Things You Can Do to Live More Sustainably
Sustainable Businesses & Purchasing
Non-Profits & Trade Organizations
Universities With Sustainability Programs
Last Updated 01/15/2006
Created by the Spring 2007 Systems Thinking class, including Ellen, Emily, Jason, Kurt, Matt, Miranda, and Ron
Here are ideas for how to become more sustainable in the ways you…
Eat and Drink | Get Around | Shop | Don’t Shop | Live (At Home) | Work | Learn and Teach | Get Outside | Get Involved | Invest | LoveBuy local food; know your farmer
American food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it reaches your grocery store; this takes lots of energy and means your food is less fresh. Instead, shop at a local farmer’s market or co-op or seek out local products in your supermarket. Get to know local farmers and find out exactly how your food is produced. Trying drinking fewer soft drinks and more local tap beer.
Buy organic food
Buy in bulk to reduce packaging
Eat less meat
Reducing or eliminating meat in your diet has health and environmental benefits and prevents the inhumane treatment of farm animals. To learn more, try the book The Ethics of What We Eat, by Peter Singer and Jim Mason.
Grow your own
Planting a garden is therapeutic, fun, rewarding, and delicious. Your veggies are always fresh! Donate extras to local food pantries or give them as gifts.
Eat at locally owned restaurants
Reduce waste when eating out
Bring your own coffee mug. Bring a container for leftovers instead of using the restaurant’s disposable packaging. At home, try eating your leftovers cold; reheating makes a lot of food mushy and it never tastes as good as that first time anyway.
Get there without a car
Walk, run, or bike for your health as well as the Earth’s. Use public transportation. Try a scooter or a Segway.
Buy a hybrid
Share a car
Carpool. If you use a car only occasionally, consider joining a car-sharing program instead of owning a car.
Turn off your car when you’re waiting
It takes less gas to start and stop a car than it does to leave it run for short periods of time. Shut off your car when you’re waiting for a train or to pick up a passenger.
Inflate those tires
Properly inflated tires lead to better gas mileage.
Offset your carbon dioxide
Buy carbon dioxide offsets to counteract the greenhouse gases you create, support clean energy, and make a statement!
Learn about ecotourism
Substitute one local vacation for a vacation involving flying
For food shopping suggestions, see Eat and Drink.
Buy for the long run (not just today)
Reject the throwaway culture to decrease material throughput. Why not purchase a piece of luggage that will last you 20 years? How about shoes that can be re-soled or wear extremely well?
Buy Fair Trade
Buying products that give producers a fair amount of money for their goods sends a great message to company owners and really can change lives.
Buy used clothing and household items
Find treasures at secondhand stores and garage sales.
Cut down on disposable bag use
Refuse bags for small items. Use canvas bags for grocery and other shopping. (Keep them in the car if you drive.) Reuse the paper and plastic bags you already have.
Avoid excessively packaged products
Let the company know you didn’t buy their product for that reason.
Skip the bottled water
Tap water usually has the same cleanliness and taste as bottled water and is subject to stricter regulation. Avoid the extra packaging and transportation used by bottled water.
Seek out “green” products
Among others, we suggest corntainers (biodegradable plastic bottles made from corn) and Forest Green toilet paper and paper towels.
Vote with your dollars
Buy ethically and socially conscious products. If everyone purchased with their values in mind, their values would be more widespread.
Try harder to distinguish wants from needs
Make sure what you’re buying is truly necessary. Cultivate gratitude for what you already have.
Extend the life of your clothes
Mend your clothes. If you know how to sew, create new garments from old ones. Use unsalvageables as cleaning rags. Fill old socks with catnip to amuse your cat. Donate clothes you’ve outgrown.
Make gifts instead of buying them
Scale back your disposable reading
Consider canceling subscriptions to daily newspapers or magazines you seldom read, or share these subscriptions with a friend or neighbor.
Borrow instead of buy
Get books from the library instead of the bookstore (including books assigned for class!). Borrow major household items, like a lawnmower or ladder, from a neighbor (or offer to share yours). Consider whether a public computer or printer at the library can meet your needs.
Recycle
You knew that already.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents
These are great energy savers. Despite their higher initial cost, they save you money over the lifetime of the bulb.
Light only what you need
Turn off the lights you’re not using. Use a lamp to light the area you’re working in instead of a large overhead light.
Hang clothes outside or in the basement instead of using the dryer
Buy Energy Star appliances instead of conventional models
Keep more beer in the refrigerator
Liquid takes less energy to keep cold than air.
