A sustainable lifestyle does not have to be austere. It can be more delightful, varied, productive and healthier than the lifestyles many people have now.
What You Can Do Now
Not only can you make a difference, you are making a difference in the choices you make every day regarding what you buy, what you eat, where you live, how you transport yourself, and how you spend your money and your time, to name only a few. The question is whether those choices tend to help or harm the environment.
Not only can you make a difference, you are making a difference in the choices you make every day regarding what you buy, what you eat, where you live, how you transport yourself, and how you spend your money and your time, to name only a few. The question is whether those choices tend to help or harm the environment.
I invite you to start down a greener path, and discover where it leads.
What If I Learned Something New?
• If I educated myself about environmental issues, would I be less likely to be duped by ignorance and conspiracy theories, and be armed to go forward with the truth?
• If I took a walk, or even looked outside my window for a few minutes each day, might I discover some bird, plant or insect that interests me, and want to learn all I can about it?
• If I learned where my food comes from and how it is grown, might I educate myself about the suffering of animals and avoid poisoning myself with herbicides and pesticides?
What If I Eliminated Waste at Its Source?
• What if I brought my own reusable “doggie bag” to restaurants, both to avoid Styrofoam and have food for another meal?
• What if I avoided disposable plastic packaging by buying in bulk with reusable containers?
• What if I chose to purchase the item with recyclable paper packaging rather than plastic?
• What if I composted my kitchen organic waste and fed my bushes or plants with it?
• What if I made or grew something instead of buying it?
• What if I didn’t have to take my trash out as often because I avoided most of what goes in it?
What If I Spent More Wisely?
• If I stopped buying junk I don’t need, would my living space not be as cluttered?
• If I stopped chasing after fashion fads, might I realize that I already have more than enough clothes to wear?
• If I borrowed an item I rarely use, could I avoid purchasing it? Do I have something I might lend to someone else?
What If I Experimented with Other Ways to Travel?
• What if I walked or bicycled instead of driving?
• Who might I meet on a bus or a train? What might I see from the window if I didn’t have to concentrate on driving?
• What if I lived close to where I work, freeing myself from the stress of traffic congestion, long commutes and money wasted on gasoline?
• What if I compared electric cars to plug-in hybrids and gas-powered vehicles?
• What if I set aside one morning or afternoon to run all my errands in one trip?
• Could I fly less?
• Could I carpool with someone who is going the same way?
What If I Grew My Own?
• What if I grew some of my own food, if only one tomato plant or herbs on the windowsill?
• What if I increased habitat for pollinators such as butterflies by planting natives in my yard?
• What if I converted part of my lawn to a vegetable garden, berry patch or orchard?
• If for some reason I cannot garden, what if I purchased local healthy, organic food from farmers’ markets or nearby stores that stock it?
How Could I Have Substantially More Money?
• Could I live in a smaller house?
• Could I save big on energy bills by investing in an energy audit or insulation, turning off lights, adjusting the thermostat up or down a few degrees, or actually going “back to the future” by hanging clothes on the line or washing dishes by hand, as they did in the 1950s when per capital energy consumption was 82% less than what it is today?
• Could I drive a less expensive car?
• Could I cook at home rather than frequently eat out or order takeout?
• If I were able to love and accept myself the way that I already am, would I be less inclined to base my self-esteem on the ownership of expensive status items?
• Could I avoid expensive, unnecessary travel by making my home, work and community so wonderful that I would rarely feel the need to “get away from it all”?