Living an eco friendly lifestyle may appear a hassle for the uninitiated, another duty to add to the daily to-do list. Being selective about the things you purchase and attempting to recycle and reuse are not habits that many of us have developed. But, as with most things that require thinking and work, making the switch to “going green” can be extremely rewarding, which could also add different aspects to our lives that we may not have expected.
Conserving energy with LED light bulbs, buying California avocados at your neighborhood organic store, and frying sustainably caught fish are enjoyable activities, but who would have guessed that all of this green living could make us happier?
Think about it — when we choose to live a life that is more under our beliefs and the principles of nature, we naturally improve our state of health and well-being. In this article, we’ve included simple changes that you may make to improve your connection to the environment and make you feel good about your everyday activities and the general direction of your life.
How to Live a More Eco Friendly Lifestyle in 5 Easy Steps
1. Discover Your Personal “Ecosophy”
Green living indicates an awareness that the things we are doing are not environmentally sustainable in the long run. While that viewpoint is probably true, it has the potential to turn into fear. Some ‘eco-freaks’ make an eco-friendly living on a pedestal, treat it as an obsession, or even practice it as a religion. It is no longer a happy path; instead, it is a time sink, a phobia, or a soapbox to stand on.
Back in the 1980s, the Norwegian book Ecology, Community, and Happiness explored the concept of living happily while maintaining a constant awareness of one’s responsibility to the environment and the rest of the world. The author Arne Naess and student David Rothenberg write that finding a system of belief—a worldview or an “ecosophy”—is the key that helps us guide our actions and live according to our values.
Having an eco friendly lifestyle has a different meaning to each person and it also has a different mental process. The more a person’s beliefs align with the movement, the more traction the movement gets and we become happier as a collective since we start getting more support and less judgment from our social circles.
2. Walk Your Core Values
According to a 2005 study published in the journal Social Indicators Research, there is a statistically significant association between enhanced ecological awareness and an increased sense of life satisfaction and well-being. Science is increasingly confirming the philosophical concept that green consciousness is a road to sustained Happiness.
“Lifestyle change” is a fundamental principle of most environmentally friendly practices. Over time, people make adjustments to the overall structure of their daily lives to bring the items they consume and the things they get rid of more closely in line with their “greener” ideals.
For example, you may stop driving a car in favor of biking instead. Or you may decide that you don’t need to use paper towels and opt to reuse dry-cleaning bags and wet wipes. In the long term, these small changes mark the beginning of a new way of life— one that is more sustainable and makes us feel better about having made it.
This “intentional change,” according to some theorists, is what allows people to experience a sense of control over their destinies—this means having personal power and decision over the bigger industrial systems that have dominated our choices for many decades.
3. Design Your Way of Life
The principles of “lifestyle design” are pulled out from architectural and fashion-related design concepts, which create a more deliberate and purposeful life.
What happens when you give yourself the time to develop some parameters for how you want to live—and then act on them—instead of being pushed this way by moment-to-moment impulses and impulse purchases?
Combining a green ethic into your lifestyle design is a beneficial method to establish lifestyle objectives that you can achieve and maintain one step at a time, resulting in daily behaviors that make you proud to be you.
4. Redesign the World
Environmental changes start in mind. Redesigning the world begins with you. This can be applied to every aspect of life:
- What you eat.
- How you exercise.
- What you wear.
- What you drive.
- What furniture do you buy?
- What kind of home do you live in?
- What type of neighborhood do you live in?
You redesign your world by making conscious choices and implementing them. By understanding the consequences of our choices of what we buy and where we shop, what services we use, and how we choose to travel, we can make more conscious choices that benefit us and the planet.
5. Enough Is Enough
No matter how green you go, choosing not to use disposable products is an obvious way to minimize your environmental impact. Make your money count—buy local, organic food or products labeled “zero waste.” Take fewer trips by sharing rides to reduce demand for cars.
Buy quality clothes made from sustainable materials such as hemp or organic cotton. Buy organic and fair trade foods. Buy second-hand goods from thrift shops. Buy energy-efficient appliances and other electronics with Energy Star, LED light bulbs, compact fluorescent, and low-flow showerheads.
Buy an all-natural latex mattress instead of one made with toxic petrochemicals. Avoid disposable products (ceramic), cups, and bottles. Avoid using plastic shopping bags. Go gray water—don’t buy it or make your own. Grow your vegetables, fruits or herbs, etc. Use reusable shopping bags (paper or cloth).
Don’t succumb to ads, impulse purchases, or the “urge” for more when you have enough. And say “enough is enough” to the top producers of things. Choose long-lasting, high-quality, environmentally friendly goods. Be astonished at how much better you’ll feel about yourself when you make choices that are true to who you are.
As with any worthwhile goal, making these changes a part of your life can take time. In the beginning, you may have to resist some urges or sacrifice some pleasures, but eventually, you’ll adapt to the new ways of life.
If you deliberately design your way of living according to what’s important to you and make conscious decisions, living a greener lifestyle will feel good physically and mentally, but it will also improve your sense of well-being.
Make a change and learn about money and health, the benefits of botanical perfume, and why you should choose Piñatex over animal leather.
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