What is Green Living? (Definition and FAQs)

As the climate crisis worsens, you may be starting to think about how you live your life and how you can make it a greener life. You may be wondering what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint, increase your sustainability and maybe your health too!

If this is you, then we've got you covered. In this blog post, we're going to be rounding up all of the most frequently asked questions about green living. We've added in the definition of green living and some tips and tricks on how to get started too. Check it all out below!

Green living: a definition

The basic definition of green living is living in a way that preserves and conserves the earth's resources, habitats, and biodiversity and ensures that the way we live our life does no further harm to the planet.

Green living means understanding that we are one with the earth and that we need to heal the earth, the same way the earth heals us. Essentially, green living is creating a lifestyle that works alongside nature and is not in opposition to it.

Green living involves reducing the energy we use, trying to recycle where possible, reducing waste, particularly plastic waste, eating organic food, and working with the green living community to support projects that preserve and conserve the earth and its resources.

What are some examples of green living?

Now you know what green living is, let's take a look at some examples of it. Green living includes:

• Eliminating plastic from your life. This means using reusable shopping bags, reusable coffee cups and water bottles, using shampoo bars and soap bars instead of bottles, and ditching disposables, like facial wipes, feminine hygiene products, and cotton pads.
• Making your home energy efficient. This can be done by installing insulation, using a smart meter, using LED light bulbs, composting, recycling, and eliminating waste.
• Changing your transportation methods. Consider whether you need to drive. If yes, drive greener, buy an electric car or carshare. If not, use other methods of transportation like walking, cycling, catching a bus, or using the train. And always try to minimise flying!
• Buy local and buy organic. Supporting local farmers means reducing the carbon footprint of the food you eat. Eating organic helps to eliminate toxins from the food you eat and the earth it is grown in by removing synthetic pesticides and fertilisers. You could even choose to grow your own fruit and veg!
• Break up with fast fashion. Avoid buying from fast-fashion retailers where possible and buy from smaller slower brands that use better and more sustainable materials. Fast fashion pieces are designed for you to keep buying more and will need replacing much quicker. Fast fashion is a heavily polluting industry so by not supporting it, you're living greener already.

Why is green living important?

Green living is important to curb pollution and to reduce further damage to our planet as well as preserve the earth's natural resources. The further we reduce carbon emissions, the more chance we have of slowing the warming of the earth and protecting future generations from deadly weather events and an uninhabitable planet. In addition, living greener can be better for your health as it includes avoiding harmful synthetic materials and ingredients that can do damage to your health.

What are the benefits of eco-living?

Eco-living is good for the planet and good for you. There are a number of benefits, these include:

• Benefits to your health. Choosing to eat a sustainable diet, like a vegan or vegetarian diet, can help you to feel fitter and healthier, reduce cholesterol and protect yourself from a range of chronic illnesses. In addition, eating organically and locally can reduce the chances of ingesting toxic chemicals, like synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, which can be damaging to human health.
• Benefits for the community. There are lots of ways that living greener can benefit the community. On a local scale, shopping smaller and local can support smaller businesses and help keep local people in jobs. On a global scale, doing your part for the environment can protect those most at risk from climate change by helping to reduce carbon emissions and plastic pollution, protecting their homes and lives.
• Benefits for the planet. The more we do to protect the planet, the more chance we have of reversing current climate change. By reducing our own carbon footprint, we can help to save this planet for future generations to live on.

How do I make my house greener?

There are lots of ways you can make your home a greener place, including everything from energy efficiency to non-toxic cleaning products. Check out the list of ways to make your home greener below.

• Make your home more energy-efficient. Insulate to reduce energy consumption. Get a smarter meter so you know how much energy you're using. And switch to LED light bulbs where possible.
• Use non-toxic, eco-friendly cleaning products. This means switching to products that don't contain damaging chemicals. These chemicals can run off into waterways and harm biodiversity, as well as be harmful to human health. Choose natural floor cleaners, toilet cleaners, and disinfectants.
• Buy in bulk and eat your leftovers. Buying in bulk helps to reduce packaging and can reduce food waste too. As well as buying in bulk, cooking in bulk or cooking with leftovers can help to ensure you don't waste food unnecessarily.

How can I reduce my carbon footprint?

Reducing our carbon footprint is essential to the health of the planet. There are a few ways that you can easily reduce your carbon footprint and these include:

• Moving to an eco-friendly bank. Did you know that many of the world's major banks still invest in fossil fuels? Check out your bank and move your money to a bank that doesn't!
• Eat more plant-based foods and reduce meat intake. We're not saying you have to go vegan, but reducing meat consumption can have a massive impact on your carbon footprint. As a heavily polluting industry, the meat industry is responsible for massive amounts of carbon emissions, and so by avoiding it, you can reduce your own carbon footprint.
• Switch to a lower-carbon energy provider.
• Create less waste by using reusable produce bags, shopping bags, food bags, coffee cups, and water bottles and try to compost waste where you can.

Will green living reduce my environmental impact?

Green living is designed to reduce your carbon footprint, waste production and therefore your overall environmental impact. By choosing a life that does not use up more of the earth's resources that are available, you are ensuring there will be resources for generations to come.

How can I be green year-round?

Being green all year round may be tricky. There are different times in the year when you are more likely to produce more waste, use more energy, and have a greater impact on the environment. During the winter months, you're more likely to turn up the heating, so try insulating your home against the cold and getting a smart meter to see how much energy you're using. In the summer, if you're using the air conditioning, you're likely to be using lots of energy too! Try other methods of cooling down if safe and possible. In addition, we tend to create more waste around the festive season. This is because we buy gifts and wrapping paper etc. Try to use biodegradable wrapping paper and give gifts of experience if possible, instead of buying more things people may not need.

What are five ways to help the environment?

There are lots of ways you can help to preserve the environment and we have listed our five top tips below. Check them out.

1. Reduce, reuse, recycle. You're probably sick of hearing this slogan but it is an effective way of helping to preserve the environment. By reducing our consumption, we can reduce our carbon footprint and preserve the earth's resources. Reusing, re-wearing and repairing can help to reduce consumption too and help us to learn about the work that goes into our products. Recycling has always been a greener alternative and is the best way to keep waste production down.
2. Make your home energy efficient. Insulating, turning down the AC, and understanding how much energy you use can help to reduce the carbon footprint of your energy usage!
3. Shop small and shop local. Smaller businesses tend to support sustainability and green living more than larger corporations, and so shopping with them is giving money to greener projects. Shopping local means you're supporting your local community and reducing the carbon emissions produced by your shopping, with shorter distances to travel.
4. Eat greener. Eat more plant-based food and less meat to reduce your carbon footprint. In addition, you can choose organic food to ensure that your food has not been treated with harmful pesticides and fertilisers and is not damaging the earth further.
5. Educate. Finally, one of the best ways to help the environment is to open everyone's eyes to the ways the climate needs our help. Volunteering with a local charity or getting involved in climate activism can help to educate others and could lead to sorely needed policy change.

Conclusion

Greener living means helping to protect the environment and conserve its natural resources for generations to come. Living green means working as a community to protect our planet, save the people most affected by climate change and come together for a better world.

We hope our FAQs helped to answer some of your questions on climate change! Remember there are plenty of resources out there to inform your research and getting involved with local groups and charities can help push your knowledge further!