How To Live A More Sustainable Life
I am often left pondering the idea that how I raise my three children will greatly impact the adults they will grow up to be. We often discuss in our home how we can better treat our planet and ways to do this just in the home. I want to instill simple habits within my children so that they will want to help protect the earth’s natural resources. Our family recently took a challenge in effort to live a more sustainable life! I encourage you to view the challenges and then personally take those daily steps toward living a more conscious, renewable lifestyle.
Swap your paper coffee cup for a mug!
Life as a mother of three is in no way a simple one and most days I am running on fumes. Coffee is my go to drink in order to get me through the day. While stopping by the drive through where someone can make a cup of coffee for me provides immediate gratification, that paper cup is just causing long term waste. My first challenge was for my husband and I to skip that coffee drive thru and start using a mug. My advice to you is choose a mug that makes you happy, splurge if you have to with all the money you are going to save! You want a cup that is fun to drink out of and one that gives you a reason to choose that over convenience. I have to say that this challenge encouraged me to try new ways to enjoy my cup of coffee and I excelled at this one!
Take shorter showers!
Here is one that my children are very guilty of doing… taking long showers! In order to be successful for this challenge, I tried to make it fun and competitive (because we all know how much siblings love to compete!) Their challenge was to race and see who could get their hair and body washed within five minutes. Three showers at five minutes each totaled to 15 minutes shower time total for all three kids… when they were previously taking easily 20 minute showers each. I actually quite enjoyed this challenge myself and it was so rewarding to know that some simple fun made our family live more sustainable!
Bike or walk whenever possible
This challenge was a bit easy for us because as a family, we absolutely love taking walks and going on nature hikes! We discovered some really great local trails that encouraged biking/walking and it was thrilling to know a community was encouraging this! While getting everyone packed into the car to get to a destination, think of the memories you could create by just walking there. To keep my kids busy I like to print out nature scavenger hunt lists and have them try and find everything on the list. Not only does this encourage them to keep moving, but it forces everyone to take a closer look at nature and see its beauty. We could so easily just drive on past that butterfly on a flower, but by walking we were able to witness it sip nectar. One of my favorite challenges by far!
Choose food & beverage products with renewable packaging when grocery shopping!
Through this challenge I discovered that there are so many products at my grocery store that come in renewable packaging! Choosing products with renewable packaging is a simple step with far-reaching impact.
You may be asking yourself… what are renewable materials anyway? Renewable materials are those made of natural resources that can be replenished (such as paperboard from wood fiber or plastic sugar cane) and help preserve our precious natural resources!
The next time you are at your grocery store, keep an eye open for Tetra Pak carton packaging! These cartons actually help protect our planet’s limited supply of natural resources. Tetra Pak cartons are mainly made from paper, which is a renewable resource that can be naturally replenished. I have never felt better about tossing these cartons in our recycling bin, knowing that they can be used again!
I want you to take a moment and think about what makes you happy. Is it money, beauty, friends, vacation, cars… these are all thing that many suggest make them happy. Well it turns out you can add “green” living to that list! Did you know that by changing just one simple habit, you can make a huge impact on your life and the world around you? Whether you change how you get to work or simply make different choices at the grocery store, changing one habit can make all the difference. According to recent studies, we have the power to be happier and to protect the earth’s resources by adopting simple, renewable lifestyle behaviors. My final challenge for you is to take the Tetra Pak Habits of Happiness quiz! If you are curious in my results, scroll down and see what I got when I took this quiz!
Bountiful Bliss
The quintessential meaning of happiness can be found by looking at you, you beautiful thing. You’ve found your flow and understand that being a healthy, happy human stems from an awareness of how preserving natural resources affect the planet and future generations.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.