Living your life is something that is full of challenges and ups and downs, but you have the ability to turn those ups and downs into something full and meaningful. Part of that is finding ways to live your life in a more sustainable fashion. No one can tell you the best way to live your life but there are many specific things you can do to make more sustainable life choices and start making your life a more enjoyable and exciting thing.

Use Leftovers

Food waste is a very common problem in modern households, and it is a practice that isn’t good for the environment or your budget. By making it a part of your routine to actually use and eat the leftovers you generate, you can decrease your waste and get more out of your grocery budget each month. One of the best things you can do to make it easier to eat your leftovers is to start using them in interesting ways. For example, leftover baked potatoes can be used to make hash browns for breakfast. By making choices like this, you can revitalize your leftovers and make them even more delicious.

Go Plastic-Free

Single use plastics are another of the biggest forms of waste that American families participate in. By choosing to go plastic free you can decrease your carbon footprint and make a more sustainable lifestyle. You don’t have to let go of all plastics at once though. Start by avoiding single use plastics, like plastic silverware or plastic wrap. Then over time you can start to decrease your plastic use in other ways until you are no longer using any products with plastic wrappings. This is a challenging task, but it can be a huge benefit to your home and your sustainability.

Eat Less Meat

It’s not that everyone needs to be a vegetarian but decreasing your meat consumption can have a positive impact on the environment. One good way to start is by eating one meat free meal a week. Then as you get into that habit, you can start incorporating it more often until you have a few meat free meals each week. As you begin eating less meat you can experience a variety of new and delicious food that gets protein from other sources. As you reduce your meat intake it is important that you make sure you are getting the nutrients you need. You may even want to talk to your doctor about supplementation if you feel your energy levels go down at all.

Limit Car Use

Trips in your car are another element of your life that you can cut down on to decrease your impact on the environment. Window tinting can block 98% of solar heat, making your vehicle more efficient to keep cool. In addition, you can make a further effort to decrease your car use by using public transit, carpooling, and combining your trips so you can do less driving overall. Depending on where you live, driving may be more or less important to getting around, but you can always decrease your car use at least a little to help make the world a more sustainable and beautiful place.

Plant Trees or Plants

Taking care of plant life isn’t for everyone, but it can help just about everyone to add a little more plant life into their world. If you are just getting started with plant life, you may want to choose low maintenance options that are well suited to your environment. Then over time, you can start planting more plants. You can plant vegetables or fruits to help increase your access to nutrient rich food, or you can plant things that are simply beautiful. Either way they will help to increase the oxygen in the environment and decrease carbon dioxide levels, which makes a big difference on the environment generally.

Switch to a Bidet

For many people, a bidet is something they imagine as a fancy and expensive addition to rich people’s homes. However, bidets can be purchased very affordably now and there are a variety of options depending on your needs and budget. A bidet can cut down on the toilet paper you use on a regular basis and help you to feel and be a little bit cleaner. Do your research so you can choose a bidet that you love and that helps you be a little more sustainable. You can even choose options that can use warm water to make the process even more comfortable.

Eat In

When you eat at home you have a much easier time controlling the ingredients you have and what they offer to you and the environment. That way you don’t have to stick to whatever a restaurant has on hand. You can also better control portions at home so that you don’t make more than you need and can avoid food waste. If you do go out to eat, do your best to choose sustainable local restaurants that are doing their own work to decrease their carbon footprint and have a positive impact on the world.

Update Your Cleaning Supplies

It is important to make sure that your home is clean and well taken care of, but that doesn’t have to mean using dangerous chemicals that are hard on the environment. If you switch to more sustainable cleaning supplies, you can still have the clean home you want while also making sure that you are impacting the earth in a positive way. It can take some shopping around to find sustainable cleaning products that will do the best job but making the effort will help you to feel better about your decisions and your home.

Your home is a place where you have a decent level of control which makes it the ideal place to start increasing your sustainability. Every choice you make can help you to live more sustainably and have a more positive impact on those around you. That is a goal that is definitely worth striving for.

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