I want to start this blog post with the real, real. If you are reading this, you’re probably a lot like me. You want to do a little better for the earth, but you are also realistic in that doing things perfect in this area is almost impossible. Or super expensive! Sometimes it can feel like it is really, really hard to live more sustainably in a world where anything convenient is likely the opposite of sustainable. Everything is in plastic, everything is green-washed in the marketing, and it’s actually REALLY hard to do your best because half the time you don’t even know if you can recycle something…

But, after I was thinking a lot about this topic, I realized that it’s really about just trying. And that more often than not, you are making a choice that is helping the earth, not hurting. It’s not about being perfect in every area!

Being sustainable means that you are supporting something that, over the long term, will not compromise or harm the environment, especially for the future generations! Being sustainable helps the environment as well as the economy and society as a whole.

HerE ARE 6 Easy ways to live more sustainably TODAY AND HELP OUR EARTH.

These are easy things to try and implement as you are looking at your own life and looking at the areas you could do a little better for the earth. If every single person, made some of these changes or choices throughout their days, that would lead to a huge difference.

1. Advocate and Educate!! I put this one as #1 for easy ways we can live more sustainably, because the more we spread awareness about sustainability in our communities and advocate for it, the more we will impact and inspire positive change!!! It’s why I am writing this blog post in the first place. Change starts with all of us, individually, and it’s important to talk about this and help each other! If you are a parent, talk to your children about this! This world is their future and they are watching you take care of it, and will grow up doing the same! We are all human, so don’t worry about being perfect to be able to talk about this… we are all on the same page and just trying our best.

2. Ditch Single-Use Plastic. This can be hard because we are surrounded by single use plastic!! But three areas I have worked on is our trash bags, sandwich/gallon bags for our kitchen, and water bottles. Opt for compostable bags instead of plastic ones for your kitchen. We switched to the compostable brand HoldOn bags for our trash bags, gallon and sandwich bags that we use. You can also find the HoldOn trash bags and sandwich bags on Amazon. The bags are non-toxic and break down in 30 days instead of hundreds of years! For water bottles, opt for stainless steel or glass instead of plastic. This is not only better for the environment, but also is better for your health, as plastic bags and bottles have harmful chemicals including PFAS. If you have to buy disposable plates and kitchen items, opt for compostable ones.

3. Reduce waste. This is an area I am constantly working on - choosing things with minimal packaging, use refillable/reusable items, avoiding disposable things when possible and trying to use compostable packaging when you do need something disposable. Composting our food waste has been a major thing we started doing in our home to help reduce our waste and trash! We use a local St. Louis composting service called New Earth Farm, and they drop a bucket off that we fill with our food scraps and waste and then they pick it up every other week and turn it into compost. You can find a service like that in your own city (think of it like recycling but for food waste) or do it yourself in your backyard!

4. Plant a tree in your backyard. I think this is a fun one! Trees help combat climate change because they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And are pretty in your yard. You can also look into local tree-planting initiatives in your own communities to help the improve the air quality. On the topic of planting… go ahead and also plant flowers in your backyard and help the bees and butterflies!! Zinnias, Salvia, Coneflowers, Milkweed, Bee Balm, Lavender and butterfly bushes are all great things to plant in your yard to help our earth and are also sooo pretty.

5. Open your windows. This not only improves the air quality in your home and helps reduce the environmental toxins you may be breathing in, but this also cuts down on your usage of the AC or heating, which saves energy and also money.

6. Be a Conscious Consumer. One of the best ways to make meaningful change is in the products that we buy. In how we spend our money. As a consumer we have an amazing power to influence industry practices through where we purchase. When you are shopping, look at the brand you are buying, read their website, look over their mission and any sustainability goals they may have. Are they a B Corporation? B Corps have a strict criteria to meet and take into consideration people and planet - and are great brands to support!! When you are looking at the brands you purchase from, look at things like whether they are sustainably packaged, organic, local, a B Corporation, don’t use harmful chemicals. Sustainable brands reduce their carbon footprint, minimize their waste, promote ethical sourcing and labor practices, and also educate consumers and empower them to make eco-conscious choices. A lot also advocate for policy change. Shopping with brands that do these things is important! It’s also empowering for us as consumers - I love supporting brands like this.

Overall, living more sustainably doesn’t have to be complicated. If you incorporate some of these things into your own life, you can make a tangible difference and help be part of the solution to fight climate change and make a difference on our planet. I truly believe every small action together contributes to a better future. And it feels really good to know that the choice you are making is helping the earth!

If you do any of these things, share about it with others and inspire your neighbors!! Tag me at @urban.apron or message me, I love connecting and helping make this world a better place!

xo,

Anna