Our planet is in crisis, and we can all help. Here’s the Man Body Spirit Guide to living more sustainably.
17 practical things we can all do in our everyday life for a more sustainable home, habits and hobbies.
The more informed we are about the eco crisis, the more we start to feel hopeless. Apocalyptic news we receive every day sometimes leave us with a feeling of deep despair. As a consequence, some of us feel like our hands are tied with nothing we can do to turn things around.
Eco anxiety has become a real problem for many of us, but no damage is irreversible. Small changes add up and lead to real progress. There are so many small things we can do without changing our entire routine.
Maybe you feel discouraged because you couldn’t stick to a vegan diet – don’t!
While big lifestyle changes are not always within our reach, developing a single more sustainable habit is a huge victory in itself.
We’ve curated 17 things you can do to live more sustainably today – you don’t have to do all of them. Don’t feel overwhelmed. Try to choose at least one at a time and slot them into your daily routine. You’ll do the planet and yourself a huge favour.
Say no to single-use items
The amount of waste we create by using plastic razors and toothbrushes, wet wipes, paper towels and plastic cutlery is not negligible. Try saying goodbye to as many disposable products as you can and you’ll be making a huge impact in the long run.
So, what can you do today?
Buy and carry a hydro flask to keep yourself from buying bottled water. Or, just use that plastic bottle you bought in a thirst attack for as long as you can. Install a tap filter at home.
Buy a reusable coffee mug – those paper cups your coffee-to-go is served in are rarely recyclable and they end up in landfills. Also, making your coffee at home can save you a lot of money!
Grow your own food
We’re not necessarily suggesting you move to the forest. There are so many vegetables and spices you can grow with little to no effort even in a small, city apartment. You don’t need a garden or a lot of space – it just takes a windowsill and a few pots.
Chilli peppers, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, salad leaves, herbs and spices – these are all things you can easily grow in a plant pot. Just water them in the morning and you’ll have your own home-grown food in no time.
Also, did you know that many foods that you love and already have in the fridge can easily be regrown? For example, carrots and spring onions. The tip that you usually throw out can be put in a glass of water for a few days and then planted. Romaine lettuce, pineapples, basil, celery… Buy them once in the store and regrow them endlessly!
Review your personal care items
Do you know that the number of shampoo bottles thrown out in the United States every year can fill 1,164 football fields? This doesn’t even include aftershave and shower gel bottles.
There are alternatives to these products that won’t harm the environment in any way. Hard soap and shampoo are something you can make yourself, package free, and save yourself a lot of money as well. Obviously, you can buy them as well – either package free or sold in small paper wrappers. It’s estimated that 40% of women in the USA run a sustainable cosmetics brand through Instagram. Ok, fake statistic, never happened, but you get the message. You’ll be doing the planet a huge favor!
Commute more sustainably
We have to pull the brakes on driving in order to live more sustainably and save our cities from pollution. Of course, if you live really far from your office, that might not be completely achievable – but try organising a carpool if that’s the case. If you can afford it, switch to an electric car.
Buying a second-hand bicycle or using rent-a-bike or an electric scooter are also great options. Research the most sustainable commute option that works for you.
Think twice about your purchases
It’s definitely time to start shopping more mindfully. “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” are rules to live by.
Start investing in experiences and education – shopping impulsively only leaves our homes and our planet with unnecessary clutter. Before buying anything, ask yourself:
- Do I really need this?
- Can I rent this?
- Do I already have something that would do the job instead?
Buy things that are durable and not things you’ll have to replace after a month, only for them to end up in landfill.
Also check out our article on 6 Ways to be a more Conscious or Ethical Consumer.
Choose sustainable fashion
If you do decide to buy something, always consider whether it’s produced ethically. Inform yourself about sustainable fashion labels. Fast fashion does provide lower prices, but the clothes are produced in sweatshops under cruel conditions, and often wear out in less than 30 wears.
Buy clothes from small labels and choose natural, quality fabrics.
Did you know that the textile industry is the second largest pollutant on Earth? Every second, an equivalent of a garbage truck of textile is burned or disposed of in the landfills. Ruining the planet is never a good look, so try choosing clothes that are either secondhand or produced by an ethical label.
Read our Man Body Spirit guides to sustainable and ethical fashion here:
- Top 23 European Sustainable Fashion Brands for Men
- Top 15 North American Ethical Fashion Brands for Men
- 5 Best European Ethical Shoes and Accessories for Men
Cut out plastic
While love may not last forever, plastic definitely is. Plastic literally never goes away.
