5 Ways to Be More Sustainable This Earth Month

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Happy Earth Month! This month is a great time for anyone and everyone to make some changes towards living a more sustainable lifestyle. Whether you’re just starting on your eco and low waste journey or a pro looking for a new challenge, this post has some great eco-minded habits to adopt and tricks to try.

Being Sustainable Looks Different For Everyone…

I wanted to kick-start the month with a simple post that would be useful to both beginners and veterans in the sustainability space. One of the things about personal sustainability is that it can look different for everyone. There may be someone who has the space and is able to do backyard composting, and there are also others that live in a city where commercial composting service is the best option. One option isn’t necessarily better than the other, and I think we can all agree that both options are better than putting food waste into a landfill!

People can often get overwhelmed with all of the different ways to be more sustainable in their life, and that’s normal! There’s a lot of information out there, but hopefully reading this blog post gives you a few ideas for changes you can make to your lifestyle. If you’ve seen these tips before, it’s not a bad idea to revisit some ways you can improve what you’re already doing. Without further ado, here are 5 ways to be more sustainable this Earth Month:

Start Composting

Ahh, composting. It may seem advanced or intimidating, but there’s a reason why this is the first sustainable tip I mention. This will also probably be the longest section of this post as I am super passionate about it! Composting is something that has honestly changed my life and the way I look at waste, specifically food waste.

Many people think that composting is a difficult thing to start doing, but there are truly so many ways that one can start composting! It doesn’t have to be about putting “worms and rotting things in a bucket” either. In fact, I don’t even compost my scraps myself! To give you some reference, composting can look like this:

• Using a Composting Service: Use a service that picks up your food scraps each week/bi-weekly (I use Compost Crusader) or one where you can drop off your scraps at a site.
• Vermicomposting: This is the “worms in the bucket” one! Worms feed on food scraps, yard waste, and paper and turn all of it into magical wormy compost (aka, poop).
• Backyard Composting: There are a few different ways to compost in your backyard, but obviously, you might need a yard for this one.
• Aerated Composting: Another fancy word for a compost bucket that turns. This is usually done outside.

There isn’t one method of composting that’s superior to another. As long as we are doing something to divert food waste from going into a landfill, you’re doing great! Being in a city with a small yard, it’s much easier and more convenient for me to use a service that picks it up. You’d think that an expert in sustainability would have a huge garden and giant compost area out back. I wish I did! But that’s not the most doable right now, and I know many others are in the same boat.

Don’t live by a composting facility but want to drop off your scraps? There are still other options! Depending on where you live, you can find a place that accepts compost or acts as a drop-off destination. If you are in or near the Milwaukee area like me, Green Life Trading Company has a compost drop-off program! As an incentive for doing good for the planet, they even give you a discount on bulk product refills.

Many people think that composting is all about food scraps. That’s a big part of it, I mean think about how much food we eat in a day! The truth is, you can compost much more than you think! Here are examples of things I throw into our compost bin:

• fruit and veggie scraps
• human and pet hair
• coffee grounds (we use a French press which makes it super easy to compost when done)
• bamboo dental floss
• compost grade parchment paper
• most unbleached paper products
• grass clippings and yard waste

To make this easy, I keep a bucket under the sink with a paper bag in it. When it gets full or a little stinky (usually after I cut onions or something), I put that bag into another paper bag and take it out to our larger compost bin. Every other week, it gets picked up by Compost Crusader. Super easy!

Some other things to keep in mind when composting:

• Be sure to take produce stickers off of your produce! These do not break down.
• Not all paper products are compostable. Sometimes paper is coated in wax or inks to make it more durable (think of what a magazine feels like), and these items are unfortunately not compostable and are even sometimes hard to recycle too.
• Be aware of greenwashing! This is my biggest composting tip!!! Greenwashing has gotten out of hand, with companies putting the phrases “biodegradable” and “compostable” on everything. Be sure to check out your composting service to see what they accept, and stay tuned for my post on greenwashing so that you know what to look for to avoid these products completely.

Bring Your Own Cup or Make Your Coffee at Home

Do you stop for a coffee every day before work? If so, are you bringing a reusable cup with you? In the United States, we end up using 50 billion coffee cups each year. That’s a lot of plastic! There are a couple of different ways we can approach this problem. One direct way is to bring a reusable cup with you when you go to get your morning coffee. This can be a pretty easy habit to create. Like most things, it takes. a little bit of thinking ahead and preparation. Even if you’re unsure if you will even get a coffee that day, bring your cup anyway. You’ll be mad at yourself later for leaving it at home.

