Happy Earth Day!

Around this time last year, I posted a blog post about easy ways to incorporate sustainable living practices into your daily life. Today, I want to share with you why it is important to focus on sustainability, not just for the environment, but for our own physical & mental health.

Often, the mentioned benefits of sustainable living include reducing climate change, limiting fossil fuels, & making the world a cleaner place. These benefits are important, but they are not the only advantages of sustainable living. Like I always say, we only have two places to live: our bodies & the earth. We have to take care of both of them. Sustainable living practices help us to do that.

First, sustainable living practices encourage limiting waste in our world. This includes not only our garbage, but also food & water waste. Sustainable living practices encourage us to only purchase the foods we need to limit the amount of food we are throwing away. And, when we do have leftover food, it is recommended that we package it & eat it as leftovers the following day. Instead of focusing on meat-heavy diets, plant-based foods limit the amount of fossil fuels released into the air, but this is also a healthy choice for your body. Eating a diet heavy in animal-based foods raises your intake of saturated fats to unhealthy levels & it can increase your risk for disease, including heart disease & cancer. Eating plant-based foods, however, increases your intake of healthy dietary fiber, which promotes a healthy gut. It naturally increases our water intake, as many plant-based foods have water in them, & it supplies you with a number of antioxidants, which help prevent diseases.

I will never advocate for anyone to eat an entirely plant-based diet (while it is a healthy choice for some people, not everyone benefits from completely eliminating meat from their diet). However, when you do eat meat, try to choice organic and/or grass-fed options. These animals are raised in better living conditions, which is good for you & the environment. Fewer fossil fuels are used in the raising of these animals, & the meat is of a higher quality, which means there are fewer chemicals entering your body.

To reduce waste even further, if you are able, you can use your food scraps to create a compost, which can be used to nourish gardens. If you have waste from packaging, try to recycle or reuse what you can to keep your garbage levels low.

Second, sustainable living practices encourage reducing the amount of energy consumed. This helps decrease the amount of fossil fuels released. You can do this by making sure to turn off lights & electronics when not in use & by using energy-efficient light bulbs. This is not only good for the environment, but it’s good for your financial as well as mental health. Less money spent on energy means more financial freedom, & more financial freedom often means less mental stress about money. Additionally, if you are able to walk or bike to work or school, this can be a great way to take some time for your mental health & benefit your physical health, while doing something healthy for the environment.

Third, sustainable living often finds new ways to make products we use every day to have less impact on the environment. Using these products can be just as or even more enjoyable than their alternatives, which is good for your mental & physical wellbeing. For instance, switching to sustainable cleaners means fewer chemicals in your home, which is good for your immune & digestive systems. Similarly, switching to natural beauty products also decreases the amount of chemicals your body is absorbing, & they can even be better for your skin health. I often find sustainable clothing is softer & more comfortable than their alternatives. And for over a year, I have been using paper towels & toilet paper made of bamboo – it has had no affect on my life, & to be honest, I feel like these products are higher quality than their paper alternatives.

Sustainable living practices do not have to greatly disrupt your life. In fact, most of the sustainable living practices I have adopted have made my life simpler. My biggest recommendation for adopting a sustainable lifestyle is to take it one step at a time. What is one small change you can make in your everyday life to make the world a better place, & to benefit your own physical & mental wellbeing? It may seem small, but if every person made just one small change, we would be living in a much healthier & happier place.