Adopting a sustainable lifestyle can seem intimidating. Everywhere you look – magazines, TV shows, the cleaning and produce aisles at the grocery store – it seems like living sustainably is complicated. But it isn’t. If you take a single tiny action each day, you can make a big impact on your utility bill, your health, your happiness and your life. Here are some ideas for your next simple step:
Spend ten minutes a day in the sunshine. Turn off your phone and your computer. Take off the sunglasses, roll up your sleeves and go outside in the sunshine every day. That simple act will help you process Vitamin D, help balance your sleep patterns and may even make you a happier person. Note that looking out the windshield of the car as you commute or run errands does not count.- While you are outside, take a ten minute walk and really brighten your outlook on life.
- Add some color to your outfit. Black always looks cool but has little to no happiness factor. Add some yellow, green or pink – you might find yourself smiling more.
- Turn off the lights when you leave the room. Save a bulb, reduce air conditioning demand, and electric costs all at the same time.
- Turn off your outdoor lights at night and enjoy the dark night sky.
- Adjust the temperature setting on your heat (down) and your A/C/ (up) by one degree. You probably won’t notice the difference until your monthly utility bill comes in the mail. Wait a month and then adjust it again; now that you are acclimated you won’t notice and will save even more.
Place a plant a where you can see it. Plants are great companions. They clean the air, brighten up our surroundings, make you happy just looking at them, and the only time they make a mess is when they throw their leaves around or when we knock them over.- Fix a faucet that is dripping or a toilet that is running. Saving water, saving money and stopping that incessant noise are all good things.
- Install a Water Sense labeled aerator
on one or all of your faucets. You won’t even notice that they save water until you compare your monthly water bills. - Use reusable water bottles and avoid buying bottled water. I keep one in each of my bags and on my bike. Take the money you save and go on a vacation somewhere.
- Use reusable bags when you go shopping. Many of us remember them
for the grocery store but what about those midnight runs to TJMaxx? While you are at the grocery with your reusable bags, forgo using the plastic bags offered in the produce section; loose veggies are even better than bagged ones. Thin film plastics are notorious pollutants and have a way of getting onto roadsides, into trees, and into the ocean. IF you have to use them then recycle them. - Make a color-full meal for dinner!
- Recycle and Take the One-Bag-A-Week Challenge.
Forget the dryer and hang your clothes out to dry on the line. If you don’t like the stiffness, let them dry on the line and then toss them in the dryer for a minute.- Install a rain barrel to capture fresh, non-chlorinated, non-floridated
rainwater for your plants 
Find a mass transit route to get to work or to run errands. Better yet, ride your bike. Don’t forget that Bike to Work Day is coming up on May 20th.- Adopt Sunshine Cleaning methods, take all those under the
cabinet chemicals to your town’s hazardous waste day, and take a deep breath of fresh, clean air. - Volunteer for an Earth Day event – it is coming up on April 20th.
