June 5th was World Environment Day and June 8th World Ocean Day. Days that remind us how important it is to protect our planet, to keep it healthy, to conserve the natural resources. As I often say, it is not about radically changing our lives (although that would probably be very helpful indeed to the planet) but about raising awareness and starting with simple things to change our habits.
Many people say: You know, I would love to live a more sustainable life, but I just don’t have the money to do so. These people tend to refer to buying ecological food on high-priced stores instead of shopping in the discounter. However, there are plenty of possibilities to be more sustainable in the day to day without having to spend a cent – and some will even help you save money while doing so. To get you started, I have put together some sustainability tips that won’t cost you a fortune:
1. Reduce
Yes, exactly. It is not always about buying more or different things but about consuming less. Some ideas might be to:
- Ensure the washing machine and dishwasher are well-loaded before putting them on.
- Do not use more washing powder than needed.
- Turn off the lights when you are not in the room. Unplug chargers etc when not in use.
- Turn off the tab while soaping your hands.
- Choose products with no or less packaging.
- Instead of flying around the world for your vacation, check out nice places closer to your home that don’t require a multi-hour flight.
- Take the bike more often instead of the car – This is also good for your health. 🙂
- Print on both sides of the paper.
- Buy only the food and clothes you need.
- Fight food waste and save money by doing so? Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But that is exactly what is possible via the App Too Good To Go. Restaurants, bakeries etc put together packages from their leftovers, which you can book via this app. So less food ends up in the trash and you can buy cheap. A win-win.
2. Reuse
- Give clothes and toys a second live before throwing them away. Especially – but not only – children’s clothes are often worn only one season and are then still in very good condition. So it makes sense to rummage in 2nd-hand platforms or stores. And if you’re cleaning out your closet again and want to get rid of clothes, toys or even furniture and electrical appliances that are in good condition, why not just sell them on a fleamarket or via an App like Wallapop, Vinted or Ebay? That way, you’ll get some money back into your pockets and avoid things ending up in the trash that other people can still put to good use.
- Repair: We have gotten so used to just throwing things away and buying new ones that we often don’t even try to repair them. If you are into DIY just try and see how far you get. Otherwise, there are shops that offer repair services for different products. It is true that in some cases the costs outweigh the cost of a new product, but it’s worth asking.
- Reduce the use of plastic bottles, bags and one-time plastics and use reusable alternatives instead, e.g. cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
- If you are into handcrafts, you might use old bed linen or clothes to sew blankets, bags and more.
- Old jars can be used to store seeds, spices etc. or to refill with home-made marmalade.
- If you have a balcony or garden, use the food rests for composting.
3. Recycle
When you do have to throw things away, ensure to separate the different components carefully. Every country or even region has its own recycling rules, be sure to check them.
Also, there are lots of products that are made of recycled material. Choose those ones over the ones made of new material. Use recycled paper for printing.
Another “R” that is often been talked about is Rethink. Rethink refers to the impact our actions have on the environment.
Of course, there are lots of other ways of being more sustainable in the day to day. Check out my post about How to Get Involved in Earth Day for some additional ideas and feel free to add your own inputs into the comments.
