A hand full of lifestyle changes that the world will thank you for.
As I student I know, sustainability and climate change is not always at the front of our minds. But it doesn’t have to be as complicated or as scary as it seems. There are so many small changes you can make that will make so much difference, and before long you won’t even realise that you’re doing it differently. So, I thought I would share the small changes I made, to make my day-to-day life more sustainable.
1. Make a meal plan
At the start of the week, I like to sit down and make a plan of what I’m going to eat each day, this means that when I go shopping I only buy exactly what I need. By knowing what you need and only buying that, you can reduce your food waste as you’re not buying too much or ingredients you don’t need. In addition, by planning what you’re going to make over the week, you can correlate those meals to use the same ingredients, for example if you need beef for one meal, use it for two so that you can make sure you use it all. This will also save you so much money, by only buying the food you will eat, you won’t be throwing food that you’ve spent your money on, in the bin.
2. Meat free Mondays
A super easy way that you can make a difference in your environmental impact is reduce the amount of meat you eat. No matter what your used to, you do not need a piece of meat every day. There are so many alternatives which have the equal benefits, which I would say taste just as good and are even sometimes cheaper. Chose Quorn mince over regular beef in your chilli or choose the Quorn nuggets (which I would argue are so much better than normal nuggets).
3. Shop second hand
It is so easy nowadays to shop second hand and still get high quality, on trend pieces at a lower price. Going to charity and vintage shops allows you still experience the fun of going to shop and trying on cloths but will the sustainable and cheaper element with it. Then there is also Depop and Vinted where you can make money from selling the clothes you don’t wear anymore, but also buy more in a more sustainable way. Similar to these apps, shops like Zara have started schemes where you can sell your old cloths from that brand or buy what others are selling.
4. Check your recycling days
Knowing what you can recycle and when it is taken is such a small change you can make but can make such a big difference. Taking just seconds to rinse it out can also make such a difference as if you leave food in or on it they can then reject it or just makes the job of the recycling centre. I know this seems so obvious but its such an easy way to make such a difference. Imagen all the rubbish sat in landfill which could have been recycled, just sat waiting centuries to break down. That resource is so useful and can be used over and over again.
5. Reduce your single use
This is another one which is such an easy change to make. Take your shopping for example, buy simply taking a bag with you, whether it’s a bag for life or just one you got last time you were there, you will be reducing the ones in circulation. Or buy yourself a cute new water bottle or coffee cup, the reuse of that will reduce the amount of plastic water bottles and cups being used which will end up in landfill. Other additional reusable items that I personally found really useful were reusable cotton pads and flannels for when removing makeup and washing your face. By using these instead of pads and face wipes that I then binned, I reduced my waste massively.
All these changes can make such difference to how sustainable your lifestyle is even if you implement them just one at a time. You may also see an economic benefit with many of these options being cheaper in the long run, making your choosing not only better for the world but also better for your bank account.