Why Care to Live Sustainably?
We will cause our own extinction. But who cares and what are we going to do about it?
The Guide to Being a Good Human for the Earth
How to live sustainably
We will cause our own extinction. But who cares and what are we going to do about it?
Here is framework that you can apply logically to all decisions you need to make to try to live more sustainably. Consume Less, Do No Harm, Buy Renewable, Cause Least Impact.
Balance the extra cost, time, or sacrifice with what you can do.
Here are the top things you can do to help the world live more sustainably with the environment and prevent climate change.
A UN agreement with 195 countries to keep average temperature below 2 degree celsius above industry era levels.
We need a strong world government to help protect our environment and implement sustainable living solutions because our whole world id connected.
A scientific report from 91 scientists on the impacts of warming the client above 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial temperatures.
17 goals from agreed by the UN member states for a better future of humanity in balance with nature to achieve by 2030.
Call your energy provider and ask to get your energy from renewable sources.
Utilize your roof space and generate your own electricity with solar panels.
Turn off lights, buy energy efficient appliances and products and turn everything off when not needed.
Add insulation and seal your house with weather strips and caulk so your house does not lose heat and requires less energy to heat.
Run AC and heating only when you need it and at the minimum temps you can.
Non profit organization that analyzed and presented the top 80 solutions to reducing CO2 emissions.
Buy Energy Star appliances to save on energy usage. Turn off appliances when not in use.
When it comes to lighting your home or business, LED lights is pretty much the only way to go. That is because they use 75% less energy and last 25 times longer.
A LEED certified home verifies that it is built and or operated more sustainably.
We need to consider the full life cycle of all products we produce to return them to a circular balanced ecosystem.
Meat takes a lot of resources to grow, so eat less to have less impact on the environment.
Food waste is one of the biggest issues that contribute to our impact on the planet. So try not to waste food.
Buy organic food at a minimum. Buy sustainably grown food that uses regenerative farming practices.
Buy fish approved by Monterey Bay Seafood Watch so we don’t deplete our fish populations long term.
A new way to view our economy that recognizes our planetary ecological limits.
Buy food and products that is more local because it uses less transportation energy to get to you.
Reusable containers and packaging is best. Then compostable. Next is paper/cardboard, then aluminimum, glass, plastic.
Eat out at restaurants who source their food from sustainable and local sources. Organic, grass fed beef, and sustainable fish.
A way to look at the need for intense immediate action needed by the government to address climate change.
Potential government legislation, programs, investments, incentives in the country to reduce CO2 emissions and prevent climate change.
Everything you buy requires energy and resources to produce and deliver to you. One of the quickest ways to make an impact is to just reduce your consumption.
When your stuff is damaged, worn, or broken attempt to repair it instead of buying new to save on resources.
Try to buy a used product before buying a new product to save the resources used to produce a new product.
If you no longer want a product or anything you own sell it or give it away instead of throwing it in the trash.
Sustainably made clothing is made of sustainable materials like organic hemp, bamboo, cotton, linen, and wool. Also made without harming the environment with toxins.
When you buy anything check what is it made of and pick products that are made with sustainable materials.
Reusable shopping bags saves resources by not wasting or recycling paper and plastic one time use bags.
Get a water bottle and coffee cup to fill when you are on the go.
Instead of buying single use batteries that you need to recycle in a special way, buy some rechargeable batteries and a charger and stop having to buy packs of batteries.
Instead of paper napkins and towels buy 2 weeks worth of cloth napkins you can wash with your laundry.
Buy light weight camping plates and forks for your picnic to wash and reuse. Otherwise buy compostable plates.
Use paper only envelopes instead of envelopes with a plastic window so it has better chances of getting recycled.
Buy and receive experience gifts, consumables, or charity and tree planting donations. Do not buy products.
To measure the environmental impact of a product’s full life from sourcing materials, producing, distributing, disposing, and recycling.
How to measure and report on how much of earths resources it takes to exist for an individual, product, business, house, city, or country.
Buy cleaning products that are not toxic to the environment. Buy in bulk and refill your containers.
Micro plastics from your polyester clothing leak into the oceans when washed. Install a micro plastic filter, use a laundry ball, or a bag to prevent.
LEED and Living Building Challenge certify a building is more sustainable and healthy.
Compost your food scraps to get that organic matter back into the farm system to support regenerative farming.
Check with your trash collection company to verify what you can recycle and how to make sure you do it correctly. Otherwise it can end up in the landfill.
Use and support solutions that process and utilize human poop and urine to recycle this abundant resource into a circular system.
Buy WaterSense certified toilets, faucets, and shower heads. And buy Energy Star certified dishwasher.
Replace your lawn with local plant species that don’t require watering. Water efficiently.
Use your greywater to water your garden or even for toilet and clothes washing.
Collect the rain that falls on your roof every year to use for your water needs and help save water.
The most sustainable way to get around is to walk. It requires no products so no energy used. Next is to bike.
If you can’t rely on public transportation, walking, and biking, and must have a car, then get an electric car.
If you can’t walk or bike to where you want to go use public transportation like subway, trams, trains, or buses.
Each trip takes transportation energy, so fly less, and go on a longer trip instead.
When you work from home you don’t need to travel to the office so you save energy from that transportation.
Work 4 days instead of 5 to save on the transportation and and building energy needed to go and be at work that extra day.
Advocate, support, vote, protest, and promote all government policies that will support sustainable living goals. And do the same for political candidates who support those policies who will help implement them.
Where we invest our money drives the direction of our world so make Impact Investments that benefit our environment and society.
Work for a company that provides a product or service that helps the world live more sustainably.
Instead of using a big corporate national bank for your checking account, use a local non profit Credit Union to keep your money local and for better causes.
If you can afford it or don’t have time to volunteer you can donate to organizations that help make the world live sustainably.
Have 1-2 kids because each human requires resources on the limited planet.
The Native Americans lived in balance with nature for thousands of year before industrial times. We can learn from them.
Certified companies with a triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit.
Humans feel good in nature and our built environment should connect us with nature.
Design strategy to be in balance with nature, using natural systems, and sustaining human community.
You can donate money to projects that remove carbon from the air to balance the carbon you emit into the air.
Reusing unwanted materials into new products without too much processing like recycling.
Previous land used and controlled by humans are converted back to nature to make them wild again.