice mindfulness when you shop by purchasing items you really need or by seeing if it’s something you can buy secondhand. 

And, as you browse, practice your sustainable lifestyle by searching for items made from low-impact materials like bamboo or cork. 

6. Shop Locally for Food

There are fewer better ways to connect with your local community and practice sustainability than buying local produce. It’s estimated that the average American’s meal will travel more than 1,500 miles before getting to your plate, which heavily increases the pollution in the air (www.cuesa.org). 

By supporting local farmers, you will have access to in-season produce that’s tasty and bursting with flavor and help reduce transit time and carbon waste. 

A trip to your local farmer’s market helps you connect with the community in unique and new ways. You can learn from food artisans to develop and improve your own cooking skills. Also, most will take back the containers you use to carry produce.

7. Drive Less (Or Differently)

Speaking of polluting the air, we can’t talk about sustainable lifestyle tips without mentioning your vehicle. 

Gasoline and diesel fuel are notorious for releasing a plethora of exceptionally harmful greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Not only does this pollute the air we breathe, but it also seeps its ways into habitats. 

To cut down on the amount of gas emissions you release into the air by driving, here are eco-friendly alternatives to traveling:

• Drive your vehicle less
• Switch to an electric vehicle
• Walk whenever possible 
• Ride your bike 

8. Shift to Sustainable Household Products

Other than your tableware and cutlery, there are other areas in your home where you can make the switch to eco-friendly products. Specifically, your cleaning and beauty products.

The EPA has found several commercial cleaning and beauty products to be made with chemical ingredients that harm the environment and wildlife, so it’s best to make the switch to products that are plant-based or advertise as being eco-friendly.

9. Focus on Smart Food Organization

Food waste plays a big role in harmful impacts to the environment since rotting food releases methane into the air. 

Sadly, A report published by The Atlantic in 2016 discovered that Americans waste, on average, 50% of all produce they buy. For a family of four, this equates to roughly $1,600 of lost money every year.

This can easily be changed by being more conscious about what’s in your fridge and pantry, and by labeling leftovers to know what you have (and need to eat before it expires).

And for bonus sustainable lifestyle tips, think of ways you can combine soon-to-be expired ingredients with new dishes and recipes to help lengthen the life of your produce.

10. Cut Out Meat From Your Diet

To truly cut down your environmental footprint, consider switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet. Meat production is one of the leading industries for excessive greenhouse gas emissions, habitat loss, pollution, and water/energy waste.

Growing your own vegetable garden, meal planning, and reducing the amount of food you throw out are wonderful ways to live sustainably while being environmentally-conscious about what you’re putting in your body and how it’s affecting the world around you.