how you can shop more sustainably and save the planet
what is a sustainable lifestyle? How to live sustainably?
In recent years, we have seen an increasing consciousness about the environmental footprint we leave on this planet, as a response to all the consequences our past and current actions have on the environment surrounding us. It is undeniable the impact we have had on this world, and the necessity to change it soon, and that is where sustainable living comes into play.
What is sustainable living, you may ask? Well, living sustainably consists of the actions we take in our day-to-day lives in order to reduce our environmental impact to a minimum, either by eating a sustainable diet, finding ways to reduce waste, consuming fewer things we don’t need… There are many options for us to choose from when it comes to living a more sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyle.
We will be talking about a few ways you can do so right now from the comfort of your own home because achieving a sustainable lifestyle is not hard at all, all you have to do is to have the interest and care to just start changing your actions.
In conclusion, a sustainable lifestyle is one that aims to reduce our environmental footprint on this planet, a world that we are sadly destroying with our careless actions every day and one that we cannot ever replace. We highly recommend that you first check out How To Have A Sustainable Diet At Home.
buy local | consider small businesses
One of the best ways to shop sustainably is to buy local, prioritizing small businesses. Not only are you helping your local economy, entrepreneurs, and small families that risk a lot just to fulfill your needs every day, but you are also buying from people that produce their goods and services sustainably.
This is because small farmers and other types of businesses use more sustainable practices to produce their products, and the local farmer cares for its stock and treats it a lot more ethically and sustainably, the same holds true for the crops they grow. You are also saving the environment by demanding products that do not require such large transportations that have quite a carbon footprint over the long run.
Overall, buying local is one of the best things you can do to shop more sustainably and ethically, and it is much easier to cut down your environmental footprint by just buying locally. Combine this with reducing the plastic packaging of the products you buy, and you got yourself a winner sustainable shopping strategy.
sustainable diet | shop for food sustainably
A sustainable diet is one that is focused on eating healthy food that also has little impact on the environment and has a low carbon footprint. It’s a diet that even if it promotes a healthy living style, it does focus a lot more on the environmental impact our food choices have and plans to reduce them to a minimum improving the overall life of our society and future generations.
That is because the current food industry is producing around 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and uses about two-thirds of the water usage worldwide, which is a tremendous amount even if we take into consideration how big of an industry this is (We all got to eat right?).
You see now why many people are eating more sustainably and why it matters so much, but right now you may be wondering how you can begin to eat more sustainably from the comfort of your home, how you can begin to shop for food more sustainably, do not worry, luckily for you we have some tips so you can begin changing your environmentally unfriendly diet to an environmentally friendly and healthy one. Having said this, here are some tips so you can begin to shop for food more sustainably, with respect for the planet:
- Eat more fruits and veggies, these are not only healthy options that should be in everyone’s diet, but they are also one of the best environmentally friendly options out there. These produce much lower gas emissions and require fewer resources than other types of foods, so, feel free to eat as many fruits and vegetables as you want! Now you know why you should have listened to your mom when she told you to eat your vegetables when you were little.
- Avoid highly processed foods, these are not only very bad for your health but their production and transportation have a big environmental footprint that you want to avoid taking part in. Always prioritize foods that are natural and unprocessed, you don’t have to exaggerate though (Don’t go out there eating vegetables directly out of the dirt).
- Try to buy locally, as we said earlier, this is a great option because generally, it doesn’t matter as much what you eat because it is produced locally, on small farms, which always has a less environmental footprint than conventional supermarkets imported industrial foods, it also saves the carbon footprint transportation leaves. Plus, you are supporting small businesses from your local town or city, which is always a great thing.
- Choose sustainable seafood, marine life is a great choice for our diets, it has many great nutrients that improve our health and lifespan overall, however, you should be careful when choosing seafood. Overexploitation is a very big problem for marine life as a whole, so you should try to buy seafood grown with aquaculture or captured artisanally, which is a sustainable and conscious way of consuming seafood.
