6 Simple Ways to Live a More Sustainable Lifestyle

These days, everywhere you look someone is giving tips to live a “greener” lifestyle.

While it makes sense to keep the earth in mind, a lot of these tips aren’t that easily implemented by people who are on a budget or lack certain skills.

Sure, I’d love to install solar panels on my roof or a low-flow plumbing system, but right now what I really need are sustainable tips that help the earth and my pocketbook. So I did some research to bring you these six tips that you can put into practice at home—without expert skills or a lot of money.

Start a Home Compost

Home composts aren’t just for tree huggers and eccentrics anymore. They’re a simple way to considerably green up your home, by reducing the amount of waste you send to the landfill. Instead of putting those food scraps in the garbage, just throw them into a small outdoor bin. Composting takes little effort: Sprinkle some water on your bin of old food, stir it up, and nature will take its course, turning your waste into free yard fertilizer. And, you’ll be saving money by reducing your garbage bill. [Also see How to make your own worm farm- video and Reduce organic waste, start an earthworm farm!]

Collect Rainwater

Why waste money paying for water when you can get it for free? Just set a barrel or old garbage bin under your gutters when you’re expecting a rain shower, and you’ll be doing mother nature a favor. Instead of leaving your sprinklers on all throughout the year, you’ll be able to water your yard with the barrels you collect. This water is a lot easier on the earth because unlike tap water, it’s not being diverted away from streams and natural reservoirs to get your house.

Join a CSA

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, a type of organization that lets the local community support nearby growers who practice sustainable farming. When you join a CSA you’re essentially buying into a farmer’s harvest—helping fund the costs of getting the crop into the ground and tending it. In return, you get a share of their harvest in the form of a weekly produce delivery to your home or a distribution point near you. Use this page to find a list of CSAs in your region.

Use DIY Home Cleaners

Many home cleaners contain noxious chemicals that are harmful to manufacture and pollute our water supplies when they run down the drain. For most daily cleaning jobs you don’t even need those harsh chemicals; you can actually make cheap, nontoxic solutions from ingredients you already have at home. Vinegar, baking soda, and lemons are some examples. 

Eat Less Meat

Did you know that if you cut out one meal of chicken every week for a year and replaced it with vegetarian food, it would be equivalent to taking half a million cars off the road? Even if you can’t imagine yourself going vegetarian, removing just one meal of meat a week can drastically cut down the greenhouse gases that result from raising livestock.

Buy a Power Strip

Some electronics are real energy suckers—they keep drawing energy from the wall, even when they are turned completely off! Plugging all your electronics into a handy power strip is a simple way to ensure that they’re cut off from the power source and won’t be wasting energy when you’re not using them. It’s a handy way to be frugal and save energy.

Source: GROG Green Tech Blog (Joy Paley)

Small changes to everyday habits can have a significant effect on the environment.  Water conservation habits are very important to adopt as global water scarcity issues become increasingly dire.  South Africa, a water scarce nation, faces a water crisis that could cripple the economy and cause social unrest, especially among the poor majority.  Sustainable living is greatly satisfying; some habits may be hard to break in the beginning, but the benefits to the environment and your bank balance make this the only real way to live.  Installation of eco-friendly devices, such as water-saving systems, is the next step.

Contact us for a free quote on a rainwater harvesting system, rainwater tank, greywater recycling system, grey water irrigation system, grey water toilet flush system and other WWF award-winning water conservation systems (see product demo).  Water Rhapsody is also an authorized JoJo Water Tanks dealer (best prices for water tanks and JoJo tank stands in the Lowveld!).  Our partnership with Yes Solar South Africa enables us to offer high quality, Eskom-approved solar water geysers for every situation.  Consider reducing your carbon footprint further by switching to eco friendly insurance.