How to Consume Better
written by Partage
We all want to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. It can be quite confusing to know what to do in practice to be more sustainable. This article will cover a wide range from the definition of ‘sustainable’ to the ways we can all adopt a sustainable lifestyle.
What does sustainability mean?
Sustainability means avoiding the depletion of natural resources to maintain a
sustainable ecological balance.
Yes, this definition is broad, and many could debate what is sustainable and what
is not. To put it simply, as it is a subjective definition, we will try to explain our
vision of sustainability.
Sustainability is more and more important to all of us.
Instead of throwing your items
away, Partage them!
Give a second life to your everyday items.
If you do not need or want any item anymore and it is still functioning, someone
else will be happy to have it.
By giving your item a second life, you prevent the creation of additional waste and
production of another product.
On Partage, you can give a second life to your unwanted item and get rewarded.
Look carefully at what you buy
The first thing that comes to our mind when we think about sustainability is
consumption. Getting to know how the items you buy are produced is an important
step. To do so, you can:
- Do some quick research about the company's approach to sustainability on neutral websites. An excellent source is the CSR Hub, which allows you to search for a company to find out its sustainability rating.
- Pay attention to the materials used in the production of the item to ensure that it is produced responsibly, safely, without hazardous materials and without involving child labour.
Adopt a do-it-yourself lifestyle
Most of the items we throw away could be repaired.
In our fast-paced world, people tend to throw away and replace rather than reuse
and repair. This is one of the biggest problems we face. When we throw things
away and buy new things, there are several problems:
- The items we throw away might be useful for someone else
- The items we throw away cause pollution as it needs to be treated by waste management – and only a tiny fraction is actually recyclable
- When we buy new items to replace the ones we loved, we increase the need for production of those items - and therefore pollution.
There are a few places and websites that allow you to repair your items such as:
- For electronics – The Restart Project
- For clothes – Clothes Doctor
- For furniture – The Fantastic Handy Man
Consume less energy
You could save up to 30% of your energy bill on average.
One of the most important tips to be more sustainable is to use less energy in
general. There are numerous ways you can save energy (and money) by turning
off unused appliances, turning off your Wi-Fi box when you are out of your house is a good example of what you could do in addition to the obvious steps.
Go paperless
In our modern world, we need less and less paper in our everyday lives. If you still
receive paper version of your bills, bank statements and others, going paperless
will save tons of paper in a year.
Don’t waste food
Food waste is one of the biggest issues in our world. Food is wasted at the source (by producers) and at the destination (by us – customers).
There is some progress being made on the producer side. Even if it’s taking quite a long time. But there is something we can our on our end prevent it from happening.
You can for example:
- Reuse your old break for crouton
- Shop by using the app TooGoodToGo – it will allow you to prevent waste of food by shops and you will save money at the same time
- Cook stir fries when vegetables are about to go off
- Freeze your meat if you are not sure you will eat it before expiration
Wear sustainable clothing
Sustainable fashion was very exclusive a while ago. It is not the case anymore. Please find a list of sustainable brands where you can shop knowing that you participate in the preservation of the environment:
- BEEN London
- Mother of Pearl
- Elvis & Kresse
- Birdsong
- Beaumont Organic
- People Tree
- TALA
- Pico
- Bower
- L.V. Denim
You can also find discounted sustainable clothing on Partage with discounts on retailers such as One Wear Freedom with 10-20% off! What's not to love!