Sustainable living isn’t something that happens over-night, is it? In fact, most of us are so used to a “disposable” lifestyle, that living sustainably is something that we actually have to work at to achieve…
My journey towards more sustainable living started rather unusually…in the laundry! My son started coming up with extremely dry patches of eczema-like skin on his knees, legs and arms. He is prone to allergies, so I immediately started researching to see if there was anything I could do to help alleviate the dry patches without needing to resort to more drastic measures.
Imagine my surprise (and horror!) when I found out that contributing factors to skin conditions are often washing powders! WHAT?!? Are you telling me that the commercial washing powders I am using to get my children’s clothes “clean” are actually full of chemicals and fillers?
I immediately switched over to a natural washing powder – and haven’t looked back since! (Sidenote: My son’s skin has improved dramatically – I am happy to say that for this entire winter, he hasn’t had a single dry patch of skin!)
So – back to our topic of sustainable living… (if you didn’t catch my post on 10 Eco-Friendly Tips for more Sustainable Living you can read it here…)
Small steps towards sustainable living
Remember that slow and steady wins the race…oftentimes we want to overhaul our entire laundry and all of our cleaning supplies in one day… (Read: DITCH THE BAD STUFF…immediately!) This isn’t always practical, possible OR helpful.
Use up one commercial cleaning item in your home at a time and then replace it with something more sustainable. (Or if you are like me and feel the need to go out and buy natural products immediately – keep them to use once your commercial cleaner runs out! 😉) Often when you try to implement too many changes all at once, you can feel overwhelmed and abandon your efforts altogether. Remember – Rome wasn’t built in a day…But you will be surprised by how quickly you can change – even when doing things slowly!
Advantages to a sustainable living
So, here are some reasons why you would want to make the beautiful swops that I’ve recommended and live more sustainably!
You’ll save money
Once you embark on the sustainable living journey – you will discover that you need fewer ingredients to make your own cleaning and household supplies. Using eco-friendly products also means that they last longer and in the long run, you end up buying less. The reusable version might be more costly at first, but it does save you money in the future. And how does the saying go? Oh, yes…that’s it! Less is more! 😉 And who doesn’t like a budget hack? Win-win!
You’ll feel better knowing YOU can make a difference
Going green has this way of teaching you, humbling you and at the same time allowing you to grow. But mostly, it gives you purpose on the journey. Because-throughout- you will become aware of how much the choices you make mean. One small change is enough to set a chain of changes in motion. Let’s just look at plastic straws as an example for a moment. All it took was for ONE person to say NO…and a chain-reaction was set in motion!
You become an example and lead the way for future generations
After all, we do want to have a planet left for our children and next generation. So it is only fair that as we are contributing to the current problem of waste we should also be a part of the resolution. It is also true that people lead by example. So let’s be an example that people want to follow! I remember standing in a queue at a local coffee shop ordering a coffee in a disposable cup. The lady behind me in the queue was ordering her coffee in her own (pretty) eco-friendly cup. I felt so guilty as I knew that I could be doing better! But – the next time I went to order coffee, I remembered to bring my own coffee travel mug along!
You will be healthier (better for you products- improve over all health and wellness
You will feel empowered by the choices you can make for your health. Less toxins in your home, less processed food, less chemicals…the list goes on. Choosing better products for the environment also means choosing better for YOU.
You will learn…and grow…a lot
The “green” world is a large one – and you will be surprised at how far it’s reach extends! In your quest for information on sustainable living, you will stumble on many theories, facts and information. And we are still all learning…but it is one of the things that makes us human! Our ability to solve problems – so let’s embrace it!
The Prettier side of sustainable living
So my blog is about pretty, right? And I’ll be honest and confess that one of my big concerns with switching to a more sustainable lifestyle was that I didn’t want things to look…well…ugly! #sorrynotsorry (shoulder shrug) 😉
So what’s a girl to do if you want both pretty AND sustainable?
Well luckily you’re in the right place! Here are my list of 10 pretty products for sustainable living! They are all easy swaps to make – and you’ll feel great doing it too, knowing that you’re helping the environment at the same time!
The take away…
So – my top tips to remember: When embracing sustainable living it’s about small steps at a time! Change doesn’t happen overnight!
There are many advantages to a sustainable lifestyle: more money in the long term, making a difference, being an example for others, better overall health and wellness as well as personal growth.
I hope you enjoyed the list of pretty sustainable products that I put together! If you have any that you think I should add, please let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you! Also – any sustainable living tips – write them below!