- Reduce your waste, buy only what you will eat and never throw out any food (this is a no-brainer), you should also compost the organic waste and avoid using plastics and single-use materials to package and store your food. This is a whole subject to talk about in itself, so if you want to learn more about it feel free to check the United Nation’s article on how to reduce your food waste.
These five tips on how to have a sustainable diet at home should work out fine, there are many other tips but as always we have presented you with the most important ones. Now that you know what you can begin doing at home to eat more sustainably, it is time to take action!
Did you know there are a ton of healthy and sustainable options for people that do not have the time or skills to cook a great meal, that delivers straight to your door every day? Read our article on the Sustainable Diet to find out!
slow fashion | how to fight fast fashion
One of the most important aspects of our lives that we need to change is how we treat the clothes we wear. Unfortunately, an alarmingly large amount of people do not know the real consequences that the current Fast Fashion industry has on our planet, most people do not even know what Fast Fashion is in the first place! So to refresh a little bit the subject, here is why Fast Fashion is destroying the planet:
Fast Fashion was born in the 90s, it is a business model that quickly tracks trends and turns them into clothes as fast as possible that are available for the customers to buy. It uses short manufacturing cycles that are very harmful to the environment and the workers and produces low-quality clothing that makes customers buy more and more, feeding consumerism and the buy-n-throw culture that pollutes our soil and waters with all the disposal that is generated from these thrown garments.
It produces 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and 20% of global wastewaters that pollute rivers and seas. Furthermore, 85% of all Fast Fashion garments are thrown in landfills each year, which combined with the fact that these garments are made from harmful, synthetic, and non-biodegradable materials, is a very scary fact. What’s worse, its terrible quality clothes, which are usually made from polyester, decompose leaving microplastics that will further pollute our waters and soil.
Here is where Slow Fashion comes into play: This anti-fast fashion model focuses on producing clothes with respect for the environment, people, and society. It uses short manufacturing cycles and fair trade, which is a system of certification that aims to ensure a set of standards are met in the production and supply of a product or ingredient, being the total opposite of Fast Fashion. This goes hand-in-hand with Ethical Fashion, respecting the workers and all the agents involved in the production process of the fashion garments.
Slow Fashion also searches for clothes that are produced with minimal environmental impact, and this is where Sustainable Fashion comes in. It searches for clothes that are made from biodegradable and organic materials, like organic ring-spun cotton and recycled materials, also producing high-quality garments avoiding unnecessary consumerism and the bu-n-throw culture that pollutes our soil and waters when the garments are thrown.
Overall, changing our fashion habits is one of the most important and forgotten things we need to do to achieve an environmentally friendly lifestyle and live sustainably, while also caring for our other fellow human beings and the future generations that will have to live on this wonderful and unique planet. We have a ton of articles regarding the matter, so feel free to check our blog out or just the articles linked in the summary 🙂
summary
We hope you have learned a little bit more about how to live sustainably and more ethically. Living sustainably is not that hard, the only thing you need to do is to start, and inform yourself on how to sustainably change your day-to-day choices, only then you will be able to change your habits for the better.
We are thrilled to teach people all around the world 🙂 Also, did you really know what Fast Fashion really is and its terrible consequences for the environment, the planet, the workers, society, and the economy? Do you know exactly what the Slow Fashion or Sustainable Fashion movement is? You should really take a look at these articles about this forgotten and unknown but very urgent and important subject, click here to read „Can Fashion Ever Be Sustainable?”, Sustainable Fashion, Ethical Fashion, Slow Fashion or Fast Fashion 101 | How It’s Destroying Our Planet because knowledge is one of the most powerful strengths you can have, while ignorance is your worst weakness.
We also have a big surprise for you! Because we want to give you the right to know us better, we have prepared a carefully dedicated About Us page where we will tell you who we are, what our mission is, what we do, a closer look at our team, and many more things! Do not miss this opportunity and click here to check it out. Also, we invite you to take a look at our Pinterest, where we will pin everyday sustainable fashion-related content, clothing designs, and other things that you will surely love!
