We’ve become more and more concerned with the environment and being more eco-friendly in recent years, and a big part of this is moving towards more sustainable living. However, for people looking to make the switch it can seem daunting and there is a lot of misconceptions about sustainable living. This article looks to debunk the most common misconceptions people have about trying sustainable living.
It’s Expensive
A lot of people associate sustainable living and eco-friendly products with a larger price tag, however sustainable living is about buying less in the long run. In fact, one of the most sustainable things to do is to buy second-hand, you’re giving products a second life and thrifting tends to be a lot easier on your pocket. You may also find hidden gems while doing so as well.
“Products that you can reuse and replace items you throw away, for example swapping to Stasher Bags instead of Ziploc bags, can seem expensive up front,” says Ninfa Brundage, an eco-writer for Best Essay Writing Service and Dissertation Service “However, when you add up the cost of how much you spend repeatedly buying that product you throw away you are actually saving money.”
In other words, sustainable living might be kinder to your wallet overall.
You Have to be Vegetarian or Vegan
While moving to a plant-based diet does greatly lessen your environmental impact, it does not mean you absolutely must be vegan or vegetarian to live sustainably. For a variety of reasons, you may not be able to adopt this type of diet; health, accessibility etc., but that does not mean you can’t make changes. In fact, you can make your diet more sustainable by reducing the amount of meat and dairy you consume over all without removing them completely from your diet.
You should keep an eye on your products overall carbon footprint and be aware of the impact of all your purchases. In fact, the intensive production of avocados and almonds have shown that they too are terrible for the environment. Buy local when you can and only buy what you need. If you do this, you’ll find that your carbon footprint is reduced greatly.
You Can’t Use Plastic
This is a big one, a lot of people think that if you want to have a sustainable lifestyle you need to give up all plastic and move towards cans and paper instead. A lot of this is contained in the idea of a zero-waste lifestyle that is an ideal but is not achievable for everyone. A lot of products contain plastic and sadly that means it’s impossible to get away from it. However, you can cut down your plastic consumption and buy reusable containers where you can.
“Instead of swapping from bottles to cans to drink water invest in a refillable bottle that you can use,” suggests journalist Clemente Hughes from Topcanadianwriters and Assignment Services.
Small Changes Don’t Matter
It can feel like you’re screaming against the wind trying to move to a more sustainable lifestyle if you can’t go all in right away and so you might decide your small impact doesn’t matter. While it’s true that corporations are responsible for the most waste and a lot of the carbon impact on the planet, changing your lifestyle to be more sustainable increases the demand for eco-friendly products which will lead to pressure to reduce their costs to make them more accessible and puts pressure on businesses to move towards a greener business model to retain customers.
If this slightly cynical viewpoint doesn’t help, it’s worth thinking of it this way. If we all do a little bit, it adds up to a lot. We as an individual may not feel we are doing much but if everyone gave up for that reason nothing would ever get done. You can start small and build up as you are able.
In the end, sustainable living isn’t as difficult as it can seem. By making small changes as you are able you can build up to a household that has a much lower carbon footprint and greatly reduced waste. On top of this you can gain the benefit of lower household costs as you focus on buying only what you need and reusing where possible. Going green doesn’t need to be a chore.
Writer Madeline Miller, Paper writing websites reviewed and Write My Australia, writes about sustainable living and in her spare time blogs for Top paper writing services.
