How To Live A More Sustainable Life

Julie Starr • Jun 28, 2022



To live a more sustainable life, you can’t just change everything all at once. Instead, you have to change your whole way of life but do it slowly. Being more sustainable isn’t a simple goal you can check off and move on to the next thing on your list. Instead, it’s a journey you take for the rest of your life, learning, experimenting, failing, starting over, and telling others about your journey. Here are a few ways to begin.

Reduce Your Consumption 

This is a very important long-term goal. We are all consumers, but our constant excessive consumption of everything is destroying our only home. It’s not all our fault because we’ve been told that this is what makes for a happy, successful life, but more and more of us are realizing that this isn’t true.

The world is full of the things we buy, from diapers to plastic straws, and if you want to be more environmentally friendly, you should think of everything you buy as an eco-friendly choice.

  Support Local Businesses 

This is a big step toward living in a more sustainable way, but it’s often missed. Being more environmentally friendly doesn’t mean you can never buy anything again. Smaller, independent, and local businesses are often more environmentally friendly than large corporations, so giving your money to them is a great way to be greener.

  Check out the brands you often buy from. Do they work with a group that helps people in need? Do they make up for their pollution? Are they a business that helps people? Do they help the environment in any way? What about if they use a managed IT provider – are they doing what they can too? All of these are easy things you can do to make sure your money is helping the environment.

  When you buy from a local business, your money stays in your community, and you know you’re helping real people who are often very passionate about their work, skill, or product.

Make And Mend 

If you want to live in a more sustainable way, you need to keep your things, clothes, and other belongings in circulation for longer and value them more.

  Although, of course, recycling is a positive thing, it can also be useful to think of it as a last resort. Most of what we think we recycle doesn’t get recycled, and it only makes up a small part of everything we throw away. By fixing broken things and using them for longer, we’re actually living much more sustainably, only recycling when we really have to, and ideally not sending anything to landfills if possible. 

Travel Carefully

We’re all rethinking how we travel right now, so it’s time to think about how your new, more sustainable lifestyle fits into travel. Going on vacation in a more eco-friendly way can mean different things.

  Don’t fly, which is one of the worst things you can do for the environment. Carbon emissions from a round-trip flight to New York are more than what some people in developing countries use up in a whole year. Slow travel is great. Whether you take the train or a bike, enjoy not being in a hurry and seeing the scenery from a different angle. Travel less but travel better. Slow down and enjoy the ride. This will make your trip more meaningful and give you deeper, more life-changing experiences.

Simple Steps To Make Your Office Space More Eco-Friendly

By Julie Starr • 07 Oct, 2024
Becoming more eco-friendly and running a greener business is a responsibility that business owners really need to think more about. The good news is that if you spend a lot of time in your office, there are plenty of ways to make it more eco-friendly without having to overhaul everything and start again (which isn’t just disruptive, but expensive too). So, if you’re ready to get started, here are some simple steps to make your office space more eco-friendly; read on to find out more. Use Energy-Efficient Lighting This idea is a simple one that you can do no matter what else might be on your list of tasks - it’s quick, easy, and really makes a difference; change your light bulbs to something more energy efficient. If you’re still using traditional fluorescent bulbs, it’s time to upgrade to LED which doesn’t just last longer, but also uses a lot less energy. They’re easy to install and they’ll help you cut down on your office’s energy usage almost instantly. If possible, you should make the most of natural light too, so think about rearranging your workspace to let in more sunlight, which saves energy and can boost your mood - it’s a win-win that you can do right away. Prioritize Air Quality The air you breathe matters, and keeping it clean can do wonders for your health and the planet. One way to improve air quality is by adding plants to your workspace because plants are natural air purifiers, and as a bonus, they’ll make your office feel more inviting. Another great idea is to make sure your office’s HVAC system is working efficiently, and having air duct cleaning done by professionals is an easy step you can take to improve air quality and ensure your heating and cooling systems aren’t wasting energy. Clean air ducts mean cleaner air, less strain on your system, and even lower energy bills, so it’s a simple but really effective thing to do. Switch To Reusable Products If your office is still stocking up on single-use plastic items, it’s time for a change - swap your disposable cups, utensils, and plates for reusable ones and you’ll be surprised at how much waste to eliminate. And what about encouraging people to bring their own mugs and water bottles to work? Give them tea, coffee, and water to refill everything with, and you’ll be doing your bit to help the planet and have less waste to deal with as well. And don’t stop with these things either - there are loads of reusable products that could be useful in your office. You could have refillable pens and ink cartridges for your printer, for example. Go Paperless Speaking of your printer, is that an office machine you actually need? If you were to go digital and aim for a paperless office , you might be able to do away with the printer, which means less money spent on ink and paper, and less energy used altogether. You should be able to set up a system where documents can be shared online and stored electronically, and there are plenty of tools around to help you do exactly that (and much more). If you don’t need to print something and you don’t need a physical copy of a document, don’t make one - just use the digital version instead and you’ll be a lot more eco-friendly.

3 Most Unsustainable Industries & What They're Doing To Be More Eco-Conscious

By Julie Starr • 04 Oct, 2024
Sustainability often gets pushed on the common person. Joe Public is told to be more sustainable with their daily habits as the government pushes for more eco-friendly measures. This is all well and good - but does it really matter when 71% of greenhouse gas emissions come from just 100 companies around the world? Small business owners are desperate to prove their sustainability, but what are bigger companies in some of the most polluting industries doing to help? We’ve taken three of the least sustainable sectors on the planet and explored the unique ways they’re trying to cut down on emissions and be more eco-friendly. Mining Any industry revolving around drilling underground will not be very environmentally friendly! Mining causes a lot of pollution, but its unsustainability often comes from the way it damages local environments and ecosystems. So, what is this industry doing to change things? It’s largely focusing on more responsible mining practices to reduce waste and mitigate the impact on local environments. This is done through mining dust suppression systems to prevent airborne pollution, reforesting mining sites when they’re no longer in use, and recycling as many materials as possible. Is it perfect? No, but it’s a step in the right direction. Fossil Fuels Shock horror; the fossil fuels industry is the most damaging to our environment. Finding ways to change the scope of this sector is the key to ensuring a better future for all. Some companies in this industry are trying to do this through carbon capture and storage. This is a technique where CO2 emissions are captured before they’re released into the atmosphere and stored underground. Realistically, the main thing fossil fuel companies should be doing is pushing for more renewable energy sources. Many are doing this - though reports suggest they’re not investing as much as they should. If fossil fuel companies dumped more money into developing biofuels and other renewable sources, pollution from this industry would drop dramatically. Fashion The most unbelievable stat to take from this post is that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of our global carbon footprint . That’s remarkable (and worrying), considering how most of us don’t view it as a “dangerous” industry. Fast fashion is the main problem; poorly-made goods are pumped out at a rapid rate, and consumers constantly buy new things. Fashion companies are trying their best to resolve this. Most big brands will now have sustainable lines using recyclable materials. Consumers also hold the key to solving this problem: stop buying new clothes all the time and wear yours for longer. Or buy pre-owned clothes to slow down the fashion production line. Companies can still do more as well: they are trying to adopt more eco-friendly production processes that use less water and energy. The moral of this post is that everyone can do their bit to fight for a more sustainable future. Keep this in mind for your small business . It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in; there will always be ways to promote eco-friendly practices.
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