How to be Green and Eco-friendly

Are you looking to be more green or want to step up your eco-friendly game? When you realize there are nearly eight billion of us living together on this planet, it seems like there’s not much any one of us can do on our own to be more environmentally friendly. But in reality, every little bit of effort counts, and the benefits of living a greener life are incredible:

• Conserve money and natural resources
• Reduce environmental pollution and energy costs
• Teach younger generations to be more independent and self-aware

Eco-Friendly Decluttering

Increasingly, people want to be better about unburdening themselves from their unwanted clutter. Here are some aspects to consider when decluttering:

• Be mindful of the environmental impacts of what you bring into your home and think of how you contribute to landfill waste
• Donate to charities or give away to friends

• Freecycling on Facebook Marketplace
• Reduce, reuse, and recycle when possible

Bringing Less Stuff Home

The best way to stay eco-friendly while decluttering is to bring fewer excess items into your home. This may mean canceling your magazine subscriptions or going to paperless billing. Simply cutting down on the number of hard copies of paper products can greatly reduce your carbon footprint and keep your home cleaner for longer.

Mind Your Shopping

Another way of bringing less stuff home is to be more mindful of your shopping in general. Everything in the production, manufacturing, packaging, and delivery of the products we buy has an environmental footprint. This is a great opportunity to start exploring second-hand buying, as it already exists, has significantly less of a footprint, and is oftentimes of better, longer-lasting quality. If you are going to shop first-hand, look at how much plastic is in the clothes and products you’re considering, like polyester and acrylic, and opt for the more organic, all-natural options. Again, it’s a great way to save the planet while also getting the most bang for your buck.

Fix a Better Plate

Eating less meat and more fruits and vegetables is actually really great for the planet and you! You don’t have to go vegetarian or vegan by any means, but eating less meat reduces the environmental footprint from the pollution, water usage, and habitat destruction in the production process.

Rethink Holidays and Special Occasions

During the holidays, birthdays, weddings, and other celebrations of life, we’re more likely to gather with others, offer gifts, and set up decor. These times of the year produce a ton of waste from plastic items, wrappings, trash, and unwanted leftovers and gifts. Consider how much you buy on these occasions, the quality of the materials, and reusing or thrifting things where you can.

Travel Greener

Cars and other fossil-fueled transportation create harmful air pollution with an increasing carbon footprint. If you’re going to have a car, consider buying electric or having regular tune-ups and tire inflations to increase your fuel efficiency. Otherwise, travel green by carpooling, doing multiple errands on one trip, walking, riding your bike, or taking public transportation.

Watch Your Water

A growing population puts high demand on our water sources, so it’s helpful to be more mindful and conserve water usage. Consider taking shorter showers, choosing low-flow and low-water appliance options, fixing leaky toilets, and consuming less meat and dairy products, as animal agriculture takes up a lot of water.

Minimize Plastic Use

Reducing, reusing, and recycling are the name of the game when it comes to living a more eco-friendly lifestyle. You can easily tackle the “reuse” action by ditching plastic and reusing other items, such as shopping bags, plates, and water bottles. When you’re grocery shopping, while it might be more convenient, consider buying less foods that have unnecessary plastic packaging, like precut fruit you could buy as a whole.

Strengthen Your Home

You can also improve your energy efficiency by updating and caring for your home. Ensure you have adequate insulation, a programmable thermostat, and energy-saving windows and lightbulbs. Consider making your garden more welcoming and supportive of nature by planting native and pollinator-friendly plants, removing invasive species, and ditching pesticides for organic options.

Use Your Voice

Another great way to help the planet is to use your voice and educate others for them to be green and eco-friendly. Consider joining or starting a community group that reuses or recycles items together. And if you garden, this could be a great time to get some fellow gardeners interested in composting.

At Life Enriching Communities (LEC), we’re committed to ensuring patrons feel well-equipped to plan their future and age how they wish. Explore more resources on senior living or contact us today to learn more about our legacy of services and programs that bring meaning and purpose to every stage of life.