Do you pay attention to sustainability in your everyday life?
No matter what your answer is - let's be honest: the vast majority of us could probably do more to reduce our footprint on our planet.
Sustainability shouldn't just remain an abstract buzzword. It should become a topic you can pay attention to in your everyday life. That's why we've done the research for you and compiled simple tips for more sustainability in your daily routine.
Sustainable everyday life – you can implement these tips immediately
- Fill the dishwasher & washing machine
Dishwashers and washing machines can be real energy guzzlers, depending on the model. If we're going to pollute the environment, it should at least be worthwhile every time. So always fill your dishwasher and washing machine as full as possible before you run them.
If you also use the Eco program on both the dishwasher and the washing machine, you can save even more energy.
- Skip preheating the oven
Did you know that you can save around 20% on electricity if you only turn on the oven when you put your dish in it?
Preheating the oven is completely unnecessary, as it only wastes energy without any benefit to the food. If you only turn on the oven when it's actually needed, the baking time will be slightly longer, but the environment will thank you.
- Shopping bags instead of plastic bags
Shopping generates an enormous amount of unnecessary plastic waste, not only from food packaging but also from plastic bags used to pack the groceries.
Admittedly, here with us you see more and more people who are already using reusable bags, backpacks or trolleys – but unfortunately, plastic bags have still not completely disappeared here either.
So make sure you also get a practical bag or other reusable bag for your future shopping trips.
- Plan your shopping
A very simple tip that is often underestimated: Check your supplies before you go shopping.
If you know what you need and plan your shopping, you can avoid food waste much more effectively. An additional insider tip: Don't go shopping hungry, because you're not yourself when you're hungry. Then you tend to overdo it and probably just buy everything that catches your eye.
- Shop regional & seasonal
Eating regionally and seasonally is not only good for the environment, but also for your health and your wallet. Yes, we also enjoy an avocado or a sweet pineapple now and then, but unfortunately, they don't grow in Switzerland.
Furthermore, many of these products require extremely large amounts of water to even be grown. However, water is often scarce in the growing regions. The enormous amounts of CO2 produced for transport also make this anything but sustainable.
Let's focus more on our regional and seasonal foods again. Our apples in all their varieties, the sweet cherries, strawberries, and our plums are unbeatable, aren't they?
- Do without receipts
Whether shopping or after eating at a restaurant, we're often asked if we want a receipt. But honestly, how often have you accepted it and thrown it straight in the trash at home?
So in the future, simply refrain from doing so and announce this in advance, otherwise receipts will simply be handed to you.
- Glass instead of plastic
Reducing plastic is incredibly important when it comes to living more sustainably.
When shopping, if you have the choice between glass and plastic, choose glass in the future. Glass can generally be reused more often, making it the more environmentally friendly option. Furthermore, unlike plastic, glass does not contain harmful substances.
- Question the textile industry
It's pretty clear to everyone that the textile industry is a dirty business. For the clothes we buy in well-known fast fashion shops, children are sometimes forced to work under inhumane conditions, without protection from dangerous chemicals and for a pittance.
If you want to buy more sustainable clothing, there are several alternatives. There's already a wide selection of beautiful clothes from fair-trade brands that produce sustainably and are completely transparent. For those who want to go a step further, buying second-hand or organizing a clothes swap is a great option – there are increasingly more opportunities in this area as well.
Sustainable living with the right furniture
The world of design and furniture is also currently undergoing a transformation, and Livom is right in the thick of it with a sustainable selection of sofas , tables , chairs , and outdoor furniture . That's why we also have tips for you in the area of home & furniture.
- Pay attention to the origin of the materials.
Trees are being felled - we don't have quite as much influence over that as we might like.
Unfortunately, furniture stores today offer a wide selection of furniture made from tropical woods, often bearing a sustainability label. However, the sustainable harvesting of tropical wood is a fabrication.
So why buy a table made of tropical wood when you can have beautiful furniture made from local tree species?
- Durable is sustainable
Everyone needs furniture, and a beautiful home is important to us. Unfortunately, too often only the price of the furniture counts, and other factors are neglected.
We've all had our experiences with cheap furniture. Whether it's holes that were pre-drilled incorrectly, sofas that quickly become worn out, or wardrobes that have to be thrown away after the first move: cheap furniture often causes us trouble.
A major problem is that cheaply produced furniture is of poor quality and therefore doesn't last as long as quality furniture. It makes a difference whether you have to buy a new wardrobe every three years or whether it easily lasts 15 years. Ultimately, it's therefore worthwhile to spend a little more money once rather than constantly having to buy new furniture.
Now it's your turn
As you've seen, living more sustainably in everyday life isn't actually that difficult. We can easily implement most of the tips into our daily routines. We just need to take a closer look at ourselves and pay more attention to how we live and consume.
With the WWF's footprint calculator, for example, you can easily calculate your ecological footprint. This test also showed us that there's still room for improvement when it comes to sustainability in everyday life – but nobody's perfect, right?
We are far from perfect. However, since we deal with this issue on a daily basis, we too are trying to adapt our behavior step by step and to make sure we are more climate-friendly.
What do you do to live more sustainably in your everyday life? Let us know! 😊
