We’re SO excited to partner with Miah of Miahkeleigh.com and @earthtomiah to bring you her 5 tips and tricks to jumpstarting your sustainable lifestyle!
With a passion for slow-fashion, eco-travel, and low-waste tips, Miah’s knack for bringing small but significant changes to your everyday routine, is sure to help boost your sustainable journey!
Enjoy!
Every little thing we do matters and we consume things in more ways than we think! This can be through the Instagram accounts we choose to follow, the items we choose to buy, the food we like to eat and even the clothes we wear. Everything leaves an impact on our planet and unfortunately, can sometimes have a negative effect if we’re not careful!
To help you live a more sustainable lifestyle, here are four simple steps you can take to minimize your carbon footprint. All it takes are small changes to your lifestyle to help preserve the planet you love to explore!
1. Research slow fashion
Did you know that fast fashion emits more carbon than international flights combined? The carbon footprint that fast fashion stores and consumers leave behind has a massive impact on our planet! For example, textile waste fills up landfills, and fabric dyes pollute water resources. Not only does this impact our planet, but it also has negative consequences for garment workers who often don’t even make a living wage.
To help limit the impact of fashion on our planet and community, consider buying only the necessities, hosting a clothing swap party with friends, or buying second-hand!
Sustainabile Hack: Thrifting has become more common and you don’t even have to leave your house to do it! Check out sites such as United Wardrobe, Depop, Poshmark and Vinted to make secondhand shopping super easy and convenient! Buying second-hand promotes a circular economy, and keeper unused clothes from ending up in landfills.
2. Opt for reusables
A reusable water bottle is one of the easiest switches to make! Think about it; you buy it once and then just refill! Most of the times when you buy bottled water that comes in plastic packaging, you’re really paying for the plastic bottle. It’s a better and more sustainable investment to buy a reusable water bottle from an eco-friendly brand that you can use for years to come.
Other alternatives include switching from a plastic toothbrush to a bamboo one, ditching plastic packaged shampoo and conditioner and switching to shampoo and conditioner soap bars, swapping out a plastic razor for a safety razor (you can recycle the blades) and buying a reusable coffee cup to combat plastic waste when you’re out and about! With so many options, why wouldn’t you make the switch!
3. Aim for low waste grocery shopping
If package free shopping or composting isn’t an option, aim to buy foods packaged in glass, cardboard or metal as these materials can be recycled and even reused! Bringing your own reusable bag to the shops, and avoiding the plastic ones provided a checkout, saves money and greatly helps the earth!
Other ways in which low waste grocery shopping can be practiced include writing a list of what you need before you go, avoiding products with excess packaging and buying produce in bulk.
Sustainable Hack: A tip for healthier shopping is sticking to the perimeter of the store, as aisles often contain the most processed and often more expensive foods! Keep in mind that the most expensive products are usually also placed at eye level, so have a look at the shelves properly before purchasing something.
4. Switch to cruelty free products
Something a lot of people don’t know is that vegan products don’t necessarily mean they’re cruelty free! The difference is that even though a product may be vegan, it doesn’t mean that animal testing wasn’t used to get the end result. Look at third party websites for answers, research the different logos (Leaping Bunny, Vegan Certified, Suitable For Vegans) etc to know if it is what you are looking for.
Sustainable Hack: Be sure to keep an eye out for the allergen list, as animal products are often mentioned there!
5. Use your available resources
Lastly, make use of what you have! For example, it’s not necessary to buy a new cutlery set if you can make one from the cutlery you have at home. If you have a lot of plastic bags, use them for your groceries until they wear out or break, and then switch to a sustainable alternative. Not everyone has access to safe drinking water, so if need be, keep buying plastic packaged water bottles, and make sustainable swaps in other areas of your life!
With so many ways to practice sustainability, it can be overwhelming —especially since it requires you to unlearn years of habits. Aim to try to do one thing at a time, whether that’s taking shorter showers, switching the lights off when you’re not using them, not leaving the water running while brushing your teeth, or simply sticking to your shopping list.
In a nutshell, do what you can with what you have! You’ll soon realize that your small actions create a ripple effect.