Since I know you’re curious, here are two reusable cup options that I use and love:

To level up this tip, another thing to add would be to make your own coffee or tea at home. If you’re making your own drink at home, chances are you are putting it into a reusable to-go cup or mug too. It’s a win-win. There are so many benefits to making your own drink at home:

• It saves you money (like so much money), especially if you’re someone that orders a specialty drink with 4 customizations and non-dairy milk. Lots of coffee shops (even big ones like Starbucks) offer a small discount for bringing your own cup!
• It saves you a trip. With a little planning ahead, you can take the time you’d spend in line at the coffee shop making your own cup at home. Sometimes, I’m running behind or even late to work because the coffee shop was so busy that I had to wait longer than planned for my order. Chances are I was running late anyways (lol), and it doesn’t happen often, but this can be a real pain all for one cup of coffee!
• Making your own coffee or drink at home is typically healthier than ordering one. Do you have any idea how many grams of sugar are in that caramel macchiato? Plus, drinking hot beverages out of plastic can be a toxic cocktail for your hormones. Making your own homemade version can still be a tasty treat but with less sugar, and better quality coffee. This brings me to my next point:
• Homemade just tastes better. It really does. No one can make a matcha latte like I can, and that’s because I make it exactly how I like it! Whenever I order one out, it’s either way too sweet or it’s low-quality matcha. The best morning beverage can easily be made at home.

For some, this change might not be an easy one to make. Some people stop to get coffee every day, and that’s okay too! As with everything, I recommend starting in small steps that get you closer to your goal. If you’re someone that doesn’t ever bring a reusable cup to places, don’t expect yourself to just start remembering every time you leave the house.

Try things like leaving your reusable cup by the door to help you out. Eventually, your efforts will become habits, and your wallet, your body, and the planet will thank you for ditching single-use plastic and extra added sugar. This topic also brings me to my next sustainable tip which is to…

Make Swaps for Reusable Options

Many of us have become so desensitized to how often we throw things away, and sometimes it’s seconds after we use something. It’s important to realize the impact that has on the planet, and also your health. By choosing reusable options, you’re cutting back on plastic and other unnecessary waste from going into a landfill. Most recyclable things don’t even get properly recycled in the first place, so we might as well take it a step further by not even using these items. Some examples of single-use items that you can swap for reusable options are:

• to-go silverware and containers
• paper napkins and paper towels
• to-go coffee cups
• plastic water bottles
• dental floss
• feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads
• plastic straws
• zip-lock bags
• plastic shopping bags
• and soooo much more

Similar to the reusable coffee cup, making these changes stick will likely take some time. You can’t expect to cut out all of your plastic use within a day. If you do, the chances of keeping these actions as habits are slim. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t make certain swaps right now! Doing one thing at a time is key. Setting expectations for yourself is great, just make sure they’re realistic ones.

Another important part of this tip is to make changes when it makes sense for you. What I mean by this is you might need to use up your single-use products before you make changes to more sustainable ones. For example, if you just recently purchased a bunch of plastic zip-lock bags for your lunches for the week, please do not just throw them away! It is much better to use what you have first before you purchase something new.

Look For What You Need Secondhand

In a world where we have access to online shopping for new things at our fingertips, it can be easy to forget that things like thrifting and borrowing still exist! A way to be more sustainable this Earth Month is to look for what you need secondhand first before we make the decision to purchase something new. With most of these tips, there are a few benefits to this and a few different ways to do it. Here are a few benefits of shopping secondhand:

• It saves you money. Are we seeing a theme here? Sustainable living can be extremely cost-effective!
• It diverts things from going into a landfill. As mentioned before, we can be so quick to throw things away when they aren’t even broken. Why not save something from going into the trash that’s still perfectly usable? You’re giving it a new life!
• Less pollution is created and fewer resources are used. When you buy things secondhand instead of buying them new, you aren’t contributing to the production of brand-new items. Usually, this means you’re not paying for the processing, packaging, and shipping of that item either. The environmental footprint of a secondhand item is much less than that of a new one.
• You can make connections and meet new people. The amount of awesome people I have met in the thrifting scene is crazy to me. I never thought that my community no-buy group would be a place where I would make friends! Some ways to make connections could be…
  • organizing a clothing swap
  • staying active in your neighborhood no-buy group
  • selling, shopping, or volunteering at a local consignment event. (The best one in the MKE area is Divine Consign!)
  • donating to or volunteering at your local thrift store

I’ve even run into people at consignment events before that have said “I came here to check this out because you posted about it on Instagram!”, and that seriously warms my heart.

