5 Sustainable Habits to Help Save Money

It is a popular notion that switching over to a greener lifestyle may be costly but it can be light on your wallet and the environment if you plan things correctly. The only consistent increase we can see is the amount of trash that grows day by day while the flora and fauna of earth is being depleted rapidly. Effective change to combat this issue cannot be tackled by short-term goals but by long term lifestyle changes. Rampant greenwashing in consumer goods has raised the competition for businesses that actually produce sustainable products. There are some basic habits that you can incorporate into your daily life to avoid greenwashed products and misconceptions to lead a greener life.

  1. Buying a new energy efficient car and vegan makeup might be good for supporting businesses for a good cause, but it is also important to maximize the utility of things you already own before buying new things. The main issue of our growing waste concerns is our learned habit of buying new things and believing them to be better. But like all bad habits this can be unlearned too to stop wasting our money and precious resources. Our demand drives the overproduction of goods therefore we need to fully use the things we already have before buying new things to reduce our overall demand. And even if you do need new things try looking for second-hand alternatives first before you go buy new things. Buying second-hand/upcycling is not only good for your pocket but also for the planet.


  2. The next thing you can do is try to limit your use of single-use items, which means plastic cups, saran wraps and all other such items should be replaced by more durable and reusable items. Try investing in more durable items like a jute bag to replace your plastic shopping bags and reusable flasks to get your coffee on the go. Disposable products are very easy to use but they are the most wasteful and harmful for the planet, as they are not very easy to recycle because of the sheer amount of disposables we discard every day. 
  3. Avoiding private transport whenever you can is the next thing that would need to concentrate on. An average car generates 4.6 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. While it may not entirely be possible to get rid of your car it would certainly help if you utilize public transport more often or other systems like carpooling. A car is a big money pit, with the maintenance costs and fuel prices sky-rocketing, cycles, walking and ridesharing are a good way to save money. If more and more people were to adopt public transport and other such alternatives road congestion would reduce the air quality would significantly improve.


  4. Investing in better quality things is also important because if you need to make purchases, you should always buy durable and better quality things as opposed to cheap items. The price might be low but the ultimate price of the exploitative production process is paid by the disadvantaged communities and the planet. There is also another thing that you must keep in mind is that not all high priced items are necessarily good in quality, especially things found in chain stores. The brand name might not be everything so always assess the things that you buy and make it a point to invest in items that will last longer.
  5. Maximize your energy efficiency and switch off all things that are not in use. It is important to incorporate the habit of unplugging all devices that are idle. Even after switching off certain devices if they remain plugged in, they drain a certain amount of energy which can build up to become a lot. It is estimated that around 10% of your electricity bill is just from devices like video game consoles, televisions and computers that weren’t unplugged when idle. 

These are some lifestyle habits that you can include in your daily life to improve your carbon footprint. These baby steps might help you to reach a point where you can live a greener zero-waste life. The key to living a greener lifestyle is to be consistent and therefore changing your habits is the first step on a sustainable path.



Sources & References

https://ecowarriorprincess.net/2021/06/eco-friendly-lifestyle-habits-save-money/

https://thelifehype.com/eco-friendly-habits/

https://www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/9-simple-tips-to-save-time-money-and-the-planet/

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