5 Little Sustainable Actions
Are you thinking about making some changes to your daily life to become more sustainable? Have you already made some swaps but aren’t sure where to go next? Here’s a few things I’ve done to reduce my personal impact:
1. Switch to a bamboo toothbrush. This was possibly the easiest switch I made and required little to no thought or change in habit other than buying the toothbrushes in the first place. Some sites that sell zero-waste products sell them in bulk, which is a great way to both save money and know that you’re stocked up for the future. I’ve found packs of ten (10) here and here that often go on sale and are reasonably priced to begin with.
2. Clean out your emails. This might sound like it doesn’t have much to do with sustainability, but it does! Every bit of digital information we keep uses up energy to store, including every email touting the latest sale at our favorite stores. If you have five minutes, instead of scrolling through social media, try deleting some of those unread messages from three years ago. If you’d like to learn more about this, there’s a great post on the subject here.
3. Go through your storage. When thrifting is brought up, a lot of times the emphasis is put on clothing, but many other useful items can be obtained through thrifting! However, the items can only get on second-hand shelves from generous donors or consignment. Many of us have closets and shelves overflowing with clothes we don’t wear anymore, decorations we don’t look at, or old gifts we never liked in the first place but didn’t have the heart or time to take back to the store. Try going through one shelf or one small area and seeing what can be removed. If you can’t remember the last time something was even looked at, maybe consider donating or selling it so someone else can put it to use.
4. Visit a local farmer’s market. If you like fruits and vegetables, consider paying a visit to a farmer’s market for in-season produce. These foods are going to be fresher and grown more locally than those at the grocery store, and the money spent on them will go right back into the local community rather than a CEO’s pocket. If the person who grew your produce is also the one selling it to you, this can also serve as a wealth of information if you’re thinking about growing your own food and haven’t before. Besides this, locally grown produce tends to taste better than what’s stocked at the store.
5. Unplug devices when not in use. Back on the subject of energy consumption, some devices use electricity even when shut off. If you don’t use something daily or even weekly, consider pulling the plug until you need it again or keeping on a power strip that can be easily turned on and off when not in use. Not only does this save electricity, but also cuts down on unnecessary heating. For ideas of what to unplug and how to find out what’s using excess energy, there’s a lovely post here.