12 Sustainable Lifestyle Changes to Adopt in the New Year!

Show Notes

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12 Sustainable Lifestyle Changes to Adopt in the New Year!

New Year, Sustainable You

I am so excited to move into 2022 with you! At the beginning of every new year, I list goals that pertain to each area of my life written out in neat little columns to keep me organized. But one thing I’ve noticed the past few years is how a common thread connects my goals – the drive to live a happier, healthier life. I think that is what most of us actually want.

So you might nod your head when I say that you might want to adopt a sustainable lifestyle or have started to do it because you want to find a deeper purpose or meaning in life. You want to make healthy choices because you know they make you happy, improving not only your physical but mental health. You want to deepen your connections with yourself and others because there is a richness in authentic relationships that makes you feel more alive. You want to see a beautiful world that isn’t ravaged by climate change or pollution. You not only want to see a world where people aren’t unjustly harmed or taken advantage of, but where we can all thrive and enjoy the wonders that the earth gives us every day equitably.

Does that sound about right?

Overcoming the obstacles

Sustainable living is a goal that many people have shown interest in taking on. One global study shows that 61% of people are interested in reducing their impact on the environment and living a sustainable lifestyle that will improve their health, the health of the planet, and others. But there is a gap because only 31 percent say they have actually made significant changes to do this.

People who aren’t adopting a sustainable lifestyle, who are capable and have the means to do so, aren’t doing it for a couple of reasons:

1. They put off doing what they think might be challenging.
2. They think it might cost them something (whether time or money), and they aren’t sure of the investment.
3. They’re too vague and don’t have a plan, or they don’t know where to start.

But I’ve got a solution. I want to help and to do this together. I want us to hold each other accountable for the changes we want to see within ourselves and the world.

12 Changes in 12 months

I’ve chosen 12 sustainable lifestyle changes for you to adopt in the new year.

I intentionally chose the number 12 because I wanted to allow you to move slowly and adopt one new practice per month – to really commit to learning and growing throughout the year with these new lifestyle changes. Studies show that if we adopt one sustainable behavior, we are more likely to continue making sustainable choices in the future.

It is also a chance to dig deeper into your practice if you’ve already begun to adopt some of these lifestyle changes or need a refresher.

I don’t want this to be hard for you. I want to make it really simple to start and/or continue building on your knowledge and sustainable lifestyle. I also want to make it extremely clear as we go along the benefits of your investment to yourself, others, and the physical planet we live on. I want to clarify that sustainable living is what you make it – and that there are ways to make this accessible and affordable for you. To make it make sense for YOUR life.

enjoy the journey

I also ask you to dig deeply into your WHY. I mentioned earlier some reasons that might drive you or motivate you to live a sustainable lifestyle. Keep digging into that and hold tight. Do what you can to remind yourself of your WHY, no matter what life brings. I am going to ask you not just focus on the result. We are not robots. Insert X practice and compute happiness as the end result.

We have to focus on the change within ourselves as we go along. Yes – I’m telling you to observe and enjoy the journey.

Regularly check in to how your actions towards your goal have made you feel, what benefits you or others have received, what changes you’ve seen in your life. Journal it and talk about it with others.

One Step, big or small

So throughout the next year, you’re not only going to walk away with one step, big or small, on how to take action towards a more sustainable life, but you will also broaden your mind around topics and continue to hear from real people and businesses who are on their journey trying to navigate what they can do to make less of an impact on our resources and treat people equitably while doing it – and also we’re going to have some fun!

I am beyond excited about this!

12 sustainable lifestyle changes

Without further ado, here are the 12 sustainable lifestyle changes we will work on each month throughout the following year.

Value Earth’s soil

This means we are going to learn the basics of food waste and composting and the importance of soil health to our planet.

Practice better waste management

We’re talking about recycling basics, microplastics, and hearing from companies doing cool things in the recycling and waste management space.

Choose Sustainable, ethical clothing

We all wear it, so let’s do it better. We will learn about sustainable fabrics and ethical labor practices and hear from companies that are making these choices a foundation of their business.

Develop Healthier Food Habits

So how our food systems interact with the health of the planet, others, and our bodies and how we can make healthier or alternative choices.

Spend more time with nature

I’ve talked about this a lot before. Still, we will hear more from companies who are doing great things to encourage sustainable nature interaction, as well as the wonders of our natural world and how you can deepen your connections.

Travel Eco-friendly

We will discuss reducing our impact from day-to-day travel, like commuting or running errands, to more extensive traveling.

Create an eco-friendly home

Here, we will talk about how you can create an eco-friendly home from construction to the products you use in your home and energy conservation – with examples from all over the world.

Develop community

This will be about building a sense of belonging and commitment to others – we will also learn about the role of politics, social services, and sustainable development within the context of community.

Broaden our Perspective

This involves hearing from other people who will have a different life experience or background than your own and learning more about our role on earth.

Improve our consumer habits

Here, we will learn more about improving our spending habits and who we bank with, buy from, and the effects of social influence on our consumer habits.

Prioritize health

This will be reinforcing the importance of the connection between personal and planetary health, facets of our physical and mental health concerning sustainability, and the genealogy of green health.

Commit to Living with Intention

In the final month, we will talk about how to deepen our intentions professionally and personally, realign with our values, and use our new knowledge to influence the rest of the world positively.

Something to grow on

Ahhh, this is going to be so much fun!

Along with these lifestyle changes we will delve into on the podcast every month, I’ll still provide you with bonus episodes from authors, artists, and more to help keep us inspired and on track throughout the year!

I will also be posting related content to my blog on lenasamford.com so you can learn even more. There will be giveaways, fundraisers, and more throughout the year, with some exclusive content only available to the online community – so be sure you’re subscribed to receive Hometown: Earth updates via email, so you don’t miss a thing! And stay connected with me and the rest of your neighbors on Hometown: earth through social media via Facebook and Instagram, which I will link in the episode description.

The fun has only begun, neighbors, and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes us together!