When I started this blog, my mantra was that sustainable living is about progress not perfection. A recent blog post from Cecilia at The Kitchen’s Garden made me pause and think about how my approach has evolved. As I pondered the question “What kind of environmentalist am I?”, I considered all the benefits of sustainable living. Read on to find out what I discovered.
Different types of environmentalists
As I mentioned, I was inspired to write this by Cecilia at The Kitchen’s Garden. In a recent post, she looked at 5 genres or types of environmentalists. Her point is that there are different motivations and approaches to sustainability, and each of us can be any or all of these types at any point in time.
Please visit Cecilia’s blog and read the full post. It’s very inspiring and thought-provoking, and it gave me an opportunity to reflect on my personal journey.
Sustainability is not a straight path
In late 2018, a gift from my sister-in-law introduced me to Molloy’s, a local bulk soap supply and refill store. When I visited the store, I was so inspired by their story—two people working hard to do good for the Earth—that I set a goal for 2019 to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in our home. Looking at Cecilia’s genres, I’d say I started out as a “preventative personality” seeking to reduce plastic and packaging.
Learning more about the state of our planet distressed me and I realized I need to do more. One thing led to another. Waste reduction and sustainable living soon became a passion. In July 2019, I decided to share my message with the world by starting this blog.
My philosophy from the start has been progress not perfection. It’s easy to feel discouraged by dire environmental news, but small, incremental changes will add up over time. We all have to start somewhere.
Joys and benefits of sustainable living
As I look back on my journey, I’ve reaped so many benefits from living a more sustainable life. If you’ve been following my blog since the beginning, you’ve witnessed this transformation. Here are five ways sustainable living has improved my life.
Intentional choices
First, focusing on sustainability has made me more mindful about all the choices I make in my life. I’m much more intentional about how I spend two of the most finite resources—my time and money. These days I buy very few non-essentials, and I’m selective about how I spend my time. It has made such a difference.
Simplicity
Since 2019, my blog has evolved from a sustainability focus to simple living and decluttering. It turns out it’s all connected. Decluttering and being selective about what I buy made me realize I can live with a lot less. I’ve learned joy comes from simple things and not from anything you’ll buy online or at the local department store.
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Gratitude
Sustainable living has taught me to be grateful for what I have instead of wanting more. I’ve also learned to take pleasure in the beauty of nature, and life’s simple daily pleasures. For the last couple of years, I’ve been journalling about daily highlights. Often, these highlights are about flowers blooming, birds singing, or ducks swimming on the pond.
More space
Decluttering and sustainable living has freed up physical space in my home. More important than physical space, though, is mental space. I find I have more room to breathe, create and enjoy life.
Healthier life
The first four benefits of sustainable living were mainly about mental health. I’ll wrap up with a few physical health benefits. I’ve reduced my exposure to harmful chemicals in personal care and cleaning products. Plus, I’ve cut back on my meat consumption, and I spend more time hiking and enjoying nature.
Oh…and my bank balance is healthier, too. What’s not to love about that!
So what type of environmentalist am I?
Over the last five years, I’ve seen an evolution in my approach to sustainability. Considering the five genres from Cecilia’s blog post, I now see many elements of “frugal people” in my current life. Depending on the day, though, I sometimes take the “path of least resistance” when life gets busy.
In the end, I’d add a sixth genre to Cecilia’s list and call myself an imperfect guardian. I openly admit to imperfection and not always making the right choices. However, I take my responsibility to be a good steward—or guardian—of the earth seriously.
We’re all a work in progress.
Thank you, Cecilia, for inspiring this post. Please visit The Kitchen’s Garden to read the full post and let me your sustainability personality.
What benefits have you seen from living a more sustainable life? Drop me a comment below and let me know.
It’s true that everyone has their own approach towards sustainability. It is complex but small steps on an individual level is like working on the foundation of a building. Reflecting on our actions is a great way for self-care. At the same time, when we care for ourselves we also spread awareness through our actions. If negativity spreads like wild fire then positive words and actions work like water that cools down the land and is a blessing showered on everyone.
Hi Ranjana, Thanks for dropping by! What a beautiful image your words have planted in my mind. “Actions work like water that cools down the land and is a blessing showered on everyone.” I love that. 💚
I so appreciate your point of view about progress over perfection, Michelle. Every little bit helps…and your encouragement means a lot! 😉
Thanks Vicki. I try not to be too preachy or too hard on anyone who’s making an effort. It all adds up!
Yes, it does — add up! And your posts are just chock full of good info. Never preachy…not a bit. xo! 😘
Thank you so much Michelle for highlighting my post. My journey with environmentally sustainable living has created many positive connections with many different wonderful people and it cannot help but make me feel optimistic!
Your writing makes me feel optimistic!
I love the idea of enabling ourselves to forge ahead with our plans instead of being mired and bogged down in the miserable climate change news cycle. We are all so powerful in our own ways.
Thank you again! I really loved this post. c
My pleasure Cecilia. I discovered your site a few weeks ago thanks to another blogger who left a comment on one of my posts. I am really enjoying your daily posts and this one realy spoke to me.
Thank you for your kind words. You’re right that each of us is powerful and collectively the possibilities are endless. I try to remind myself of that daily.
P.S. I’ve left several comments on your posts that I suspect might be getting caught in your spam. Hopefully that will be addressed with your new site.
I checked through my spam and cannot find you (which is good, as that place is full of the nasties) – lets make sure to keep in touch and I will send you an email when the new site goes live. My email is celima.g.7@gmail.com. The next site will have a much better commenting plug in – so many people have trouble commenting on my present site – take care!
That is so strange. All my thoughtful comments just gone. 😂 I’ll send you an email so you can put me on your list! Thanks.
Michelle, so nice to see you sharing TKG blog and some of Celi’s words and ideas! I love that you have created your own sustainable personality as an imperfect guardian- what a great term! I believe, knowing C as long as I have that even she embraces the imperfect. It is the trying, and the learning, and then trying and finding your niche that matters.
Thanks Deb. Cecilia is very inspiring and I look forward to her posts every day. This one, in particular, really made me stop and think about the good, and the imperfect, parts of my own journey.
I’m loving this reflection. I feel like I’ve learned so much while trying to be more sustainable too. The descriptor of “imperfect guardian” is kind of perfect in my opinion. I like it 🙂
Thanks. Cecilia’s post really made me pause and consider my journey. I think we’re all imperfect but, as long as we’re making a sincere effort, it will make a difference.