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Why do we need to consider sustainable living? What does sustainable living mean to you? When do we consider a home to be sustainable? These are just some of the few questions that pops up in our minds whenever we hear sustainable home living.
Online resources define sustainable living as “living a lifestyle that uses as few resources as possible and causes the least amount of environmental damage for future generations to deal with”. A sustainable home on the other hand is defined as “a home that should be constructed from materials that have been produced in an environmentally friendly manner”. When a house was built to be environmentally friendly with sustainable design, used recycled materials, has an alternative energy resources and is energy efficient then that is the time where we can say that a house is sustainable.
There are many ways on how to maintain a sustainable lifestyle. Whatever you do, whatever you buy, eat, use and where you live, always think sustainably and Eco-friendly because that’s the main heart of living sustainably. You exist in this world not to mess around and degrade the environment but to live in such a way that you live peacefully and ecologically with nature.
How Can We Live a Sustainable life?
Does living sustainably mean you have to go back to living like the prehistoric era? NO! Do you need to surrender all the luxuries that you are enjoying now? Not necessarily. Environmental sustainability is more on becoming aware of the natural resources and learning how to use them wisely in such a way that you become Environmental Friendly. Here are some samples that you can do in order to live a sustainable life.
Save on Energy
One of the easiest way to help our environment is to conserve energy at home. Often times, we neglect these small things but when we start to implement them, we are saving not only energy but also on utility bills.
- Lights and appliances that are not being used must be turned off and unplugged.
- Use LED and energy efficient lighting and fixtures. Avoid using incandescent light bulbs, rather buy and use compact fluorescent bulbs.
- Install energy efficient appliances.
- Program home air conditioning system to raise or lower or turn off when you are not home.
- During summer, open up your windows and let fresh air come in. You can also hang dry your clothes if it’s just possible in your area. Doing these will save you on electrical bill.
Choose to Eat Local Food
Convenience store and supermarkets have an aisles of locally grown natural and organic fruits and vegetables. Rather than buying those processed and canned food, opt for fresh greens that are harvested fresh and healthy. Doing so eliminates your household from having so much thrash that are non-biodegradable. If it is necessary for you to buy one, be sure to reuse or recycle them.
Disposable Items
Avoid buying and using disposable items that are made from plastic materials because these things take years of years before they get decompose. Imagine buying a lot of disposable items and disposing them all after a single use, landfills would end up piling more and more! Think of the hazardous effects these thrash can do to our environment. Rather than buying disposable straws or cups try to buy those reusable ones. Not only that you are helping the environment, but you are also saving a lot of money from buying them from time to time.
Help the Environment by Planting
Nothing is so satisfying and overwhelming than seeing greens in your home and in your garden. Plant herbs, fruits, and vegetables in your area. You can do many things even with a small area. Many herbs don’t need much space and they can even survive and thrive is small planter boxes. Grow root crops and everything that can go directly from garden to kitchen as food. Go Green!
Recycling
Waste recycling is one of the easiest yet most neglected means of caring for our environment, this is due to the fact that we get used to simply throwing everything in the bin. It was not accustomed, not practiced. We need to recycle things as much as possible because it helps limit the volume of thrash that we throw on a daily basis. What can we recycle? Many things. From old lights, batteries, damaged phones, bottles, tins, papers and so on…all of these things can be recycled. Check in your area for a recycling shop. Another form of recycling is donating old stuff that you no longer want that other people find useful. You may also donate stuffed toys and other toys that you kids no longer want to charity. Clothes may also be donated, there are so many less fortunate people in the world who would appreciate donations.
Less Plastic, Much Better
If you can avoid buying stuff that has plastics with them – either wrapper, bag, or bottle form, much better. You are saving the planet from piling so much waste plastic materials that are being dumped in landfills.
Buying Eco-friendly products is a must nowadays that way we all can do our fair share in conserving our environment. Here are some samples of Ecofriendly products:
Natural Wooden Food Grade Popsicle Craft Sticks
Organic Natural Cotton Mesh Bags for Grocery Shopping
Wooden Detangling Paddle Hair Brush
Bamboo Desk Organizer Blocks Set
Conserve Water
Sustainable living means you are able to conserve water whether you are at home, office or just about anywhere else. Being efficient with the use of water can be done in various ways. Say in the toilet, there are toilet bowl flushes that allows us to select whether we want half flush or full flash, liquid waste go for half flush while solid waste for full flush. Another is when brushing your teeth, use a glass of water and do not let the faucet open all throughout while brushing. Using a glass would save so much water that goes down the drain.
There are modern homes that are equipped with highly engineered water sewerage system that allows used water in the shower room, kitchen and so on to be collected, processed and reused for other purposes such as watering the plants.
Conserve Fuel or Gas
As much as possible, make use of your city’s bus, train, carpool, or simply walk if it’s just a short distance. There are too many cars nowadays the air pollution is becoming worst especially in major cities. Using bikes or simply walking on short distances doesn’t only allow us to save on fuel but also a great means of exercise and saving the environment because we are lessening the amount of gas emissions that are harmful to both humans and animals.
Why Is It Important to Do Sustainable Living?
There are so many reasons why living sustainably is important. One of the primary reason is Environmental protection. A community that thinks and live sustainably has cleaner environment. Having a clean air, clean environment away from any toxic materials is a must in order to thrive.
Given these insights, sustainable living is achievable. Let us work together to make our plant safe to live in. Start doing your share in order to help our environment – live sustainably!