As we prepare to enter a brave new year, considering environmental sustainability is both ethical and responsible. Happily, there are many ways to cultivate an eco-friendly lifestyle, even with limited means. While it would be great if we could all afford a LEED-certified (architecturally “green”) home, a Prius and a houseful of ENERGY STAR™ “green” appliances, that is clearly not realistic for everyone.
The good news is that many impactful “green” choices are not associated with expensive gadgets or programs, but rather, the little decisions we make every day. Minor changes add up to big results over time! So, let’s get empowered to live as sustainably as possible. These affordable, DIY ideas may spark your imagination.
10 Budget-Friendly Eco Living Ideas
Shift your menu towards plants
When it comes to sustainable living, your plate is a logical place to start. You are already investing in daily groceries, so it is merely a question of gradually shifting the way you currently allocate those funds. Can you eat healthier by spending less and help the planet too? Apparently so, according to The Lancet Planetary Health Journal in a study which found that a plant-based/vegan diet cut food costs by up to 30% due to the use of whole foods over meat and meat replacement products. Vegan diets are also linked to 75% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than meat-centric diets, as noted in the journal Nature Food.
Be a locavore
This term refers to individuals who deliberately seek out locally grown food and other goods. Consider this a DIY effort to stretch your food dollar, improve the quality of produce you consume and help the Earth as well. Benefits of being a locavore typically include:
- Tastier, fresher food, as a “vicinity menu” means more nutrients, antioxidants and phytochemicals.
- Potential improvement of allergies, as eating local fare exposes people to “vicinity allergens,” essentially “vaccinating” them for better resistance.
- Helping your community. Investing in home producers boosts your local economy, as those growers buy supplies and pay bills locally.
- Minimizing your carbon footprint. Buying local means food travels shorter distances from field to plate, which reduces CO2 emissions involved in trucking or flying the same food from across the country.
- Reducing waste, because when food is sourced locally, far less gets spoiled on the way to the table.
Empower with DIY wellness
Healing wisdom, using the gifts of nature, such as various botanicals, roots, berries, nuts, and seeds goes back to our primal days. Using simple, natural ingredients, you can create a lovely wellness home pharmacopeia. Start with a few simple projects, like this DIY Honey-Lavender Burn Salve, or these Essential Oils for Sore Throat + DIY Steam Treatment. You can also learn how to use flower essences for wellness support. Or you might prepare yourself a therapeutic DIY Herbal Tea Bath. As for those pricey but beneficial wellness shots sold all around now, why not make your own high-quality versions? Check out these DIY wellness shot recipes.
Become a Papertarian
A papertarian relies on the renewable nature of plant-based paper and packaging products for a lighter carbon footprint. The term was coined by the Paper and Packaging Board to refer to someone who seeks out paper-based packaging and then diligently recycles, rather than investing in plastic. Papertarians tend to share a common love of forests and recycling. Amazingly, paper and cardboard, some of the most recycled materials in the U.S., can be recycled and made into new products up to seven times!
Befriend a re-fill shop
Opting for reusable containers and refilling your beauty, personal care and cleaning products is a form of DIY that allows you to minimize individual plastic packaging when you need to restock. It is worth exploring, as you may have a cool refill store in your area similar to the Monterey, California-based Green Directive, which was founded in 2020 to help educate and provide plastic-free alternatives to the community. Owner Jacqueline Barnes stated that, “After watching “A Plastic Ocean”, I immediately started getting rid of the plastic in my life…I thought, “Wow I really wish someone would start a zero-waste store here!” Well, I got tired of waiting!”
Make your own all-purpose cleaner
If you think you require caustic chemicals in hard plastic bottles for serious cleaning, you will be pleasantly surprised by how easily you can craft your own DIY cleaning solutions that are not only highly effective, but also far healthier for you, your family, your pets and the environment. Water combined with distilled white vinegar, lemon and essential oils for extra anti-microbial power in this DIY Lemon & Tea Tree All-Purpose Cleaner can handle most jobs, from cleaning windows, to making bathroom fixtures sparkle, to sanitizing kitchen counters. Take a peek at these 10 Eco-Friendly Cleaners for Your Natural Home.
