11 Sustainable Practices to Adopt In Your Daily Life
We’re well into Earth Month and our feeds have gotten a little greener and a little more eco-conscious. Activists and newsrooms are sounding the climate alarm a bit louder than usual, and it can feel overwhelming. You may be wondering: “What can I do to help?” While major corporations and governments have the largest responsibility in reducing emissions and environmental damage, it’s important to remember that every individual can make a difference. By taking action in our day-to-day lives and supporting civic initiatives and mutual aid efforts, we can build a healthier planet for ourselves and future generations of sustainable baddies 🌱
SB believes that by prioritizing community involvement and collaboration, we can make a real difference in the fight against climate change. From reducing waste and conserving energy to supporting local initiatives and advocating for change, we’ve curated 11 accessible steps you can take to secure the future of our earth!
1. Reduce Your Energy Consumption
In your youth, you may have been scolded by your parents for leaving the lights on when you weren’t in the room. Whether it was intentional or not, they were actually being sustainable baddies by conserving energy! When we consume less energy, we reduce the overall demand for fossil fuels, which need to be extracted and burned for energy. If it’s within your means, switch to energy-efficient appliances and renewable energy sources like solar or wind power, take shorter showers, reduce your use of heating and air conditioning (within reason—safety first!), use cold water when doing laundry, and unplug appliances when they’re not in use. You can also advocate for renewable energy options and support initiatives that promote energy conservation in your community. For example, to incentivize residents to install solar panels on their homes, Massachusetts offers homeowners a state tax credit worth up to 15% of the total installation cost!
2. Start Composting
Turn your waste into something that can create life! Composting helps to turn our food scraps and yard waste into valuable resources to enrich the soil and grow more plants. Composting also reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which can be harmful to the environment and human health. You can compost within your home using a compost bin or outside if you have a yard or garden.
3. Start a Garden or Adopt a Plant
When you grow your own food, you reduce the energy used in transportation, packaging, and refrigeration that is generally demanded by the process of food distribution. Home gardens can also support local biodiversity by providing habitat for pollinators and other good bugs, birds, and wildlife. If you don’t have space for a full garden, adopt a plant! Plants help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and improve indoor air quality. Plant gurus like Alexis Nikole and Tia Planta offer a number of resources that can help you to start a garden and become a successful plant parent.
4. Become a Bag Lady: Use Reusables!
Using reusables helps to reduce the amount of single-use waste that goes into landfills and the ocean. Start off by using reusable items like water bottles, shopping bags, and coffee cups that can be used over and over (or indefinitely!). It’ll also save you money in the long run! Check out our list of sustainable swaps for recs on which essentials to swap out first!
5. Take Hot Girl Walks… or the Bus
The manic pixie dream girl riding their bike through an empty road, sullenly looking out the bus window, or taking a midnight walk to clear their mind is actually slaying their sustainability practice by reducing their carbon emissions. Start opting for walking, biking, or public transport instead of driving! City gurls may have no choice but to be public transit or 45-minute walk baddies (congrats bb), but if you live in a suburb or a more rural area, your options may be limited. If you live in a less populated area with limited public transportation, consider biking or getting involved in city planning efforts to make your community more walker and transit-friendly. For example, Michigan, a historically auto-centric state, recently passed a tax levy that will go entirely toward expanding public transit; your community could be next!
6. Support Sustainable and Small Brands
Brands that prioritize the use of sustainable materials, responsible sourcing, and fair labor practices are working to make sustainability and responsible business practices the new normal. They deserve our support! By choosing these brands, we’re also sending the message that there is no place for unethical practices in our vision for a sustainable future!
7. Head to the Farmer’s Market & Support Community Gardens
Save yourself a stressful trip to the mega-supermarket and take a cute trip over to the farmers’ market to buy locally grown food. When we buy local, we support small farmers, reduce the carbon footprint associated with transportation, and help preserve farmland and local ecosystems. Community gardens often offer volunteering opportunities, so consider joining one in your area! Not only will you help to provide your neighbors with access to fresh, locally grown produce, but you’ll also build connections and increase food security in your community. Wanna know more about why volunteering at a community garden is the best pastime? We’ve got you covered!
8. Be a Mindful Consumer
Sustainable baddies are ditching overconsumption and adopting mindful consumption habits. This can look like buying less in general, setting limits on how much you consume, adopting a “one in, one out” approach to buying, buying only secondhand, or not buying anything at all! By buying less and being mindful of our consumption habits, we can promote more sustainable and responsible use of resources and put an end to the buy-and-toss culture that is rampant in the age of fast fashion and even faster trend cycles.
9. Make an Effort to Learn More
Educating yourself on sustainability can help you to make informed choices, recognize the impacts of your actions on the planet, and empower you to take steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle. By making an effort to learn about sustainability, you become an advocate for change and can inspire others to do the same. Keep an eye out in the near future for our “Further Your Knowledge” series, in which we’ll bring you a number of multimedia resources that can help you expand your sustainability knowledge.
10. Rent, Borrow, and Swap!
It’s all part of the circular economy, baby! Buying less or adopting more mindful consumption habits doesn’t need to mean your belongings and resources become frozen in time. There are ways to access clothing, books, or technologies without fully purchasing the item itself. There are so many awesome clothing rental services like Rent the Runway that can help spice up your lewks without hurting your wallet or the limited space in your closet. Also… libraries!!!! Libraries offer so many borrow and rental resources to the community like obviously book lending, but also computer, instrument, or camera rentals amongst so many other resources! And remember, you can organize clothing swaps, book exchanges, and more events to help you build community while sharing resources.
11. Advocate for Your Community
Taking a minute to call, email, or even text your local and state representatives can help to mobilize resources and build support for environmental protection initiatives. You have the power to advocate for policies that promote sustainable practices, like renewable energy and waste reduction, and support community-led efforts that foster sustainable living, like community gardens or local food co-ops. By picking up that phone or writing a message to ask for change, we are planting the seeds of a more just and equitable society.
What are your day-to-day sustainability practices?