7 Sustainable Lifestyle Goals to Set for 2025

New Year’s resolutions are great opportunities to try new things. You can make your life anything you want, especially if you dream about becoming more eco-friendly. Get inspired with a few sustainable lifestyle goals. These ideas will help you live your best life while lowering your impact on the environment. Make 2025 your greenest year yet – starting today.

Lower Single-Use Plastic Consumption

Single-use plastics are everywhere. Think about the last time you bought dental picks, straws or sandwich bags. They might be necessary for maintaining your health or keeping up with your diet, but they don’t need to be plastic.

Your daily routine will become instantly greener if you swap those products with reusable alternatives. Silicone baggies, glass straws and stainless steel flosses could replace single-use plastics that might slip your notice. Coffee pods and single-serving snack packs also use harmful plastics for packaging.

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Take a close look at the things around your home. If you find the ones that can only be used one time and contain plastic, you can find a reusable alternative to it. You only have to find it through a quick internet search. Even if you have to change your routine slightly, like making coffee with a reusable pod, you’ll use less plastic and reduce your environmental impact.

Also Read: Alternatives to Single-Use Plastic

Make Your Laundry Use Less Water

The average commercial washing machine uses 37.74 thousand gallons of water per year, which is substantial. Multiply that total by the number of households, apartment buildings and commercial facilities with this equipment, and the average total will become exponentially bigger. You’ll never get through life without getting your clothes dirty, so think of a greener way to clean them. It all comes down to your cycle selection.

Optimize your laundry by checking which cycles are possible with your current machine. Choose an option that cleans your clothes faster, like a speed cycle. You’ll minimize the water your machine needs to clean your attire so your environmental impact shrinks overnight. You can also wait to have a considerable load before doing the laundry or hand-washing items to minimize water use.

Save Your Leftovers

Food waste harms the environment even though the food itself is biodegradable. Water, soil nutrients and land are necessary limited resources for farms that produce food. Animal products also draw on water sources. A lot of resources are utilized to prepare one plateful of meal and wasting it means the environment’s resource loss was for nothing.

Image: Independent

As you get used to making more accurate portion sizes, get in the habit of reheating leftovers. You’ll reduce your food waste, eliminate wasting natural resources and quickly learn how much food you need to avoid over-purchasing at the grocery store. Moreover, there are ways to upcycle your food waste to better manage it.

Also Read: Upcycled Food – The Coolest and Wisest Trend to Reduce Food Waste

Eat Local and Sustainably Grown Food

You can also revise your diet by getting groceries from brands committed to sustainability. These brands may conserve natural resources more effectively through green business practices. They may also avoid chemical fertilizers and deforestation. See if your preferred companies have sustainability pledges on their websites to better understand where you can shop to support your greener lifestyle.

Don’t forget about the possibility of getting local groceries, too. Nearby farmer’s markets could have everything you need if you regularly buy produce, honey, baked goods, or even ice cream. Locally grown and sourced materials will have a lower carbon footprint as compared to exotic produce purchased from overseas.

Recycle Materials Correctly

Call your local recycling center or browse their website to have waste material recycled. They may have specific requirements for recycling common materials. Some places only accept flat boxes, clean tin cans or bottles without lids. If your recyclables arrive in any other condition, the center may throw them all in the garbage because their equipment can’t process them. Double-checking the material you are submitting for recycling could improve your environmental impact.

Image: The Verge

Not only that, you can recycle and upcycle certain items at home as well. For instance, an old bucket or container may be used as a planter. Old rags can become countertop wipes and so on.

Consider Monthly Donations

If you can’t change your routine right now, reflect on your monthly budget. A recurring donation — big or small — will improve the environment if you direct it to green organizations. Look for opportunities like carbon offsetting programs, groups that advocate for the planet or people doing significant work like scooping garbage out of the ocean or saving rainforests. They’ll turn your money into meaningful worldwide change, which could bring you more peace than anything else.

Shop at Thrift Stores

Shopping may be a fun hobby, but it’s not great for the environment. You might purchase clothes from companies that abuse natural resources to make fast fashion products. The home goods or accessories you get at the store burn fossil fuels as they ship from overseas locations.

Thrift stores provide an easy way to help the planet. You’ll get everything you need at a steep discount without paying companies to use limited natural resources to make something new. The quality may even be better than what you’d get online. Keep an eye out for vintage and older goods that are often made with durable materials and will become a cherished part of your home. By thrift shopping, you will give things a second lease of life and end up with unique pieces.

Make Your 2025 Lifestyle More Sustainable

Turn your concern for the planet into action by setting sustainable goals for 2025. Starting small gives you room to grow while still improving the environment. Reducing your water usage, shopping at thrift stores and even washing your cans before recycling them could reduce your effect on the world without upending your routine.