Another great option is Castile soap-based cleansers, fortified against dangerous bacteria and microbes with essential oils such as eucalyptus, sweet orange, peppermint and lemongrass, which were found in one study to be most effective against 22 bacterial strains out of 10 oils tested. Simply combine up to two cups of Castile soap and essential oils in a quart of water as a cleaning spray for counters, surface areas and other household spaces.
Create a weekly soup
While pre-packaged soups are often pricy, high in salt, sugar and other additives, and generate excessive plastic waste, making your own each week with what you have on hand is ultra cost effective, eco-smart and invariably more wholesome, as you control the ingredients. Getting into the habit of making a big pot of soup, stew, bisque, or chowder each week using leftover ingredients can significantly contribute to reducing food waste in your home. It is also quite easy once you get into the habit, especially with a slow cooker.
Homemade soup is filling and warming, providing nourishing satiety without excessive calories, if you avoid heavy, creamy or cheese-based soups. Check out these tips on how to make healthy soup. For a fun, healthy way to nurture community, why not host a seasonal soup exchange? As for inviting recipes, you are spoiled for choice! How about these options for a start:
- Vegan French Onion Soup
- Restorative Golden Miso Soup with Turmeric & Kale
- Dairy-Free Irish Potato Soup
- Creamy Carrot Soup
- Tuscan Kale Soup with Coconut Milk Broth
- Spicy Peanut Soup with Sweet Potato & Kale
Love DIY “home fresheners”
Although their assumed purpose is to “freshen” the air in your home, commercial air freshening products merely mask odors with chemicals that degrade the air quality in your home. As noted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), mass-market air fresheners are a major source of indoor pollution. Fortunately, creating your own natural air freshener is easy and inexpensive. All you need is a glass spray bottle, purified water, Witch Hazel−which helps prevent mold or bacteria from growing in your spray−and your favorite essential oils.
This essential oil starter kit includes soothing lavender, disinfecting tea tree, healing eucalyptus and cooling peppermint, which are each beneficial on their own and collectively. This spray also doubles as a lovely body mist, which you can customize with your favorite scents. Aromatherapy is healthy, uplifting and fun!
Choose DIY beauty
Any beneficial personal care or cosmetic product you can make falls under the heading of DIY beauty, which is a very cool idea to explore, as it can save you money and packaging, and help you actualize more wholesome results with personal care solutions. Most DIY beauty products are simple to make, with affordable ingredients you can easily order. Involve your kids too, if they are open to this fun, creative pursuit.
As for ideas, you might consider making your own healing poultice, herbal balm, DIY Acne & Scar Serum With Mandarin & Rosehip Oils or this DIY Probiotic Overnight Cream. Or how about customizing your own natural perfume from essential oils? As therapeutic fragrance blends can beautifully transform your DIY creations, you might consider this Unplug Essential Oil Wellness Kit, this Let There Be Peace & Quiet Relaxing Essential Oils Kit or this Seasonal Changes Balancing Essential Oils Kit.
Encourage arts & crafts
While supplies are sometimes costly, overall, it is quite affordable to express your creativity by making artistic and/or functional items you can enjoy, as well as gift to others. You can often find useful supplies at thrift stores as well. Hand-crafted items are often appreciated far more than mass-produced commercial products.
You might experiment with knitting, crocheting, painting, drawing, sewing, cooking, propagating plants, beadwork, embroidery or baking. Your creative DIY options abound, from these Peanut Butter Dog Treats in a Jar to this nourishing, multi-purpose DIY Dandelion Oil, to this botanically creative Mood Garden project. Need further inspiration? Check out these 50+ DIY project/gift ideas.
Among the many clever DIY and affordable actions and projects you might wish to explore, these should get you started. And why not share your ideas with family, co-workers and friends? You are setting a superb example of healthy, creative, ethical, sustainable living. Bravo!