Eco Living is about being IMPERFECT rather than doing NOTHING!

I share how to CARE MORE about the MOTHER EARTH and how it is a mindset to begin with vs doing anything actions first.

So my intention for writing this article is to INSPIRE you to CARE MORE about how YOU can make a difference towards mother earth. Sure, I can say Climate Change, but I’m not going to, as most people don’t understand Climate Change. 

I want to talk about and share with you how I care more about mother earth every day at home doing simple little things. 

You might already know I am passionate about sustainability, but like you, I find it to be CHALLENGING to do it all the time. So I was hoping you could give yourself permission to be IMPERFECT because that was the best advice I ever received when I went down the rabbit hole learning about all the issues with the environment. 

There are so many levels of caring about the planet, but the main thing I want to state in this first initial article about caring about the planet is that you have to start thinking that the EARTH is your HOME. Well, you would think, but it’s not that obvious because we are so far removed from nature nowadays. 

We will keep our homes clean, especially when guests come over, so we don’t want to think of us as messy folks, but yet we can hide away the truth... I’ll come back to this later.

So if you are an ECO YOGI WARRIOR... please share this article with someone who you think is struggling or doesn’t know where to start, as it is OVERWHELMING. 

I want to STOP everyone thinking they need to do it perfectly or every day to be an Eco Warrior... you have to keep it in your mind. Even when you are not doing... you are thinking about it. For example, if you forgot your water bottle, you must think of alternative options to buying a plastic bottle.

Before getting into the simple things you can do today, I want to admit that I still find ECO LIVING CHALLENGING, and I started on this journey in 2018. But I will say anything in life that is hard or a challenge is always WORTH IT in the end based on all my experiences. 

There are so many areas to focus on when it comes to individually starting your eco-living journey, so remember to do one thing at a time before moving on to the next. This is why I am starting with the MINDSET, as that is the most challenging part to shift. You must be okay with not doing it right all the time—the ebbs and flows of being excellent in one area and not another.

WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

BEGINNER WARRIOR 

- Bring your bags to the shops 
- Bring your keep cup for coffee 
- Bring your water bottle with you, so you don’t buy any plastic ones
- You say no to straws 
- Just started learning and watched 1 or 2 documentaries on climate change

ECO YOGI WARRIOR (MINDSET SHIFT) 

• Bring your own bags fruit and veggie bags and never take the single-use bags + avoid buying fruit or veggies in plastic 
• You put your food shop in your cart or basket if you forget your bags in the car, and don’t just buy another bag
• You forgot your keep cup so you sit in and have your coffee at the cafe or you don’t buy one and save some money 
• You forgot your water bottle - you find a water fountain and drink from that or a cafe and ask for a glass of water before just buying a plastic bottle 
• You say no to cutlery because you have some in your bag 
• When eating sushi, you use the soy sauce they have available vs taking the mini plastic fish to go. 
• You bring your takeaway containers

These are just examples of ways you have shifted your mindset, and you don’t have to do all of them to be an Eco Yogi Warrior, but it’s to paint the picture you are thinking differently about how you behave in certain situations.

1. You got to change the way you think... 

You won't change your habits if you do not think differently about how you want to behave. Your habits are your mind programming to keep doing the same things over and over because they are 

• QUICK
• EASY 
• CONVENIENT 

And these are the most significant reason climate change continues to happen because we all think this way, and we are all consumers that have been taught to think this way. 

So first, I want you to think about this for a minute... the next time you buy or cook a meal based on the above three words... you are more likely to be impacting the environment personally. 

I state personally that you have made a choice, and you have chosen the easy route. That’s fine to choose it occasionally as you change your habits into a new phase. 

2. You will suck at ECO LIVING at the start because it is NOT EASY. If you are starting again… that’s great to have you back on the journey. The sooner you accept this and move on, the better everything will be because you will keep trying, and with every step you take is EFFORT, and though I or someone else won’t be there to acknowledge your progress, you will know. So be proud of that moment.

