4 Ways to Live a Green and Flexible Lifestyle
The desire to go green is an increasingly attractive one for today’s singles, young couples, and families because regardless of age, station, or job, most people recognize the importance of taking care of the planet. Young professionals, in particular, want their green lives to have a bit more flexibility — they want to go green and have more freedom over their lives when it comes to their jobs and life’s little necessities. That might sound complicated, but it’s actually easy — and tempting enough that it might make you change your entire life.
Maintain a Seasonal Diet
This is green and flexible, plus it saves you a significant amount of money. There’s a price to pay for eating strawberries in December. Not only do they cost more, but the energy it takes to ship them from warmer climates has a negative impact on the environment. Planes, trains, and trucks are all responsible for bringing out-of-season vegetables and fruits to your local market. You contribute to that carbon footprint when you buy food out of season.
Research the seasonality of your favorite fruits and veggies. Limit your quarterly diet to the foods that grow naturally at that time. One way to make sure you’re eating seasonally is to buy your food from a nearby farmer or farmers market. The produce there is cheaper, fresher, and tastier, the carbon footprint is small, and you’re supporting local businesses.
Grow Your Own Food
Image via Flickr by www.metaphoricalplatypus.com
You may not be able to garden all year long in some areas, but you can start in the spring, nurture your food in the summer, and finish up the harvest in the fall. Grow in abundance, and you can simply can the excess for the winter. That should fill up your pantry in no time.
Gardening is unquestionably green, plus it puts you in control of the food you eat. You know what you like, you know what your family and neighbors eat, and you know how much you need. Not only that, but tending to the garden helps you to relax, and it gives back to the environment.
Find a More Flexible Job
Wouldn’t you love to pick up stakes and go off on a wanderlust adventure anytime the fancy strikes? Are you already thinking about how your job is the one thing holding you back? Work is usually the excuse people give for not going off on an adventure, or at least taking a vacation. They have too many responsibilities at work, and if they take off the time, then they can’t afford to go anyway. So perhaps it’s time to rethink your career path altogether.
There are so many jobs that give you the freedom to travel, jobs that are also much greener than the nine-to-five standard. Freelancing is always an option — whether you write, do web development, or myriad other occupations, you can accomplish those jobs wherever you are. Working remotely for a company like Amway, for instance, is a job that gives you the freedom to go where you please. You could become a virtual assistant, you could look into telecommuting for your current job, or you could do something travel-based.
Go Green as You Clean
Creating your own cleaning products provides another flexible way to go green. The usual cleaning products can be questionable or even toxic. Not everyone wants them around their children or their pets, not to mention themselves. Besides that, it seems like there’s always something more powerful and more expensive that promises to do something dozens of other products claim to do.
In contrast, making your own cleaning products is easy, effective, and cheap. Regular household ingredients, such as lemon, vinegar, and dish soap, are often all you need to make your home clean, disinfected, and sparkling. The best part is that you’re fully in control of what they contain and even how they smell.
When you see how easy it is to become greener and more flexible, there are no more excuses. Going green doesn’t limit you at all. If anything, it gives you a new level of freedom.
