Top Tips For How To Live More Sustainably

73% of Australians believe that they could be doing more to live sustainably¹, but what does this actually look like?

We seem to be surrounded by plastic everyday and struggle to purchase products that aren’t wrapped in it (only 1% of Australian don’t buy any products wrapped in plastic when grocery shopping²) so what else can we be doing?

To help those looking to make simple changes and learn more about their environmental footprint, we’ve enlisted the help of Brianne West, Founder of Ethique, to share her top five tips on how to live more sustainably. Brianne believes that environmental sustainability doesn’t mean you have to choose to live without luxuries, it just means you need to be more conscious of resource consumption and reducing unnecessary waste.

Born in New Zealand, Ethique are on a mission to save the planet from 50 million plastic bottles by the end of 2025, and have already helped to save 3.3 million (plastic bottles).

Check our Brianne’s tips for How To Live More Sustainably below:

1. It’s all about local

You don’t have to travel far to begin living a more sustainable life. While supermarkets are filled with amazing products, these can often be imported and don’t come from local farmers. Where possible, consider eating locally – find fruits, vegetables and other locally made edibles that are made available to you.

2. Ditch the disposables

We are all getting used to re-usable bags, rather than single use, but there are so many other ways that you can ditch the disposables. Companies such Ethique make it possible to continue enjoying personal care products without contributing to the 365 million plastic bottles set to be discarded from Australian bathrooms each year³. The brands zero plastic, zero waste approach, makes it possible to purchase everything from your shampoo, conditioner, body scrub and even moisturiser without having a single bottle in your bathroom. Other products that you can ditch and opt for reusable version are: razors, food containers and food seals (consider bees wax wraps).

3. Let’s talk fashion

Whether you have a walk in wardrobe that is overflowing, or you have a more modest selection of clothes, you can still use these simple methods to stop sending everything to landfill. Start by choosing to either resell or donate any clothes that you no longer want or need – there are many options, ranging from Salvation Army, Lifeline, online groups and non-profit resale organisations. Another way to live more sustainably when it comes to the clothes you wear is to invest in slow fashion – items that are high-quality, clean environment and promote fairness for both consumers and producers, rather than fast fashion that is churned out based on the latest trends.

4. Be water smart

There doesn’t have to be a drought for us to be conscious of saving water and consider what habits we can adapt on an ongoing basis. When considering how to be water smart always remember:

Drink from the tap – we are lucky to be able to, so there is no need for bottled water
Take shorter showers
Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth
Use half flushes rather than full
Install water saving shower heads

5. Get those steps up!

It may sound simple and cliché, but putting your strolling shoes on to walk, as opposed to driving, is an easy change that you can make that will have a big positive impact on the environment. Not only will this make it easier to up your daily exercise by increasing your steps, but it will also be mentally beneficial for you. If walking isn’t always possible – consider using public transport, riding a bike or car-pooling, rather than adding another unnecessary car to the road.

So living sustainably is entirely possible without having to go overboard. We are in love with these 5 tips from Brianne from Ethique. Are there any other tips you’d add to the list?

To find out more about Ethique, visit their site, follow them on facebook or check out their Insta page.

1 – MediaCast survey on behalf of Ethique2 – MediaCast survey on behalf of Ethique3 – MediaCast survey on behalf of Ethique/2016 Census

21 Comments

- - Sarah said
  - 16 Jun 2019
    9:18 pm
I love this & I’d love to see more articles like this & related to a greener lifestyle

- - mom119776 said
  - 16 Jun 2019
    5:40 pm
Great ideas. We have started a veggie patch so we know at least where our veggies are coming from.

