What Sustainability Looks Like In Our Home

When I began following the waste free movement I started to find a lot of messaging around recycling, reusing and eco-friendliness centered on saving animals and keeping the ocean clean. I believe that these are good outcomes of sustainability. Like the t-shirts say, there’s no Plan[et] B. For a while, guilt pushed me along on the path of sustainability. I would tell myself things like, “This is going to sit in a land fill for 17 years. You can’t buy that!”

I’ve learned that these messages and feelings of guilt can’t be the driving force behind what we buy and how we live – at least not to bring about lasting change.

As a Christian, I feel a responsibility to take care of the creation that God has made us stewards of. But I also accept that it will never be perfect this side of heaven. In the meantime, I want to be mindful to honor the Creator over the creation and not get my priorities mixed up.

In John 6:12, Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people and afterwards he says, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” Jesus cared about waste because being thoughtless with our resources isn’t being a good steward of what we have/own/are entrusted with.

Just like minimalism, I don’t practice sustainability to be trendy. I practice it to be a contributor to Creation, to maintain the beautiful earth that the Lord has given us until we go to heaven, and to help teach my daughter to do the same.

Like most areas of healthy living, it’s a journey not a destination. Sustainability is going to look different for every person and every household.

In our home, sustainability looks like:

• Meal planning
• Eating leftovers
• Freezing ripe fruit and veggies for smoothies
• Making homemade, when possible
• Shopping with reusable bags
• Buying in bulk and/or glass, when possible
• Using cloths over paper towels
• Checking if we can borrow something before buying
• Choosing to shop secondhand first
• Repairing and taking care of what we already own
• Supporting brands that share our values

Sustainability is a noble life-style. It folds nicely into low tox living and minimalism. At the end of the day, I trust that God preserves creation (Nehemiah 9:6). He just asks me to honor it as I inhabit it.

This small mindset shift has helped me look at sustainability more holistically and implement eco-friendly changes in multiple areas of my living and buying.

I would love to hear what sustainability looks like in your home! Tell me in the comments section below.