How To Live A More Sustainable Life

Julie Starr • June 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.

How Outsourcing Services Can Help Your Business Advance Sustainability Goals

By Julie Starr • April 20, 2025
Sustainability is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a business imperative. From shifting customer expectations to regulatory momentum and investor pressure, today’s competitive landscape demands more than short-term cost savings. Companies are being called to demonstrate leadership by embedding sustainable practices across their value chain. For many organizations, this transformation can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. Strategic outsourcing can unlock both environmental benefits and operational efficiency—helping your company do more with less while strengthening its sustainability performance. By partnering with service providers who specialize in sustainability, you can streamline operations, reduce environmental impact, and build trust with customers, employees, and investors alike. Below are some key areas where outsourcing can support your sustainability journey. Green Energy Consulting Services Are you wondering how to lower energy consumption without impacting business performance? Green energy consultants specialize in reducing carbon footprints through practical, scalable solutions. These experts analyze your energy usage and identify opportunities like switching to renewables, upgrading to energy-saving systems, or adopting smart technologies. Outsourcing initiatives such as solar panel installation or wind-powered electricity procurement signals your organization’s long-term commitment to environmental leadership. And as with many sustainability investments, the result is not just impact—it’s also efficiency and cost savings. Framed in the right way, these actions can become powerful stories that demonstrate your company's values to customers and stakeholders. Sustainable Supply Chain Management A sustainable supply chain is essential for companies aiming to lead in today’s circular economy. Third-party logistics providers and supply chain consultants can help in auditing your supply chain to uncover inefficiencies, and recommend improvements aligned with eco-conscious goals. By outsourcing this function, you gain access to experts who help embed sustainability into procurement practices—using local materials, reducing waste, and improving freight efficiency. Many providers can also connect you with suppliers that share your environmental standards, enabling a cohesive approach to sustainable sourcing. These supply chain enhancements not only reduce emissions and waste—they also reinforce your brand’s environmental credibility across the stakeholder ecosystem. Eco-Friendly IT and Cloud Computing Running a tech-intensive business? Traditional on-site data centers are energy-intensive. Outsourcing IT infrastructure to green cloud providers can dramatically lower your environmental impact. Cloud vendors who use renewable energy for data storage and server operations offer an efficient alternative to on-premise solutions. They also reduce hardware waste and improve system performance—making them both eco-friendly and future-ready. For organizations prioritizing digital sustainability, this move can be a cornerstone of your environmental strategy—and a strong signal of innovation to your stakeholders. Sustainable Junk Removal Services Sustainable operations include responsible waste management. Outsourcing junk removal to companies that prioritize recycling and charitable donations keeps unnecessary items out of landfills and extends the life cycle of materials. These services allow businesses and individuals to declutter responsibly, supporting both environmental and community well-being. It’s a simple but visible action that can reinforce your sustainability message both internally and externally. Carbon Offsetting Services Not all emissions can be eliminated—but many can be offset. Specialized outsourcing firms help companies calculate, track, and neutralize their carbon emissions through strategic reforestation projects , renewable energy, or community resilience projects. These providers simplify the path to carbon neutrality, enabling your business to meet emissions targets without overwhelming internal resources. When shared transparently, these efforts can build credibility and show stakeholders your commitment to real climate action. Green Building and Facility Services For organizations with a physical footprint, outsourcing to green building service providers supports both environmental and business performance. Whether you're retrofitting with energy-efficient systems, reimagining interior layouts for LEED certification, or upgrading lighting and HVAC, retrofitting to eco-friendly office design supports long-term thinking. Outsourcing this expertise ensures you’re not only meeting today’s expectations—but also building for tomorrow’s workforce and market needs. Outsourced R&D for Sustainable Products Developing greener products doesn’t need to be done in-house. By outsourcing R&D to sustainability-focused experts, your company can bring innovative ideas—like biodegradable packaging or low-impact materials—to market faster. These partnerships inject creativity and specialized knowledge into your product development pipeline, helping you stay ahead of regulatory shifts and consumer demand. More importantly, they support a brand narrative rooted in innovation and responsibility. Conclusion: Aligning Profit with Purpose Sustainability isn’t just about compliance—it’s about competitiveness, resilience, and leadership. Outsourcing to sustainability-minded providers allows your business to focus on core strengths while accelerating progress toward environmental and ESG goals. From energy and IT to supply chain and product development, these partnerships offer a smart path forward—one that balances operational efficiency with lasting impact.  At its best, sustainable outsourcing isn’t a sideline strategy. It’s a meaningful part of how forward-thinking companies align profit with purpose—and demonstrate what’s possible when businesses lead with values.

Ways the Agriculture Industry is Changing Rapidly

By Julie Starr • April 18, 2025
If you are running a business that is in the field of agriculture at all, there are a whole host of changes that are happening at a rapid rate. You certainly need to make sure that you are keeping one eye on these as they are happening - no matter whether you run a business that is directly related to this area or you are simply adjacent to it. Here are just a few of the main ways that the agriculture industry is changing at the moment. Rapid advances in tech Like almost every other industry on the planet, the number of changes that are occurring in the agriculture industry are staggering. If you don’t keep a close eye on these changes, you are more than likely to be left behind the people that are. So, you will need to look closer at the future of biotechnology in agriculture amongst other things. There are also several other distinct ways that tech is changing agriculture. First of all, there is the increased mechanization and automation that is occurring. This is likely to be developed further by the AI revolution that is happening at an increasingly rapid rate. Precision farming is also an area that is developing at a rapid rate. This essentially means more closely monitoring a whole range of different areas from pest control to research management. On top of this, there is also a move towards methods of more urban farming, which often looks at the possibility of vertical farms as well as those that can take place in an indoor environment. Changes in the environment As the effects of climate change continue to matter in a whole host of different areas, it is certainly the case that this is going to make a difference to the world of agriculture. There are more and more practices that are being developed specifically to ensure that they are resistant to changes in the environment. This means that harvests can be just as big no matter what is going on in the external world. As weather patterns become more and more unpredictable, this is going to become increasingly vital. Focus on sustainability Again, this is a concern that impacts a lot of different industries, but there is no doubt that sustainability is going to have an impact on the world of agriculture. Ultimately, if things cannot be done in a sustainable way, this is going to have a huge effect on the world. This comes in a few different forms, but it certainly places focus on keeping soil health as good as possible, as well as keeping pesticide and fertilizer pollution down as low as it can be. Changes in diet There has been a big push towards vegetarianism and veganism over the past few years. There is no doubt that these changes in diet then have to be reflected in the agricultural industry as well. While there are many other changes that could be discussed, these are just a few of them.