Living Sustainable Lifestyles

A sustainable lifestyle is a way of living that involves making choices that reduces an individual's negative environmental impact. Parts of a sustainable lifestyle may include reducing waste, recycling, minimizing energy used, and more. Let's learn more about how you can elevate your lifestyle to become healthier and more eco-friendly!

Living a sustainable lifestyle: The basics

You may ask “So what can I do to live a more sustainable lifestyle?” Well, there are many ways you could incorporate sustainable living into your life to help the environment. 

One of the simplest and best ways to start is to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Reducing means to minimize the consumption of products. Often, this can be done by not buying items impulsively and limiting your spending on unnecessary items. Reusing means to save items for future use instead of discarding them. For example, instead of throwing away milk cartons, you could use them to store soil and help grow plants. Or perhaps, you could turn plastic bottles into watering cans. Recycling is the process of converting waste into new material. 

No matter where you are, it is important to place recyclable items into the recycling bin whether you are at home or in a public space. 

How does transportation affect sustainable living?

Transportation is another crucial part of life. When you take the transportation to school, work, or the supermarket, you are adding to your carbon footprint. 

Though transportation may not be avoidable, your choice of transportation is. Most cars and buses burn fossil fuels. However, you can cut down on this by following a couple simple steps. Let's take a look below:

1. Visiting a place locally? Walking or riding a bike is a more eco-friendly option as opposed to driving your car. 

2. Spot public transits nearby? Take public transportation! Public transportation like buses or trains carry multiple passengers making them more energy-efficient per passenger. It is a more eco-friendly option compared to driving the car.

How does at-home energy use affect sustainable living?

Energy use is a major part of everyday life. At home, many people use electricity for lighting their homes and for heating/cooling to manage indoor temperatures. In order to generate energy, fossil fuels are burned which contributes to the greenhouse effect.

Here are some ways to minimize energy use:

1. Turn off the lights when you are not home

2. Turn off devices when unused

3. Switching to energy efficient appliances