Millions of sea animals are killed every year ingesting plastic or getting tangled in it. A little less than half of the ocean’s surfaces contain plastic. That’s worth repeating: A little less than half of the ocean’s surfaces contain plastic. Mindblowing. There’s literally billions of pounds of plastic swirling in convergencies. A great alternative to plastic is bamboo.
Donate
An extra advantage of living a sustainable life is that you will definitely save some money. Choosing secondhand, reusing, buying more mindfully and not driving as often are all kinder on our bank accounts too, freeing up cash to support good causes focused on making positive change.
Donate to a cause you support, even if it’s just a few bucks. Maybe to an organisation researching materials that can substitute plastic forever, or one that is cleaning the oceans. Whatever it is, just a few dollars coming from each of us can amount to serious funds for causes you hold dear to your heart.
We waste so much money on things we don’t even need. We have coins in every pair of jeans – instead contribute that money to big changes around the world.
Save Energy
Reduce carbon emissions by making your home just a little bit greener. Switch off your standby appliances, stop using your drier and just hang your clothes instead, replace your lightbulbs with more efficient alternatives – all these things will result in a smaller utility bill, but also help our environment cope.
Did you know that three quarters of the power used in your home is actually used by appliances that are on standby? Invest in smart or advanced power strips – they can help you save up to 200 dollars a year by shutting off electronics when you’re not using them.
Sometimes living more sustainably requires almost no effort and saves us a lot of money.
Become an ethical omnivore
As you’ve probably heard, a vegan diet is the kindest on the environment. But if you can’t go full vegan, becoming an ethical omnivore is a great alternative.
What does that mean? Only eat meat, eggs and dairy that can be traced back to a farm that raises animals in grass fed, free range, non GMO ways and minimises animal cruelty.
Source your animal products locally – sometimes it’s more eco-friendly to eat meat that comes from a farm a few miles away than vegetables that travelled half the world to end up on your plate.
Buy Fair Trade
When you do buy food that can’t be sourced locally – like cocoa, chocolate or quinoa – look for the fair trade label. It means that what you just bought was made using sustainable methods of agriculture, but also that local people are receiving fair prices for the goods they sell and that they were fairly compensated for their work. Life hack: I kind of find that fair trade items have nicer packaging!
Recycle – but also avoid recycling
Sounds contradictory, right? What we mean is – recycle whenever you can. But also, just recycling plastic water bottles endlessly isn’t the answer either. Just avoid using plastic bottles all together. Recycling is not the most cost effective way of dealing with plastic – reducing its use is.
But, when you do recycle, make sure you’re doing it right. Separate mixed materials to help ensure your waste actually gets recycled. Trash in landfill produces methane, an extremely polluting greenhouse gas. That’s why it’s really important to minimise the amount of trash we produce and that our waste can actually be recycled.
Open the window and smell the roses
What we mean is – use as much natural light as you can. Not only will it reduce your utility bill, it also positively influences our mood. We need natural light to lift our energy levels. Lack of it can result in depression and insomnia. So, open the window and let the sunshine in!
Reduce paper use
There are many ways to reduce your paper use, from asking for e-receipts instead of printed ones, to sending invitations via email (yes, even wedding invitations).
Reducing your paper use will not only prevent trees from being cut, but also reduce the energy necessary to convert the poor trees into paper. A happy consequence is also less clutter.
Make your own cleaning products
Ok, maybe this was not on your bucket list, but if you knew how much money you could save this way – definitely enough for a full night of partying, you’d be more motivated. The cleaning products available in stores are full of extremely toxic chemicals. Those chemicals are harmful to our environments, to us, to our pets and to our kids.
Simply mix some baking soda, water and vinegar and you got yourself an all-purpose cleaner. Add a few drops of lavender essential oil for a nice smell or use tea tree oil for extra antibacterial power.
Get creative in the kitchen
If you cook your food from scratch, you’ll avoid a lot of packaging that can’t be recycled. Not to mention you’ll have a delicious meal that costs you way less than pizza that usually arrives cold anyway.
Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated – there are a million easy recipes that don’t require too much work. You can take turns with friends – maybe invite your buddies for barbecue this Sunday. Maybe they’ll return the invitation next week!
Bosh! And The Happy Pear are two of our failsafe go-to resources for mouthwateringly delicious, easy, hearty and vegan recipes.
Take care of yourself
Every man is a universe himself. While you can recycle all you want, we are still most responsible for the energy we bring to the world and the room.
Do things that make you happy. Breathe. Don’t judge yourself too harshly when you do buy bottled water. Just make sure you do better tomorrow.
If you become a better man than you were yesterday, if you heal yourself, you are also healing the Earth. You are healing the world.
