Let’s be honest: most of us would like to be more eco-friendly, but the idea of completely overhauling our lives for the sake of sustainability feels… exhausting sometimes. And as with so many things nowadays, it’s very easy to let perfect be the enemy of good – especially when things such as social media just tell and show us an image that is so difficult to follow.

But thankfully, saving the planet doesn’t have to be a full-time job. There are plenty of low-effort ways to be more sustainable that require minimal thought, commitment, or physical effort.

Get a reusable water bottle (and use it!)

Right, starting with an obvious one. But buying a reusable water bottle is the easy part. The real challenge? Remembering to take it with you instead of panic-buying another plastic bottle every time you’re out and about.

Pro tip? Have multiple. Put one in every bag you own. Keep one in your car. Hide one at work. Doesn’t matter. That way, no matter where you are, you’ll never have to suffer the shame of purchasing yet another overpriced, single-use bottle. I’ve got several in multiple sizes. I also have one that is collapsible – which means I can easily take it with me to events that don’t allow bottles, for example!

Stop wasting food as much as you can

Did you know that roughly a third of all food produced globally goes to waste? Around 13.2% between harvest and retail, and another 19% in households, food service and retail. Most of us are guilty of letting perfectly good food rot in our fridge because we forgot it existed. Which sucks. But here’s the lazy fix: Eat what you buy. Now I know that sounds silly, but hear me out:

• That “best before” date? It’s just a suggestion. Sniff it, inspect it, then decide if it’s actually bad before tossing it (be more strict with meat, though, definitely trust your nose on that, even before the date).
• Bought too many veggies? Throw them in a soup, stir-fry, or literally anything that lets you hide slightly sad produce. Isn’t it silly, that we decide a slighty wrinkled bell pepper is suddenly not edible anymore, when really, it’s absolutely fine?
• Freeze things before they go off. Yes, even bread. Even cheese. Even that suspiciously mushy banana. Honestly, you can freeze so many different types of food!

Bonus: Saving food = saving money. And we love that. I am, personally, also a really big fan of food subscription boxes and have used them for several years now. They might look a bit more expensive at first, but are really worth it, once you realise how much time, energy and resources they save. And: less food waste, as you only get what you’ll actually use.

Use tote bags (or, you know, that collection of bags-for-life you already own)

The real question is not “Do you have a reusable bag?” but rather, “Why do you have 57 of them?”

They’re in your kitchen, under your bed, in your car—everywhere except where you actually need them (at the supermarket). Keep one in your coat pocket. Shove one in your glove box. Attach one to your keys, if necessary. Just use them. I’ve got at least ten in my car trunk.

Fun fact: Plastic bags take up to 1,000 years to decompose. That’s a lot of generations that don’t need to inherit the bag from your Tesco trip in 2022.

Pick and choose your items

Over the years I’ve bought quite a collection of sustainable items that I wanted to implement, but ended up didn’t. If you see something that is a green alternative to everyday things – stop for a second and think, if you can really implement it into your day. Personally, I love the subscription I have from smol – I’ve been using them for years and you get sustainable cleaning supplies via mail. Bars of soap instead of shower gel works for me. A menstruation cup. Reusable sponges or beauty cloths. But I really tried and couldn’t implement cotton kitchen wipes, for example. Beewax wraps. I just… couldn’t. So before you buy something just for its idea, think about if you’d really use it.

Just remember, that sometimes, all it takes, is slightly more effort than doing nothing at all. I alone can’t change the world – but small changes add up. And we can.

[Picture by KINN Living – thank you!]