It has become recently obvious that we need to take care of the Earth for future generations, so we need to seriously live a more sustainable way of life.

There are small changes and habits that you can cultivate to live a more sustainable lifestyle. If you’re wondering what a sustainable living is, it can be summarized as reducing a certain amount of Earth’s resources that you use as they are finite.

The needs to live a sustainable life is not limited to reducing the use of finite resources, they also include reducing your carbon footprints, slowing down and hopefully contributing our efforts in environmental issues such as climate change and pollution.

Want to learn more about how to live a sustainable lifestyle? Give the following tips a try:

1. Use reusable products: It is much better for the environment that we use reusable products than their single use counterparts, particularly the plastic products as they end up in landfills and/or the oceans due to the long decomposition time. We can choose eco-friendly alternatives like cloth bags or paper bags instead of plastic bags; use metal or glass bottles instead of plastic bottles and also using reusable metal straws instead of plastic straws.

2. Wear sustainable clothing: The fashion industry is arguably one of the biggest industries polluting the world. From mass farm to get belts and animal skins for high end clothing to the unethical experiments done on animals to test the effectiveness of cosmetics. If you enjoy dressing in style and fashion, try to curb excessive habits and at the same time, give away unwanted clothing to needy communities. Avoid indulging in fashion accessories made from animal hide or fur or skin to discourage illegal trading and unscrupulous poachers in hunting down the animals to harvest their wants.

3. Eco-travel: Transportation is also one of the largest causes of air pollution and contributes to the greenhouse effect. As the ozone layer is being slowly destroyed by pollution, it results in making the Earth hotter and hotter. Consider using public transportation whenever you can, and always do car-pooling with friends/colleagues/neighbours in travelling to the same destinations. When running errands, plan your routes effectively so you can maximize your travel time while using a lower amount of fuel.

4. Save water: Use a washing bowl or use the sink plug to contain water while washing the dishes and you can save up to nine liters of water. When washing clothes, it is much better to wash a full load every few days than washing every day, this can save 50-70 liters per wash. You can also try washing vegetables in a bowl and reusing the water for watering the garden. Not only is this a sustainable way of using water but you would even see a decrease in your utility bills all the more as you try it out.

5. Start a garden: If you have some unused space in your backyard, perhaps you can consider starting a garden to grow your own vegetables and fruits. Not only would you ensure the reduction in the use of pesticides that contribute to air and water pollution, you can watch your own plants grow and have them fresh. Plants like garlic, curry leaves, chilli, pandan leaves, lady’s finger and even onion are easy to grow at home.

What we are considering above may not be much but if everyone were to incorporate these little habits in their lives, we would help to create an effect on our planet. Always remember that one person’s action may not cause much but when many people are doing the same thing at the same time, there will definitely be a result. After all, as the saying goes – “sedikit-sedikit lama-lama jadi bukit”, or in English, we say ” little by little it became a hill”.