Six Easy Swaps to be More Sustainable (Today)
Small New York City Apartment
Sustainability has become a deeply important factor to consider when purchasing a new item. It begs us to ask the tough questions like:
How was this made? How long can I use this? Is this purchase going to become garbage in short amount of time?
Marie Kondo’s method of organizing asks us to declutter items in our life that do not spark joy. The next step to this is to choose the items we buy (from big purchases to seemingly insignificant ones) with the idea in mind that they will spark joy. Once we notice and do the work to understand exactly what our purchases may be doing to planet, it is much clearer to the average consumer what items do more damage than good.
The good news is that there are so many easy swaps to make that help us do better for the planet and ourselves. Here are six easy swaps to be more sustainable:
1. Produce Bags
Ever notice how many plastic produce bags you use in just a month of grocery shopping? Once you start taking tally this first swap will seem like a breeze. While many stores now incentivize the use of reusable grocery bags they usually don’t do the same for produce bags.
Getting your own reusable produce bags are an easy purchase that will soon become a part of your shopping routine.
2. Resuable Cotton Balls
Taking your makeup off properly at the end of the night is important for your skins health. However doing it in a sustainable fashion is possible.
Again, using a cotton ball every night for a year will start to add up. Try switching to reusable cotton pads and make your carbon footprint just a little smaller.
3. Look for products with less plastic
Because sustainability is becoming a social norm nowadays more grocery stores, restaurants and businesses are opting for plastic free options.
If you are going to grab takeout for dinner try bringing your own bag and silverware. Having a pair of reusable silverware on hand will save you from constantly grabbing for those plastic utensils.
4. Turn off the lights
This is a very simple one to accomplish! You don’t actually need to swap anything except the sun with your home lighting.
Open up those curtains and let the light in. Saving electricity is a great way to take care of mother earth.
5. Eat less meat
If you were unaware red meat production is one of the highest producers of methane gas. Once this gas is released into the atmosphere it contributes to global warming. Red meat can be an important dietary factor for some however cutting back ever so slightly could have a bigger impact than you think. If you eat red meat for every meal try just having it once or twice a day. Once you are doing that challenge yourself to go even further.
This can also be a fun opportunity for you to test out some vegetarian recipes. Get creative and spark some joy in the kitchen!
6. Go paperless
Going paperless in this day and age is a pretty simplified task. Never have we lived in a time where more of our work and life revolves around a computer.
If there is an option for you to get an emailed receipt, document, or bill go for it. Making the mental switch to opting for online documents is the first step.