MOST PEOPLE stop when they fail, but you are trying something, and it’s hard to change a habit, so keep trying and try again... even after a month or years of not doing it... START AGAIN.

 This is what I call IMPERFECT ECO LIVING (the effort of trying and not giving up)

2. Be prepared: 

Set yourself up for success with a clear but flexible and fun mindset.

Start learning by watching YouTube videos on the impact of plastic, climate change, and minimalistic and slow living for inspiration to motivate you even more on this journey.

You must be prepared to do things differently, like say no to convenient items like takeaway containers.

If you are out and about, you will run into situations where you will be OFFERED the convenience of packaging. So to avoid accepting their plastic containers, have some in your bag depending on what you usually eat or take away. You can bring silicone ziplock bags, metal containers, brown paper bags, glass jars suitable for smoothies or any leftover food. 

Before you start organising your spaces in your house to help you become more eco-friendly, sit down and make a plan or write down your Eco Living Goals. I will go into this later, so stay tuned in for more.

3. THE UGLY TRUTH:

As I stated above, we could hide away, but the truth is that no one is keeping track of us to make us accountable for our actions and impact on the planet.

We can all get away with NOT caring about the planet; for example, we don’t have to keep our TRASH at our house. But if we were accountable for all our trash, our yards and houses would be FULL to the max every year! If we had to drive it to the landfill, personally, OMG, can you imagine how it would feel to see where our trash goes every week!!! 

Imagine we had to sort through our recycling at a warehouse piece by piece. It would change how we shop to avoid sorting through the items of plastic and cardboard, paper etc. We consume every week to avoid going to the recycling centre.

Over the years, I have had many comments on my bin system as I always have more than the standard two most people have in their homes.

1. Recycling (the biggest bin)
2. Compost (the most used bin) 
3. Soft plastics, which has now become the TRASH bin because it is no longer running 

• for a long time, I didn’t have a trash bin to help train us not to buy items for the trash. Or we would have to take it outside, which was inconvenient. 

• We also don’t put out our Trash bin every week as it is never full

I also have jars to collect plastic bottle caps and bread tags as I recycle them with separate programs—more on this in another article. 

This is a massive TOPIC and one I can write about for ages, so I will stop here so you can take in everything I have shared above and realise this is a mental game.

I love teaching yoga because it clears your mind and allows new information to be accepted into the mind. This is why I have always believed in linking people practising yoga will have a better chance at making bigger shifts in their mindsets in regards to almost anything but in this case, to CARE MORE about the planet.

MINDSET TIPS:

It’s an individual challenge against yourself and your commitment and desire to figure out a way you want to reduce your impact on your HOME.

I want to add that you can MAKE IT FUN for you and your partner or your family to get involved. But I will also add that others might struggle and allow their struggle to be their own. You keep focus on your journey and keep trying your best. 

Remember that your home is NOT the address your house sits on. It’s MOTHER EARTH! You can’t run from her as she is the land you walk on. She is the air you breathe. She is and will always be your first HOME.

PS... 

I say this now also because there will come a day when you will HAVE NO CHOICE but to think about your environmental footprint, just like you were forced not to use plastic bags and bring your own. 

Things change slowly when it comes to environmental issues and governments regulating changes.

Are you going to be that Eco Slacker that will wait for things to get worse or for the government to tax you or force you to change your habits one by one, or will you start your journey today because you know in your heart it’s the RIGHT thing to CARE MORE about!

I already have so much FREE INFO on this topic on my website if you want to check it out to get updated on what I have already shared on this fantastic complex topic.

Next article on this topic, I will go into more detail about how I practice my IMPERFECT eco-living at home with actual steps which will be for paid subscribers so you can join my INNER CIRCLE to get how I have been managing my imperfect eco lifestyle with joy and ease.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - watch for FREE War On Waste for Australians wanting to learn more about how it is managed and things you can do. I think a new episode comes out on Tuesday at 8:30 pm