How green is your lifestyle? Making green choices in your life can do more than help you to do your part for the environment. If you make greener changes to your life it could help you to have a happier life too. You could save money, giving you more to save or to spend on things that you enjoy, and you could make your life healthier at the same time. You might already make some eco-friendly choices in your life, but there are always options to do more and make your life even greener. Transform the way that you live with some green lifestyle changes.
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Save Energy Around Your Home
When people want to live a green lifestyle, they often start by trying to save energy around their home. It’s a fairly easy way to make a change, especially as there are some small changes that you can make, which have long-term effects. For example, switching your light bulbs to LED bulbs will help you to save energy. You’ll also find that the bulbs will last longer than traditional ones. If you’re due to replace any appliances in your home or add any new ones, you can take a look at their energy rating to make sure you get something that will use less energy.
Changing your energy supply itself is also a great way to live a greener lifestyle. When you choose an energy supplier and tariff that uses renewable energy sources, you can play your part in helping the environment. Switching your energy supplier or tariff could also help you to save money every year. Once you’ve switched, you might want to consider other energy sources. Your own renewable energy from solar panels or other solutions can allow you to use less energy from your energy supplier.
You might also make changes around your home to reduce your energy usage. Ensuring your home is properly insulated is a great way to save energy. However, the things you choose to do in your everyday life are also important to live a greener lifestyle. For example, putting on an extra layer of clothing before you turn on the heating or taking a shorter shower can help you to save energy. The choices that you make each day can reduce your energy usage.
Save Water
You can also save water at home and elsewhere if you want to live a healthier lifestyle. You can reduce your environmental impact by saving water, and there are many ways that you can do it. Firstly, using your washing machine and dishwasher appropriately will help you to save water. Use the eco programs on your washing machine and try to use short cycles when possible. Many modern washing machines make it easier to save water and can even measure how much to use based on the weight of the load. Dishwashers are likely to save water compared to washing dishes by hand.
You can also save water in the bathroom. Bubble baths are nice, but a shorter shower will help you to save water. That means you’ll be helping the environment, but you’ll also be saving money on your water bills. You can also turn off the tap when you’re brushing your teeth, as well as be sure to fix any leaks around your home.
Examine Your Diet
Your diet is another easy area to make some simple green lifestyle changes. The food you buy and where it comes from both matter if you want to make eco-friendly decisions. One of the things you can consider doing is trying to eat local and seasonal food. When you buy food that is grown and made locally to you, it doesn’t have to travel as far to get to you. It’s more environmentally-friendly, and it can be cheaper too. Ingredients that are in season are more likely to be available from local producers, which means your diet might change depending on the season. Even if you have to order food abroad, you could limit it to a certain geographical area, like Europe.
Sustainable food is important too. Some fish might be locally-sourced, but is it a type that is being overfished? Reducing the amount of meat and dairy you eat is good for both your health and the environment. You don’t have to become a full vegetarian or vegan to eat less meat. Having it just a couple of times a week could make your diet healthier, and it might help you to save money too. Try looking for some vegan recipes online – you may be surprised at the variety!
Another thing that you might want to consider is water. If you find yourself buying a lot of bottled water, think about switching to tap water instead to reduce your plastic waste. You can use a water filter to improve the taste and reduce the hardness of your tap water if you need to. If you like sparkling water, you might consider something like a SodaStream. The gas used for sparkling water is a byproduct of other industries, so you’re just recycling it.
Reduce Your Fuel Use
Reducing your impact from driving is one of the biggest green lifestyle changes there is. Rethinking your car could make you happier and healthier, and it could save you money too. If you’re able to, ditching your car completely to rely on public transport or even walking and cycling is a good way to be healthier and save money. However, this isn’t possible for everyone, especially if you don’t have good access to public transport.
If you’re due to get a new car, you might want to think carefully about what you buy. A hybrid or totally electric car can help you to save fuel and give you a cleaner vehicle. A fully electric car like the Audi e-tron can give you the performance that you need while allowing you to stop using fossil fuels. Electric cars have come a long way, and they’re still developing, plus there are more and more charging stations that you can use.
If you’re not ready to switch to a hybrid or electric car, there are other ways to save fuel. First, think about your driving skills. You might see yourself as the best driver ever, but there’s always room to improve. Careful driving can help you to save fuel, especially if you keep your car well-maintained. Using your car less is also a good compromise between using it all the time and getting rid of it. When you walk, cycle or use public transport more often, you could improve your fitness, save money, and live a greener lifestyle.
Change Where and How You Shop
What you buy and where you buy it from factor into how green your lifestyle is. Shopping ethically isn’t something that you can do perfectly, but you can make an effort to make good choices as much as possible. One way to start shopping more responsibly is to choose independent businesses and support your local shops. It’s also a good idea to look in charity shops and buy things second-hand. Not only will it help you to save money, but it also means you’ll be reusing the things that you buy, instead of creating more demand for new items.
You can also be more careful about the things that you buy and where you choose to buy them from. Before you buy, find out more about the company and manufacturer. Are they passionate about fair trade? Do they have a transparent supply chain and make it clear how and where they make or source their products? You should also ask yourself whether you really need to buy something before you buy it.
Recycle and Reuse
Recycling and reusing can help you to reduce waste and deal with your waste in the right way. One of the best things that you can do is to get familiar with what your local council recycles. Not every authority recycles the same materials, so it’s important to know what you can and can’t put in your recycling bins. You can also take recycling into your own hands by taking things to your local recycling centre, especially items that are too big for your normal collection. Some items can be great for reusing, too, particularly if you can get creative.
Travel with Care
If you like to travel, you can do so in an eco-friendly and ethical way. Local travel is a good idea if you want to cut down on your carbon footprint. Staying within the UK or travelling in Europe, maybe choosing to take the train instead of flying or driving, will fit more easily into a green lifestyle. You can also choose to travel with green companies that make an effort to help the environment. They might have strong environmental policies or even offset your carbon footprint for your trip.
You can also take some steps to make your trip even more eco-friendly, such as packing light to reduce your carbon emissions. Want to know more? Sign up to my mailing list and receive a free guide to packing light, crammed with loads of ways to travel in a more eco-friendly way whilst saving cost and luggage space!
Take on some of these green lifestyle changes and you could be happier, healthier, and even have more money at the same time.
What green lifestyle changes have you made so far? Let me know below, and don’t forget to like and pin if you enjoyed this post! For further ways to reduce your environmental impact, check out these ten easy ways to save the environment at home that can all be done for free!
Want to start making your home more environmentally friendly? Here are some great products to invest in:
Global 1st Coconut Bowls – Eco-Friendly, Sustainable Kitchenware
Jeopace Bento Box – BPA-Free Solution To Food On The Go
The Princess & The Pickle – Eco-Friendly & Quirky Decor
I’m Actually pretty tempted to sell my car! A lot of my needs could be met with Lyft or Uber and deliveries!
Great post!
As a non-driver, it’s honestly not as difficult as you’d think to not own one – I haven’t needed one my entire life and I’ve been fine! I’m seeing more and more people say no to driving (or at least driving frequently) which I think is great. Plus it can work out cheaper, and it’s a lot less to worry about!
I am trying so hard to live a much cleaner and greener life right now. Some great tips in here that will help me!
Rosie
Glad it was useful!
So many good tips in here. No one can be perfect when it comes to sustainability but there are so many ways that we can make a difference, so there’s bound to be even one little thing each of us can do!
Definitely!
So many great tips that ALL of us can implement into our daily lives!
The more we can do as a collective, the better!