Turn off and unplug electrical items when you’re not using them
Did you know that TVs, computers, monitors, cell phone charges, and other devices pull a charge from outlets even if they are turned off? Try plugging these appliances and products into switch outlets and turn the switch off at night. Also, make sure to unplug these devices if they aren’t being used for prolonged periods of time (like if you’re going on vacation).
Heat yourself rather than the whole house
Turn down the thermostat in winter and use a sweater or an extra blanket to save energy and lower heating costs.
Get a programmable thermostat
In winter, set the temperature cooler when you’re sleeping or not home. In summer, set the temperature warmer when you’re not home.
Insulate your home
Some homes just lack the insulation necessary to reduce energy use. Investing in good insulation can pay in the long run.
Buy renewable energy (wind, solar, etc.)
Call you local power provider and ask to switch. If they say it’s not available, ask when it will be. If they don’t have an answer, push them to start offering the service.
Cover pots while cooking
This heats food faster and uses less energy.
Use dishes more than once before washing
Rinse crumbs away. Save water and build your immune system at the same time.
Get your name off advertising mailing lists
One way to do this is at dmaconsumers.org.
Take shorter showers
While you’re at it, turn the temperature down. If you really want to save water, can you get by with fewer showers?
Don’t flush so much
The rhyme goes: If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.
Keep the television off
It saves energy … and it saves you from advertising.
Use cloth napkins and handkerchiefs instead of paper ones
Save paper
Print double-sided. Stock the printer with recycled paper. Use blank sides of paper for notes or coloring. Send documents electronically whenever possible.
Clean green
Many cleaning products contain toxic chemicals; use natural substances instead. Examples include: white vinegar diluted with water as an all-purpose cleaner; lemon juice for cleaning copper, dishes, and garbage disposals; a mixture of 4 tablespoons baking soda and 1 quart warm water for scrubbing tile and other surfaces.
Compost
Create a compost pile for food scraps to reduce the amount of trash you send to the landfill and create rich fertilizer for your garden.
Make new construction and remodeled rooms green
Green design may seem more expensive up-front, but the life-cycle costs are actually much lower as well as being better for the environment. Look for low-emitting products, recycled carpet, and reclaimed or renewable wood flooring.
Incorporate sustainable practices into your job
Encourage your employer to adopt the sustainable practices you already follow at home.
Live near your job
Walk, bike, or take public transportation to work.
Educate yourself
Celebrate life by learning. Start with issues that are closest to your heart; you can’t address everything at once.
Be open to people, ideas, diversity, and change
You can’t see well through a dirty lens.
Write a letter
Contact your local representative voicing your concern for greater environmental initiatives. His or her job is to represent you!
Share your green practices with others, especially those you love
If you believe something is important, share it with those you love. When talking to older family members, let them know that you want a clean environment like they had when they were growing up. If talking to younger individuals, tell them that you are passing on a tradition of stewardship. Instill your core values in your children and they will carry them on through generations.
Walk the talk
Set a good example. In order for others to change, you have to change yourself by being the change that you want to see in the world.
Enjoy the environment
Go outside and enjoy this thing you are trying so hard to protect! Not only will it bring you peace and relaxation, but it will invigorate and inspire you to continue your fight for our planet’s life.
Plant a tree in honor of something
This can be for celebrations or remembrances such as weddings, birthdays, or deaths.
Don’t litter cigarette butts
Pick up a few pieces of litter a day
Join conservation organizations in your community
Meet like-minded people to amplify your voices.
Volunteer for and/or donate to organizations that support sustainable causes
Many Americans claim to be “so busy,” but we are only as busy as we choose to be. Spend some of your time and money helping causes you care about. That help can come as volunteer time or checks to support activities.
Vote
If you want changes to be made at a governmental level, this one of the easier ways to make a statement.
Run for office
Those in elected office have the power to make changes in their community. If you are passionate about anything, being elected to a position gives you a platform to discuss and take action on those issues.
Invest in socially responsible businesses or mutual funds
Socially responsible mutual funds and businesses are more prevalent today than at any time in history. Vote with your dollar! If you believe in a business or set of businesses, invest in them! Chances are you will be just as well off as if you invested in a traditional company or fund.
Micro-lending: Invest in others
Lending money for small projects around the world can have a huge effect on individuals’ lives. Borrowers will pay you back and you can reinvest or take out your money in the end. Check out kiva.org for more information.
Practice random acts of kindness
Think about your grandchildren’s children
I've have never met a person who didn't think twice about an issue when they began to think about their grandchildren or their grandchildren’s children. Americans want to ensure their children have a better life than they did; the same applies to the environment they live in.
Love
Love yourself, your culture, and the people around you. After all, isn’t love the reason you’re getting involved in the first place?
