the fact is, i'm a busy girl. i'm also the type of person who is easily overwhelmed to the point of panic and tears when i have many things going on in my life at once. i'm working toward a degree in biology and spend much of my free time during the school year studying. i have an active social life. i cook most of my food at home, from whole ingredients. i use public transportation or my bicycle to get around, including shopping for groceries, commuting to and from school, and visiting or going out with friends. i grow and maintain a small backyard vegetable garden all on my own.
all of these, and numerous other smaller lower-impact details result in extra invested work or time on my part, and they add up. as much as i wish i could improve my footprint in every aspect of my life all at once, it is not realistic to expect that of myself. at the same time, i try very hard not to allow myself to become complacent with comfort and convenience. i continually re-evaluate my goals and accomplishments and push myself to take further steps to reduce my impact wherever i can. but i'm not perfect, and sometimes i think i need to be gentler on myself (and others) and remember to acknowledge that i am improving my way of life, slowly but steadily, every day.
so here's my list of lower-impact lifestyle changes i have already accomplished, or am working towards right now in my daily life:
- living car-free, taking public transportation, and riding my bike.
- preparing the majority of my food from scratch using predominantly whole, unprocessed, and unpackaged ingredients. working on incorporating more local-based, seasonal foods whenever possible.
- growing my own garden in the summer, and preserving as much home-grown fruit and vegetables as i can for future/winter use.
- diverting all vegetable-based kitchen waste to my compost.
- purchasing only secondhand clothing for myself, mending clothes, and recycling clothes into patches, rags, or creative projects when they are no longer wearable.
- purchasing (or inheriting) high quality secondhand kitchen/household/gardening items and furniture whenever possible.
- sharing a house with roommates.
- using reusable cloth shopping bags, including reusable bags for produce and bulk purchases. choosing loose, unbagged produce and bulk groceries over prepackaged items, even when the prepackaged items are a better deal (as is often the case with vegetables packaged in plastic net bags or clamshells). taking my own reusable containers to restaurants for takeout and leftovers. reusing glass jars, plastic yogurt containers, and ice cream pails for storage purposes.
- engaging in a minimal (well, nonexistant) beauty regimen: no makeup, no shaving supplies, no hair products, no deodorant. my toiletries consist of a toothbrush, toothpaste, and tongue scraper, hemp hand lotion, a loofah sponge, plain unscented bar soap, and a solid shampoo bar which i purchase unpackaged from a local store.
- using a washable, reusable menstrual cup.
- making and using my own laundry soap.
- bartering for skills and homemade items with friends, such as massage therapy for yardwork or knitting. assisting friends with projects, cleaning, and yardwork, and receiving assistance and company in return.
- seeking out and enjoying low-cost, low-impact sources of entertainment, such as going for walks along the river, exploring the city by bicycle, hiking, swimming, and camping, cooking meals together with friends, doing craft projects, writing letters, recycling/refurbishing items in creative ways, playing board games, etc.
- reframing tasks commonly seen as "chores" or "work" into "hobbies": gardening, cooking, preserving, sewing/mending, etc.
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