Sustainable Living for Dummies

What’s all this talk about living sustainably, you may ask? In the most recent years the rise of conscious living & health has increased and its amazing to be apart of it!

The good news is, living sustainably doesn’t have to be as tricky as you may think!

Let us break down the basics of what it means to live a sustainable life.

What is sustainability?

There are three ‘pillars’ of sustainability,

Economic Development- is about giving people what they want without compromising quality of life, and reducing financial burden, through access to employment for all.

Social Development- Maintaining and putting into place strong legalisations which ensure that people’s health and wellness is strongly protected. It is also about maintaining access to basic resources without compromising the quality of life.

Environmental Protection- This pillar, to many is the primary concern of the future of humanity. Whether it’s recycling or reducing our usage of materials which harm the environment, we all have a part to play in the realm of environmental protection. (Source)

Goals of Sustainability (just a few):

• Sustainability to include health of the land, air and sea.
• Tackle the effects of climate change, pollution and other environmental factors that can harm and so harm people’s health and livelihoods.
• Sustainable economic growth while promoting jobs and stronger economies.
• Better standards of education and healthcare – think water quality and sanitation.
• The end of poverty and hunger. (Source)

Why is sustainability important?

The core goals of sustainability quite literally lead to a better, ideal world for both us today and those tomorrow. Chances are, if you’ve taken the time out of your busy day to read this post, then you care about the earth and hopefully the future generations which will inhabit the earth in the near future.

This is why sustainability is important, it maintains balance and it allows us to travel along the stable route of having a future to look forward to.

Now onto the practical, world changing stuff! Tips and tricks to begin your sustainable journey:

• Cut your plastic usage! Let’s be real here, every time you choose plastic, you’re really choosing convenience over the health of our environment. With so many alternatives, there’s no reason to start little today and make the effort to decrease our individual plastic usage, plus boycotting those big corporation who still rely on plastic. Read ’10 easy ways to ditch plastic’ HERE

Did you know? A plastic bag has an average ‘working life’ of 15 minutes.

• Regenerative Agriculture. Choosing to buy and consume organic foods isn’t just better for your overall health, but for the environment! More on why you should choose organic HERE (link to organic blog post)

Did you know? It is estimated that at least 50% of the carbon in the earth’s soils has been released into the atmosphere over the past few centuries, partly due to destructive agricultural practices.

• Start enjoying the art of Upcycling! The art of using what you already have. Whether that’s upcycling old jars for food containers or plants, to upcycling your old clothes or choosing to thrift instead! Ignite your creativity and put the earth first, I bet you’ll enjoy doing it!

Check out our Pinterest board ‘Upcycling’ for our favourite ideas! HERE

       Did you know? Upcycling reduces the strain on valuable resources such as fuel, forests and water supplies – and helps safeguard wildlife habitats. (Source)

• Test out the Plant-Based Diet! Seen the Gamechangers? Curious to really see if the plant-based diet is the healthy alternative? Well experiment for any reason, but the plant-based diet is arguably the most sustainable diet there is. The best news? You don’t even have to follow the Plant-based diet on an everyday basis to make a big change.

Did you know? Eating ONE Meatless Monday each week is equivalent to taking 20-million medium sized sedans off the road. Eating ONE vegan meal a day can save 1.4 billion animals each year. (Source)

• Sign the important stuff! Yes, I’m talking about petitions. All of our efforts to boycott these big corporations may not matter unless certain policies changed and are enforced. So, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you and found the petitions we believe to be most important towards our goal of a sustainable future:

Now you’ve been equipped with the right tips and tricks to take on the big wide world of waste, we wish you the best along your journey of sustainability and will be with you every step along the way!

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written by Amelia Michels