You’ve heard you should switch to reusable grocery bags and water bottles, but what else can you do? Let me help you out.
Step 1: Change Your Mindset
Listed below are steps you can take to stop contributing to climate-change (and often times, unethical business practices) with your everyday purchases. Remember, it’s okay if all of these are not within your capabilities. Do the best you can.
How to Consume Ethically and Sustainably
- Get out of the consumer mindset you’ve had your whole life. Americans have grown up in a consumer culture. We love to buy new things and we get bored with them easily, which means we buy a lot of things we don’t need. We have to fight this mindset to combat unnecessary waste. This starts with buying products that are meant to last.
- Understand that you may have to pay more for truly ethical products. This is because fair labor costs more. The reason your clothes from Forever 21 are so cheap is because people in other countries are being paid far below a living wage to make them.
- Remember that pure convenience isn’t usually environmentally friendly or ethical. Companies like Amazon may deliver your packages exceedingly fast, but think of all the unnecessary packaging waste and emissions related to shipping that are associated with this. Additionally, Amazon has recently been under scrutiny for its business practices and employees have striked as recently as Black Friday 2020 in protest. Not a great sign. Be on the lookout for red flags like this from companies you purchase from.
- Stop supporting fast fashion. Read my article detailing all of the terrible impacts fast fashion has on the environment and company treatment of employees.
- Be open to making convenient Vegan/plant-based food swaps and Zero Waste swaps. Vegan food swaps lower greenhouse gas emissions and often times lower plastic waste. Zero Waste swaps reduce plastic waste and emissions associated with manufacturing.
Step 2: Be An Informed Consumer
I’ll go into this topic in another article, but you vote with your dollar. Make sure you support companies who support the causes you believe in. Some companies that are climate-friendly and environmentally conscious are listed below.
- Etsy – They offset all carbon emissions related to shipping.
- Save Lands – This is a clothing and accessories brand. Each item bought plants 12 trees.
- Lush Cosmetics – Most products do not have packaging. Any plastic packaging is made with non-virgin plastic (meaning it has already been recycled at least once).
- Pela – This company sells compostable phone cases that are stylish and affordable. They also sell airpod cases, smart watch bands, and zero waste screen protectors.
- REI Co-op – This company sells outdoor clothing and gear that is sustainably and ethically sourced. Take a look at their product sustainability standards.
- Any farmer’s market – These are the absolute best places to buy produce. They don’t usually use refrigeration to keep produce cool like most grocery stores. Did you know many refrigerants are worse greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide and even methane?
- Supermarkets listed on www.ClimateFriendlySupermarkets.org. Refrigerant choice plays a huge role in how climate-friendly a grocery store truly is. Learn more about this concept by listening to the episode “Cold Hard Cash for Your Greenhouse Gas” by the podcast How to Save a Planet.
Step 3: Incorporate New Lifestyle Choices
Quick Zero Waste Swaps
Start by using your reusable grocery bags and water bottles. Once you’ve got that down, I have a whole separate article detailing quick and easy Zero Waste swaps that will work for everyone. Bonus points: most of them save you money.
Try to reduce food waste as well. Opt for produce with no plastic packaging, buy in bulk, and only buy perishables that you know you will eat before they go bad.
Vegan/Plant-based Food Swaps
Don’t feel like you have to go fully Vegan cold turkey. Maybe you never want to make this swap 100%… no problem. Do what you can and what is reasonable for your situation. Small progress is still progress and it starts to add up.
Here is an article detailing some easy plant-based food swaps that taste great and won’t break the bank.
Eco-Friendly Clothing
This is the hardest lifestyle change to make, in my opinion. Zero Waste alternatives save you money, plant-based food swaps make you healthier without sacrificing taste, but clothing is another story.
The best choice is always to buy your clothes secondhand if you can. Thrift in person or utilize online resale shops like thredUP (link to their sustainability initiatives). The more clothes we can keep out of the landfill, the better. Another pro is this will definitely save you some major cash. The downside is it can be hard to find thrifted clothing that fits us properly or suits our personal style.
There are also stores that sell sustainable alternatives. Save Lands plants 12 trees for every purchase they receive and Wolven sells workout clothing that is made of recycled plastic bottles. There are many other options. However, they are generally significantly more expensive than their non-sustainable counterparts.
I recommend going for a combination of the two options when you can. Sometimes you have to buy new clothing and you can’t thrift or buy from an expensive sustainable brand. When you run into this situation, no matter how often, aim to prioritize quality over quantity.
Buy pieces that are classic and will not go out of style in a year. Make sure you purchase clothing that is made well and meant to last. Do not buy from brands like Forever 21 whose clothes fall apart after two washes. At the very least, you will still be minimizing the clothes you send to landfill and cutting off your support for unethical brands.
Renewable Energy in Your Home
This is likely only available to users in cities, but definitely do some research to see what your options are where you live.
If you can, switch your electricity to a fully renewable plan. I am located in Houston, TX and I use Champion Energy‘s 100% renewable plan. My bill is only ~$40/month and I am so happy knowing that all of my electricity is sourced from wind.
Right now, renewable energy can be slightly more expensive than its non-renewable counterpart (mine is 2 cents/kW more expensive than alternatives from the same company). However, as demand grows and technology gets better, cost will be driven down. Help drive this price decrease by opting in now!
If you are a resident of Texas, search for renewable electricity plans using www.powertochoose.org!