30 day Sustainability Challenge: actions towards a more conscious living

There’s nothing like a challenge to shake-up your lifestyle.

 There are many ways you can create change and build awareness, whether it’s the way you eat, how many steps you take a day, what you wear, when you go to sleep, meditate, waste-free, technology-free, you name it, there’s probably been a challenge made for it.

THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A CHALLENGE TO SHAKE-UP YOUR LIFESTYLE. THERE ARE MANY WAYS YOU CAN CREATE CHANGE AND BUILD AWARENESS, WHETHER IT’S THE WAY YOU EAT, HOW MANY STEPS YOU TAKE A DAY, WHAT YOU WEAR, WHEN YOU GO TO SLEEP, MEDITATE, WASTE-FREE, TECHNOLOGY-FREE, YOU NAME IT, THERE’S PROBABLY BEEN A CHALLENGE MADE FOR IT.

Make the pledge.

Today is solely dedicated to setting your intention. Spend the morning tuning into your environment, pause to look around and see all of the things you have, feel grateful.

You may not write very often, but we encourage you to pick up a notebook, put pen to paper and coin your own personal pledge for the next 30 days.

Some journal prompts:

- I want to participate in this 30 day challenge because…

- The 5 changes I would like to see in my lifestyle and environment are…

- We must preserve nature because…

SIGN-OFF... I pledge to try my very best over the next 30 days and complete each day with consciousness and humility, I understand that I may not always succeed, however I intend to continually impact my environment positively, signed…

Clean-out your products.

Use of chemical body-care or cleaning products affects the indoor and outdoor environment, can lead to pollution and waste, and often create severe health problems.

Head to the shops or online and buy GREEN cleaning products with these things in mind...

- Biodegradability.
- Low toxicity.
- Low VOC content.
- Minimal packaging.
- Produced with less energy.

Set up your recycling system.

Recycling feels good. There’s no two ways about it. And if you aren’t already recycling in the year 2021, well you have a lot of catching up to do. Focus some time today on setting up a fail-proof system that is EASY to implement. This is key. If you have to walk to the other side of the house down the stairs and around the bend to throw plastic in a bin, then you’ll get lazy and simply not do it. Setup for success!

Shorten showers for the rest of the month.

A shorter shower not only saves water, but also saves on the energy used to heat that water. An easy way to bring the length of your showers under control is to install a timer in there with you. Experts say 5 minutes is the optimal amount for healthy skin, an added bonus, so keep it under 5.

Donate to a cause.

Supporting movements whether it’s with your dollar, your time, or your energy, can be the pivotal point when it comes to deep societal change.

Find a cause that resonates with you and reach out to them to see how, when and what you can collaborate on to create a positive impact.

Plant a tree.

Today is a great day to plant a tree! Trees don’t only help to purify air by removing carbon dioxide, they also store carbon, and release oxygen into the atmosphere. If you live in a city and don’t have access to land, look into sponsoring a tree planting company like Tree Nation.

Go Vegan this week.

Meatless Mondays have taken off over the last few years and we think it’s wonderful. Most people can easily understand how eating meat for every single meal may not be the most sustainable of practices.

Do you think you could eat no meat for a whole week?

Try planning your meals a few days in advance, find delicious recipes that will inspire you, order your weekly veg box and enjoy the challenge.

Swap to online instead of paper.

Most companies have made the move to communicating with their clients online. But there’s always more ways to save on wasting paper. Think bank statements, magazines, newspapers, and any form of communication that you may receive or purchase and look at making the switch online.

Get outside.

You’re just over halfway through the 30 day Sustainability Challenge and you deserve to get out and enjoy the fresh outdoors. Plan a hike, get out in nature, hug a tree. Perhaps do all three? Breathe nature in and feel connected.

Grow your own herb or edible plant.

Bringing more green into your life is awesome, and green that you can actually eat and cook with is a BONUS. Make sure you commit to planting a herb that is easy to tend to first, so you gain momentum and a few weeks in, once your herbs are flourishing, look at adding more.

Walk instead of driving or taking transport.

Walking is fun! It’s relaxing, you breathe in fresh air AND you avoid adding to the crazy amount of daily pollution that is being expelled into the air.

If you can’t walk to work today, find another time throughout your week that you can swap a car, bus or metro and choose to use your legs or a push-bike instead.

Pledge to travel locally or consciously.

Traveling to far-flung places is exciting, but the cost on the environment to get there can be devastating. If we all committed to traveling by long-haul flight less, and spending some more time exploring our neck of the woods, well the environment would be very grateful for it.

Money is energy.

Voting with your dollar is powerful. Have you thought about where, what and who you buy or invest your money in? What’s your favourite brand of clothing? Is your bank ethical? What companies do you invest into? So be cautious who you give your money to and research into their intentions.

Turn off your heating and aircon.

Today is simple - if it’s cold put a jumper on, if it’s hot put your bikinis on. Using a heater or aircon is nice on an extreme day, but it’s really not always needed. Think scarcity when it comes to using all of your appliances, abundance doesn’t have room here.

Upcycle something old.

Make something beautiful again. Trump tried to do it with America, why can’t we try and do it in our homes? Upcycling is a great concept that can be applied to a lot of areas or things in our life.

Here are a few ideas to inspire!