Sustainability in Action: How to Increase Your Triple Bottom Line
By now, we’ve all heard the concept of minimalism and a zero-waste lifestyle. It sounds intriguing, innovative, and even noble, but optimistic ideas soon become daunting thoughts as you begin to think about how and where to begin a more sustainable approach to everyday living. With the explosive growth of eco-conscious consumers in recent years, companies both large and small are focusing their efforts to meet the demand of the market by producing products and services that are convenient, cost-effective, and promote care of our planet.
For those who may fall into the categories of busy entrepreneurs, industry professionals, parents, and college-aged students who have perhaps already adopted a growth mindset towards actively living ECO-focused are strained to keep up with previously easy-to-adopt practices when it came to habits such as recycling due to more responsibilities and less capacity while a majority of life is currently happening within the home. Not to mention certain local government backed resources promoting ECO-efforts are either seeing a reduction in their budgets, or even the unfortunate – being cut from budgets completely. Despite what may happen at the local or county level, controlling your approach to a greenER lifestyle happens within the walls of your homes and businesses/workplaces as well as within our communities and neighborhoods. Narrowing your focus to address immediate changes will help guide lasting efforts towards greater change.
So, how can you work with home, with your workplace, alongside businesses within your local communities and neighborhoods to continue or create the ECO-based lifestyle of your choice?
There’s hope! Having a plan and prioritizing actions for results can make all the difference in your daily decisions towards a more purposeful path of change for the better of the planet.
Using the R.E.P.E.A.T acronym will provide you a practical filter for your daily choice to commit to sustainable living practices. These six action steps will shape your outlook on what you can implement and execute daily. It is also a helpful acronym to aid in sharing awareness with others to learn more about the opportunities for change with results.
Day-to-day Sustainability in Action (R.E.P.E.A.T)
R – Reduce your Carbon Footprint
E – Embrace an ECO lifestyle
P – Partner with an ECO minded community and cultivate awareness
E – Example-led Micro Actions
A – Act Locally
T – Think Globally
Now that we’ve come to understand that tossing all plastics into the recycle bin is not enough to sustain our future, let’s explore this acronym in action within our homes, communities, businesses, and work environments:
Lifestyle:
- Consider buying in bulk, using less packaging, and reducing food waste at the household level
- Sort waste accurately and converting it into reusable materials
- Transform your diet by consuming a more significant plant-based diet and opting for local, in-season, organic fruits and vegetables
- Get moving by engaging in purposeful, physical, heart health activities
In the Community:
- Develop a thorough waste management plan for your local events
- Give ethically produced and reusable gifts with minimal packaging
- Use greenER supplies and products or those made from post-consumer content, ECO packaging, and bio-based plastics
- Explore alternative transportation, electric/hybrid cars, walkable communities, biking, and remote working options
- Shop small for big change by choosing to purchase goods and services from small businesses
In our Business and/or Work Environments:
- Strive for a paperless office and go digital for invoices, banking, vendor orders, and offering options for text / email receipts
- Recycle cardboard boxes and ink cartridges properly
- Set up highly visible recycling stations in your workplace with clearly marked bins
- Use of energy-saving equipment, lightbulbs, timers, programmable thermostats, and power strips
In our Neighborhoods:
- Choose water-saving appliances, including but not limited to; low flow toilets and showerheads for household improvements
- Use sustainable materials for home renovations or remodeling efforts (i.e. reclaimed wood, bamboo, and recycled kitchen countertops)
- Opt for low – or – zero VOC paints for cabinets and doors to reduce the use of chemical from other paints
- Volunteer for neighborhood cleanup efforts such as Plant A Tree, or take the lead to plan and implement these events
“Change is good, but it’s not easy.” Rafiki from Disney’s The Lion King said it best. Change IS good, but it doesn’t always come easy.
Consider your starting point right here in this moment. Take a moment to reflect, write, and review. Reflect on what you’ve learned from this post, write down where you plan to begin, and review your current capacity status and how much you can commit to at this initial stage of your journey. Having a plan will make all the difference in achieving your greenER living goals.
It’s always encouraging to hear how others are taking their daily approach towards living their best ECO-friendly lives. Spread the spark and build a community around your journey. Invite family and friends into your process. See the shift begin to happen. It takes an entire community of individuals to create lasting change, so continue to share in the comments below how you plan to begin taking MicroActions and leveraging R.E.P.E.A.T to not simply “go green,” but make green a lifestyle!
