15 Ways You Can Save the Planet + Live an Incredible Life While Doing it 

What is Sustainability?

[suh-stey-nuh-bil-i-tee]

noun

1. the ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed.

2. Environmental Science. the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance: The committee is developing sustainability standards for products that use energy.

Sustainable living begins with an individual's appetite to keep the Earth green. We strive towards reducing our carbon footprints as we conduct a lifestyle that defends Mother Nature’s natural resources and respects Earth's evolutionary ecology. By simple alterations of everyday habits and activities, we can make an impactful difference in creating a harmless way of living to provide for future ecological success. 

Since when? 

Sustainability can date back to the 1950s where industrialization and economic growth advanced significantly after the second industrial revolution. With the population tripling, from 1800 to 1970, with seemingly unslacking economic growth, the manufacturing production increased over 1000 times. During and after this period of unprecedented expansion people became well aware of the threats that population growth, mass production and resource depletion have on the environment they survive in. In 1954 the first book on Sustainable Living was published, called Living the Good Life, by Helen and Scott Nearing. This book essentially paved the way for future environmentalists in the back-to-the-land movement in the late 1960s and 1970s. From this point forward, after scientific evidence proved that human activities can cause damage, a variety of books on sustainability were published. 

        The Green Movement took off with the first celebration of Earth Day in 1970. Then rose the first Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (ENGO’s), Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. These led to environmental groups becoming more active, ecologism becoming a ideology of significance, and green political parties gaining a stronger voice. Since these organizations and advocates became stronger, the advancement of the world around us does so now with Earth in mind. 

So what??

        Well, as this term is saturated within mainstream media, it has significantly lost its influence over time. This is why we attempt to stress the gravity of sustainability in posts such as these in order to shift the focus back to saving the planet. Sustainability is synonymous with saving our ecosystem. The Senegalese ecologist Baba Dioum said in 1968, “In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.” This is where we attempt to spread the knowledge of sustainability so individuals can fully understand its impact, and hope that their love for the air and Earth that surrounds them will stem conservation practices. 

What now???

Creating a sustainable lifestyle is a long-term commitment that roots in love. You can make simple or complex lifestyle changes in order to reduce your carbon footprint and recycle energy. Whatever lifestyle you may live, there is something out there that you can do in order to participate in saving our planet. The goal of living sustainably is to live without depleting resources. We want to reduce, reuse, and recycle to live a greener life. 

Here is a list of 15 things you can do to start living a sustainable lifestyle:

1. Stop buying plastic water bottles like, NOW. Reusable bottles like Yeti, Swell, and BKR bottles are not only fashionable and can keep liquids cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 hours l, but are 100% sustainable.

2. Change the light bulbs in your home to energy saving bulbs and you’ll not only reduce your carbon footprint, but also your bills.

3. Use washable cloths instead of paper towels and tissues.

4. Bring your own shopping bags to the grocery store and stop using plastic.

5. Grow your own food, or join a community garden if you don’t have a green thumb. Or just buy local.

6. Buy products from companies that are eco-friendly and use harmless ingredients.

7. Drive less or drive green. Carpool, ride your bike, use public transport or invest in a hybrid car.

8. Kick the fossil fuels and go solar.

9. Reduce your meat consumption. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, meat production is responsible for at least 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all forms of transportation combined. Nearly 60% of the carbon footprint of the average U.S. household diet comes from animal products.

10. Opt for natural skincare that is good based, especially when it comes to exfoliants. Many of the plastic micro beads in our favorite face scrubs are not biodegradable so when choosing skincare, go with natural brands like Tula, Loli, and Herbal Dynamics.

11. Use natural lighting in your home when you can. Turning lights off when you leave the room can not only save energy but also reduce the dollars on your next energy bill. (A total win-win!)

12. Hand washing your clothes and hanging them to dry is a huge help and allows your swimwear and delicate clothing to last longer.

13. Buy second-hand clothes or clothes made from recycled material. Also, donate/recycle your old clothing. We have an amazing recycling program that can save you up to 30% off your next purchase.

14. Get a reusable metal straw. No. more. Plastic.

15. Recycle! Attempt to go waste free, or if that seems too difficult, making sure you are recycling your plastic, paper, glass, aluminum items.

It may be hard to think about changing major and even minor aspects of your life in the present in order to preserve for the future, however, you must believe that what you are doing now will still benefit you in the near future. If a collaborative effort takes place, the results will emerge sooner than if we continue production and industrialization without ethical ecological practices. “Living Green,” or “Sustainable living,” has also been posed as overrated, hipster, and flat out stupid to the ignorant. But taking the necessary actions in reducing your carbon footprint and aiding in environmental conservation is anything but that. 

Those who harm the Earth the most won’t realize the effects it has on their own health unless they are affected by it first hand. So what can we do in order to show these people that it isn’t a “stupid” practice and that it is crucial? How do we get the message across that the Earth is legitimately dying and the blood is on our own hands? That is a question we are still figuring out the answer to. The best we can do now is simply to try to educate as many people as possible about the significance of sustainable practices and the benefits they bear. 

So we come to the underlying question, how do you want to live your life? Do you want to live in fear, or with love? Without an effort from individuals, you and I alike, we may live in fear that our planet will not be sustainable for life potentially within the realms of our own lifetime if not only for our children and grandchildren’s generations. If we begin to love the life we are living and want to be the change we wish to see in the world, we must start here. 

Go green. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Watch Earth Thrive.