- - mom81879 said
  - 18 May 2019
    9:24 am
Some great tips here. With the climate changing and people building, a lot of animals are losing their food and habitats, causing them to die out. If we lose the animals, they are links in the life chain, we can be sure we will be next. We all need to do our bit to clean up and save the planet

- - Blossom said
  - 11 May 2019
    6:23 pm
We used to re-use our plastic shopping bags until they got big holes or splits in them. We often used them for at least 6 months. Our Supermarket we used most the time had a reward system. We were given a card and it was stamped with the number of bags we re-used. It had about 30 squares on it. When the card was full we got $1.00 off our bill. We saved a few dollars every year. That was before they started charging for bags too. I have to buy one occasionally when one splits as I have to use public transport to go shopping. I bought some cooler bags that I can put cold food or room temperature food in.

- - mom90758 said
  - 11 May 2019
    11:18 am
Oh yes, I forgot. We have also installed solar panels and hot water solar system.

- - DaffyD said
  - 11 May 2019
    10:15 am
They are common sense whether you can follow them is another thing
- mom93821 replied
  
  12 May 2019 , 6:21 am
  Striving towards this is a good daily challenge.
- - mom81879 said
  - 11 May 2019
    8:38 am
My son is focussed on becoming self sufficient. He has installed water tanks, solar panels. He has a huge veggie patch and hot house. And he has many more plans to implement

- - BellaB said
  - 10 May 2019
    7:26 pm
It’s hard to do all of these all the time, but we manage most of them most of the time.

- - mom90758 said
  - 10 May 2019
    4:15 pm
I love trying to live sustainably. I have my produce bags that I use when buying fruit and vegetables, of course I always bring my bags (or trolley) when going shopping, I compost all the kitchen scraps using the Bokashi system, I never buy bottled water, we all have our good recyclable water bottle, I am now making some cleaning products instead of buying them. I buy dish and clothes detergent, but I make my own floor cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, toilet cleaner, window cleaner, furniture cleaner… I want to try to make my own clothes detergent soon.
I don’t drive so I walk everywhere and, if it’s too far, I use public transport.
I don’t enjoy shopping for clothes 😉 so they last as much as possible. I bring old clothes to Salvos, old books to a charity shop that resells books, old toys go to my neighbours with young kids.
I see that a lot of people buy shampoo in bars. I’d love to try it, even if they are quite expensive and that kind of stops me.

- - mom343701 said
  - 10 May 2019
    2:19 pm
grow your own vegies and share

- - mom93821 said
  - 10 May 2019
    12:49 pm
We follow so many of these tips.
It is essential for future generations to be responsible.

- - mom112217 said
  - 10 May 2019
    10:27 am
All good ideas and l do a lot of them already!

- - AmbieBambi said
  - 10 May 2019
    9:22 am
We walk to the shops as it’s just down the road! Great tips. Also we buy most our clothes from the op shop!

- - mom101628 said
  - 09 May 2019
    11:39 pm
I do most of this but have yet to find out how to not buy shampoos, etc. in plastic bottles. What I have done is to buy the refillable bottles so that I throw out less plastic and I refuse to buy bottled water and use tap water. Give my clothing to St Vinnies, walk more than drive and grow most of my own fruit and veg. But more is needed to help this planet.
- Ellen replied
  
  10 May 2019 , 4:07 am
  Very good mum 101628 !!
- - mom265671 said
  - 09 May 2019
    11:05 pm
Great ideas we can all do to make a start

- - Mum2archer said
  - 09 May 2019
    9:42 pm
Some really good tips here and gives us all something to think about!

- - mom367585 said
  - 09 May 2019
    9:35 pm
Great tips! I think I’m todays fast paced world we tend to forget that every little bit counts!

- - mom350461 said
  - 09 May 2019
    9:04 pm
I always try to use less plastic in my house. Even down to bottles for my son, I use glass ones just because I don’t like the idea of warm plastic.

- - mom19782016 said
  - 09 May 2019
    8:36 pm
There are some great tips on here, especially just walking to places. It’s pretty easy to jump in the car to go around the corner. We try really hard to walk to our local shops and back if we need to grab something!