Tips for Sustainable Living

Let's talk sustainability! Always a relevant topic these days, and one of my favourites to talk about. I love sustainability and ways to help our environment and the earth. Therefore, keeping this intro quick and easy, onto some sustainable tips:

1. Multiuse products

Invest in multiuse products, these are things that don't get thrown out after one use. Instead of plastic ziploc baggies, let's try containers. Instead of cling wrap to preserve food, let's try beeswax wraps instead. And the all too popular tip for the grocery store, no more plastic bags, let's get reusable bags instead. We had a few reusable bags at our house but something I've loved are reusable tote bags, we have two that we obtained from our local ice cream shop and they've been put to great use already.

2. Alternate transportation

Try using public transportation instead of driving. Most companies will re-imburse employees for having a bus pass (at least in the Seattle area this is true, I'm not sure about other cities) and most buses will also allow bicycles if you're a rider. The altnerates to driving are taking a bus, taking a train, riding a bike, walking/running to your destination. Another big one are airplanes, limiting plane trips per year and trying to find the most efficient way to travel (Google now shows you flights with lower emissions) helps with overall environmental impacts.

3. Less Meat

In our household this one has been hard to take on, we split our food into macros (protein, carbs, fats) and our primary source of protein has always been meat. I've switched it in the past year to be tofu although our desire to eat meat is still there. There are alternatives to meat now, with the impossible burger being sold at different restaurants and in the aisles of grocery stores (yay Costco has it!) and we'll slowly work our way to having less meals with meat but filled with protein.

4. Thrifting

One of my favourite things to do is head onto the app Poshmark and find some second-hand items and sell some of my own items I no longer wear. It's fun to bundle up your old things and send them to a home that will use them, and it feels extra good receiving your package of second hand clothes!

5. Solar Panels

This one we don't have yet but we will get in the future. Solar panels! They give you energy! This reduces the cost of paying for your energy and also helps the environment by using a renewal energy source, aka the sun! Even over here in the Seattle area, although known for cloudy skies most of the time we still have sunlight peaking through even on the rainy days. That sunlight can be converted to energy! This is something we hope to do in the near future for our house.

That was my quick list of 5 things, some things we've already done and others we're going to do! But these are all things we know of and look forward to incorporating into our every day lives as we become more and more sustainable. If you have tips please let us know! We'd love to hear from you.