5 Easy Sustainable Habits You Can Adopt at Home 

5 Easy Sustainable Habits You Can Adopt at Home

Sustainability is the way of the future, and more and more people are seeking to adopt as many changes as they can in support of the movement toward a more sustainable, eco-friendly way of living. That said, life gets busy, and sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming to consider what changes you can make to become part of the solution. 

The availability of sustainable solutions is expanding all the time. As Lindsay McLain, VP Marketing at JUST Water puts it, “When it comes to making the switch to a more sustainable way of living, sustainably packaged and ethically sourced products are easier to find than ever, with even the simplest of consumables now available in plant-based cartons, right down to spring water just like ours. There’s never been a better time to switch up everyday habits that combine to make a valuable difference.”

Here are five easy sustainable habits you can adopt at home.

1. Switch From Single-Use Foils, Papers, and Plastic Bags

We all know that single-use plastics and such are bad for the environment, but there’s no escaping the fact that they provide us with a good deal of convenience. That said, they are surprisingly easy to switch away from; it can sometimes just take a little conscious effort to change the habits of a lifetime. 

Alternatives to these products include silicone baking mats, storage containers, reusable sandwich bags, and cloth towels. Plus, when you need to cover over leftovers, a plate will often suffice and is less fiddly anyway.

2. Cut Back On Food Waste

Some of us may need to check in on our habits when it comes to how often we optimistically buy fresh produce, then fail to use it and eventually throw it out. Tips to minimize food waste include:

  • Sticking to a well-thought-out (and realistic) meal plan as best as possible 
  • Freeze produce that you aren’t getting around to using 
  • Use aging vegetables (that are still perfectly good for consumption) for stews or soups 
  • Turn leftovers into compost and use it in a home veggie patch to grow your own 
  • Leave separate meal components in individual containers during a meal - people can help themselves to seconds if they wish; otherwise, leftovers remain fresh and not as used scraps on people’s plates and destined for the trash

3. Grow Your Own Veggies

If you’re lucky enough to have a backyard, then you might consider making your own veggie patch and enjoying some fresh, home-grown produce. Once you’re all set up, this can save money, as well as help to keep the food you consume clean of any nasties

4. Add a Recycle Bin to Your Bathroom

Very few people seem to think of this one, but bathrooms are generally the second worst place (behind the kitchen) for producing plastic waste and packaging, so it makes sense to keep a recycling bin in the main bathrooms of your house. It needn’t be all that large, just enough to keep used tubes, bottles, and packaging from ending up in the general trash bin. 

5. Reconsider Your Toiletries

While we’re on the subject of the bathroom, not only is it typically one of the more wasteful corners of a home but many of the products we use in there are packed with chemicals that are bad for us and the environment. 

There is a growing variety of options on the market now for more natural skincare options, many of which also come in sustainable packaging, so consider giving your go-to bathroom products a bit of an overhaul next time you’re stocking up. 

Final Thoughts

There are so very many things that you can change at home to make the way you live more sustainable, and hopefully, this little list has given you some inspiration. Minimizing waste, using resources smartly, and reconsidering how you shop for the products you use at home can be done in stages to make it more manageable, but in no time, the valuable changes you are making will start to stack up. Just get started!