Environment – Better for you, better for the planet

When I mention the words ‘sustainable living’, what do you think of? 

Chances are you’re picturing those people who fit their rubbish for the year into a small jar and don’t eat corn chips unless they’ve handmade them from package free ingredients. 

You imagine ‘tree huggers’ who don’t wear deodorant and you think of your annoying friend who says ‘no straw please’ whenever you go out for a drink. On the outside, sustainable living can look like a whole lot of giving up. But after seven years of trying my best to live life with respect for people and the planet, I can tell you confidently that sustainable living doesn’t take away from your life; it adds to it. 

Life is best when you hold sustainable values. Hold onto your (hopefully sustainably made or second-hand!) seats – I’m about to convince you why this is. 

First and foremost, sustainable living can improve wellbeing – things such as mental and physical health, emotional capacity, and resilience. The process of slowly making a meal, perhaps with a few ingredients you’ve grown in your garden or swapped with friends, improves many facets of your wellbeing – especially compared to quickly grabbing wasteful takeaways. 

Walking to the supermarket boosts your physical health, engaging in the sharing economy strengthens communities, and all of these things put together can help a person who lives with sustainable values cope better in hard situations. 

Sustainable living, when properly embraced, also costs less. You may have seen the price difference between the organic and nonorganic vegetables at New World this week (organic generally costs more) but I promise that in general, sustainable living causes less stress on the pocket. This is because it involves fostering a zero waste mindset; one that urges you not to buy that new t-shirt because you already have five at home. A mindset that helps you eat all of the broccoli, stem included, and have the confidence to carpool to work and split petrol costs with your neighbour. 

Of course the realities are that no one can live life completely within their values. We live in a plastic filled, convenience driven society. I still have waste in my pantry and don’t always make environmentally friendly decisions. But what we can do, is try our best to live a sustainable lifestyle (not a perfect one) and watch ourselves and others reap the benefits mentioned above. 

I recently published a book (you’ll find it in our local bookstores) called Better, Bolder, Different. It’s filled with inspiration for sustainable living. But it doesn’t simply tell you to ditch waste in your pantry and consider spot washing your clothes. The book inspires joy filled living and the main encouragement is to live life fully. I wholeheartedly believe sustainable living is just that.