Starting to live an eco-friendly lifestyle begins with centering yourself, your circumstances, your opportunities and your needs.

Do what you can. It’s really that simple. And there’s no one particular way you should start. It’s about what works for you. Some of us find it easier to stop buying clothes, and some of us find it easier to shop at local farmers markets. The best way to start isn’t to see what every other person is doing and copying them – it’s about you.

If we don’t do what we want, we won’t keep doing it. And living a more sustainable and eco friendly life is journey; sustainable living is a lifestyle practise that take time. We can often get lost in perfectionism which can cause frustration and lack of motivation. Living a sustainable life is about balance.

Sustainable and eco friendly living is booming in popularity; brands and business understand how important it is to enable people to make conscious choices. We now understand the impact of climate change, carbon emissions and waste better than ever before. Together we can make more thoughtful decisions about how we live life. You can make a commitment to living a more eco friendly lifestyle at any point in time, it’s all about intention.

In this article, we’ll go over what it means to be sustainable and how to develop a sustainable lifestyle.

What does being sustainable mean?

Sustainability is centred on thoughtful and ethical practises; the key is to take more responsibility for our choices. As we mentioned, sustainable living is about balance; specifically balancing the environmental, economic and social impacts of our actions. Being more eco friendly or starting a sustainable lifestyle means lessening our negative impact on the planet. Let’s take more time to respect our environment, people, and animals.

Sustainability and eco-friendly living means being more thoughtful. When we think more deeply about what we’re doing or buying we become more aware of our impact. You should aim to become more aware of the resources you use, and think about whether you’re using them responsibly. For example, turning the tap off when brushing your teeth. Our goal with sustainable living is to protect the planet.

So what can you do to start?

Take it easy

This isn’t a race. If you try to do everything at once, you’ll end up feeling frustrated and burnt out. Oftentimes we end up striving for perfection when we try to build or change habits. This can cause frustration. Why should you keep trying to do something you can’t keep up with?

Don’t be harsh on yourself for the choices you make – that won’t help you. Guilt in small doses is fine, it helps us make different decisions. But not doing something you really need to, because of concern as to whether it’s sustainable is bad for your mental health and general wellbeing. It’s okay. Sometimes we can’t help what we do, using a straw or buying single use plastic once in a while is totally forgivable!

Start small

Keep it simple. Especially when you’re starting out – it’s not about doing everything at once. What do you enjoy doing? Is it eating out? Shopping for clothes? Think about what you can focus on – just one thing. It could be to save electricity and reduce your energy consumption. This is relatively easy to start – remember to switch off lights and unplug. Create a checklist of what you need to switch off every evening, and set yourself a challenge.

For example, 25 days of energy checks. (It takes about three weeks to build a habit so 21-25 days is ideal!) For 25 days, you have to make sure everything that isn’t being used is unplugged and switched off. You can do this for plastic reduction by reducing

Ask questions

Am I being responsible? The more you ask yourself this question, the more sustainable you’ll become. It will help you be more environmentally friendly as time goes on, and help the way you live life in other ways (like diet, spending, relationships).

Ask this question whenever you’re going to buy a product or use resources. Is the brand responsible? Is the item responsible?Is this really something I need? Is there a more eco-friendly option? The more you can question your decisions the more sustainable you’ll become

Try some of these sustainable lifestyle habits

1. Taking shorter showers or turn it down/off when you’re not washing yourself.
2. Replacing chemical cleaning products with more natural ones.
3. Eating vegan and/or vegetarian once a week.
4. Unplug appliances, as well as switch them off, when you’re not using them.
5. Buying food that’s locally sourced and grown to reduce your carbon footprint.
6. Taking public transport over driving and taxis
7. Replacing old light bulbs with energy efficient ones
8. Starting a compost pile to reduce and reuse the amount of waste you produce.

10 eco-friendly challenges to kickstart your sustainability lifestyle

1. 30 days of energy saving/switch off schedules
2. 14 days of no single use plastic
3. No new clothes for one month (including no thrifting)
4. Local produce shopping once a month for 3 months
5. Wait for your toiletries to become empty before you replace them
6. 30 days of no take-aways or food deliveries
7. Create an ‘is it sustainable checklist’ for shopping
8. Deleting 100 emails you don’t need
9. Don’t use a rubbish bin for 7 days and see how much waste you create
10. Only public transport for 15 days

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