Conscious Living Guide
Slow. Simple. Sustainable.
Sharing this journey will hopefully provide tools to help reduce your impact on the planet. I embrace this lifestyle because I feel it’s the best way to live a life that aligns with everything I believe in.
I focus on conscious intentional living. Every day I am discovering new lessons and changing my habits. I am constantly making mistakes - and that is ok - it’s a slow process and the tiniest efforts are still effective.
Choosing to slow down, live with less stuff, and with more purpose, minimises our impact. Before making any changes it’s important to define your own core values. These will be different for everybody. Do you want to avoid animal products, minimise your waste, and only shop fair trade? Perhaps you just want to focus on reducing plastic or sourcing locally handcrafted items. These elements of sustainable living often overlap. Eventually, you will end up incorporating most of them into your life.
If you are thinking about making changes in your life then these 5 steps might help you start.
“Every dollar we spend is a vote for the world we want to create.”
1. New doesn’t mean best
Constant green marketing can make us feel like we need to replace everything we own in order to look sustainable. However, the most sustainable option is to use what you already have. When the time comes that you do need to replace things, look for a more earth-friendly option. I like to keep a wish list on my phone of products I find so I have a quick reference point, making me less likely to reach for the easily accessible but unsustainable option. Look for products from natural materials that can break down naturally at the end of their life.
2. Always be prepared
Put together a zero-waste handbag kit so you are never caught out. Learning the art of saying ‘no thanks’ to single-use plastic will help curb pollution and using your own reusables always feels so good.
3. Avoid plastic
Pretty much all plastic ever produced still exists today. It just breaks down into tiny particles called microplastics. These have now been found in our drinking water and the food we eat, so why are we not more alarmed? There are still many areas where the use of plastic is currently essential, like medicine, but there are far more areas where it is not. So why not look for natural materials or truly recyclable materials like glass or steel.
4. Vote with your dollar
Support ethical companies. We aren’t going to stop consuming all together and clothe ourselves in coconut bras and grass skirts. When we do need to buy new, do some research on the brands you are buying from. Is their supply chain transparent? How do they affect the environment they manufacture in? Shopping mindfully allows you to find high-quality items that will last. It’s so amazing knowing your money is going to the right people instead of just supporting a board of rich men.
5. Go naked
Explore the local farmer’s market to buy local produce and source all your dry goods from a bulk food store so you can avoid the packaging.
The journey to living sustainably isn’t simple. Every time I take another step forward with it, I learn more and feel like I am not doing enough. The best way to create a lifestyle you can sustain is to do it slowly and take a pause every now and then to remind yourself of this. Celebrate the small victories and remember to enjoy the journey, you are doing something great.
Gabrielle xoxo