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As mentioned before, we have access to so many online stores at our fingertips, but that also includes secondhand stores! My faves are probably Poshmark and eBay, but there’s literally so many. You can sometimes find secondhand and vintage things on Etsy too, and Facebook Marketplace is always a fabulous option for unique furniture finds. Of course, there are situations where you can’t always get what you need secondhand. But doing what you can makes a huge difference, for the environment and your wallet.

Plan Meals to Reduce Food Waste

Similar to what we covered under composting, planning your meals can help so much with tackling food waste. Planning your meals ahead of time is a great way to help you reduce food waste. Not only does this help with consumption, but like most of these tips, it can save you time and money as well!

There are many ways one can plan meals to help reduce food waste. Some examples of how to do this include:

• Creating a grocery list specifically around your meals and snacks. This helps you avoid buying things you don’t need. If you have recipes for your meals, you can use the recipes to decide how much of each ingredient you need to buy to prevent buying too much of something. This saves waste and money!
• Wash your produce as soon as you get home from the store. Now I know this tip might sound time-consuming, but once I started doing this I felt so much better. Washing your produce properly and doing it right away helps to keep potential pesticides out of your fridge, and it can also help make food last longer if done properly! Rather than throwing everything into the fruit and veggie drawers right away, it’s nice to have everything washed and ready to go from a health standpoint and also for food organization. You want to be able to see what’s in your fridge so that you can avoid having to throw something away. Stay tuned for a more specific blog on food-saving hacks where I’ll talk about this more!
• Prep larger batches of ingredients for the week. Not sure what you’re going to make throughout the week? That’s okay too! You can still be prepared and have things on hand for when you do decide what to make. This is actually one of my favorite tips and something that I practice in my sustainable lifestyle. Some of the foods I like to prep in bigger batches are rice, quinoa, and sweet potatoes. I like to have veggies like carrots, celery, and purple cabbage washed and cut for snacks and cooking. You could easily do this with beef or chicken as well. It’s nice to have things washed, cut, or cooked and ready to heat up quickly in the fridge. This saves me so much time. Since this can also be a great tip for creating healthier food choices, I’ll definitely talk more about this tip in future health-focused blog posts too.

To Recap:

There are so many things you can do this Earth Month to adapt your lifestyle to a more sustainable one. Even if you can’t make all of these changes happen, starting with just one or two is better than nothing! Sustainable living is something that needs constant work and effort. You can make it easier by preparing things ahead of time, or by having reusables on hand, but these habits won’t happen overnight. So if you mess up, don’t worry about it! We don’t need a few people doing sustainable living perfectly, we need more people doing it imperfectly.

The Key To Making Lasting Sustainable Changes

The most important and key part of doing things to be more sustainable this Earth Month is to build these actions into your lifestyle (and that happens by taking it slowwwww). All of the ideas mentioned in this blog post are things that you can continue to do even when Earth Month comes to an end. Don’t get me wrong, I love Earth Month, and Earth Day…all of the Earth-focused holidays really. But, the issue that I have is that it puts a time frame on when to care about the planet.

Sustainable living is not just a one-month event, it’s a lifestyle! I know that may sound daunting, but the changes you adopt this month should be relative to you, your location, and your situation. Those are the changes that will form lifelong habits for you.

Does the environment benefit from you working on lessening your impact this month? Absolutely! But looking at the bigger picture, we need action that lasts longer than just one month. The phrase “every day is Earth Day” is cheesy, but that’s the mindset we need to have to make an impact.

As long as you do things one at a time and do things within your means, you’ll be an eco-warrior in no time. I hope these tips helped you find some inspiration for this Earth Month! Let me know what you think in the comments, or if there’s anything you would add to the list. (:

~ Kayla