Romanticising a sustainable life

Summer is here again, and often brings with it a need to completely reinvent your life and make the most of every moment. It’s easy to forget when the whole world seems to be travelling across the world on holiday, purchasing a whole new summer wardrobe and generally galivanting around, the values we should be collectively working towards. Sustainability is normally associated with cutting back, restrictions and a boring, plain existence – but in reality it is far from that way. Here is why actively curating a sustainable life you want to live is both beneficial for the planet and for you…

Sometimes making the most sustainable choice can be hard. It’s why we are still working on it, years after we knew we had to change. But there are many lifestyle changes which are easy to implement and can make our lives better in more ways than one. Take drying the laundry outside, an activity that gives you 5-10 minutes of quiet time to allow your thoughts to wander without screens or distractions. Reusing bags, water bottles and coffee cups gives you a sense of ownership over your possessions, knowing that everything has a use and you don’t feel as overwhelmed by piles of ‘things’. Growing your own food, whether windowsill herbs or a vegetable patch in the garden, creating wildlife homes and using active travel to get around, all give you a sense of accomplishment and achievement as well as bettering your own health.

Sustainability at its core means the ability to be sustained and to carry on in the long term. Therefore the best changes come from those you can work into your lifestyle and stick to, and that benefit you as well. If at the start you are finding habits difficult to stick to, romanticising a more sustainable life for yourself – a life you want to live and can envision – might give you to motivation to keep at the changes you have implemented. You could first put together a mood board or inspiration page of what this life will look like, be it ‘cottagecore’, clean and clutter free, more organic, healthier, more in tune with nature or even more cost effective. Then you can implement this into the everyday small things you do and be intentional about how you live your life. Life is happening right now, so finding the small things everyday to enjoy can make our lives more fulfilling as well as being better for our mental health.

For me, romanticising the things I do to be more sustainable comes in the form of wanting to be more self-sufficient, such as baking and cooking from scratch and using homegrown ingredients where I can, in addition to wanting a beautiful life for myself, which I pursue through using aesthetic yet reusable products, like bags and beauty products and spending time outside in nature. These things might seem frivolous, but by viewing sustainable change in a positive and intentional way I don’t feel held back by making conscious choices and instead know I’m contributing to the future I want.

I’m sure many of us have similar visions for the future: walking around green spaces full of life, breathing in clean air, eating fresh produce and being part of thriving local communities. All of which are achievable in a sustainable society. We have to believe in the changes we are making now and hold that vision of the future we want close so that meaningful change can happen. And if imagining you are living a simple cottage life when you fix your clothes or garden outside, or are on a hot girl walk to the shops when you leave your car at home helps you stick to your goals, then go for it. Make sustainability fun and fit your own aesthetic! Maybe then one day this life won’t have to be romanticised, but will be there when we look outside.

Summer 2023 sustainability glow up is officially underway ☀️😎🌻