Thirty Eco-Friendly Tips for the Beginner

Written September 2, 2024 by:

Julie Navitka

Do you want to start practicing earth-friendly behaviors and create a more sustainable lifestyle? Greener living can be achieved by starting small and working your way up from there. These eco-friendly tips for sustainable living are beginner friendly and are a terrific way to begin your journey to doing your part for the greener good. Whether you want to make your home more sustainable, or do an entire lifestyle overhaul, we can get you started!

Image of a variety of reusable and compostable items surrounded by leaves. There are many eco green solutions to plastic single-use items.

What does it mean to go green?

For decades we’ve been influenced into unsustainable living by large corporations that encourage us to consume more. More clothing, more food, more plastic, more everything. If we want to live a more ethically and environmentally sound lifestyle, we need to start considering not only our level of consumption, but the materials our items are made from and the fashion in which they are manufactured. The first step to practicing power over purchase is changing one’s mindset and choosing to begin ‘living on the green.’

Why adopt a green lifestyle?

From climate change to ocean pollution and loss of biodiversity, there are thousands of reasons to adopt more environmentally friendly practices. It may not seem like it, but many individual actions can add up to create big change.

Greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to global warming, and deforestation not only means habitat loss for many species, but also decreases the environment’s ability to clean the carbon dioxide from the air. It is estimated that about 8 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2010 alone. Microplastics have now been found in clouds, our blood, and even the human placenta. Much of our food and many of the cleaning and health and beauty products we consume and use contain carcinogens and other chemicals that have negative health effects on the human body and our waterways.

Image of a man laying in the grass by a lake in the mountains, relaxing and looking at the sky. Try implementing sustainable practices and eco-friendly words into your lifestyle. — **Adopting a minimalist and eco-friendly mindset can be freeing.**

If these aren’t enough reasons to embrace a green lifestyle, check out some more in this article.

Easy Eco-Conscious Habits for Beginners

Choosing to live a more sustainable lifestyle can be daunting, especially if you don’t know where to start. This is why we’ve curated a list of practical green living tips for the beginner. Choose which eco-aware actions seem most attainable for you and go from there. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself to create a green lifestyle overnight!

If you’d like a more comprehensive list of sustainability tips, including more challenging practices, check out our “Ultimate Guide: Sustainable Home.”

Carbon footprint reduction

There are many ways we can decrease our carbon emissions, from making more energy-efficient choices, to greening our commute. Let’s start you off with some small eco-friendly tips for the beginner with big benefits!

Turn off lights and unplug appliances when not in use.

A great climate friendly practice is hanging your clothes to dry outside when there’s nice weather.

Set your water heater’s temperature to 120℉/49℃ for maximum efficiency.

Set the thermostat a few degrees cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer.

Practice eco-driving anytime you use your vehicle.

Start carpooling at least once or twice a week with a coworker that lives nearby.

Start using public transport, your bike, or your feet to get to work once a week.

Image of a bicycle and rider against a ray of sun and leaves. Go green emissions and ride your bike to work! — **Cycling to work even once a week can reduce your carbon footprint significantly.**

Starter Zero waste tips

From purchasing package-free and eco-friendly products, to practicing waste reduction strategies, your path to a zero waste lifestyle can start small too! Try implementing a few of these eco-friendly tips for the beginner into your home:

Next time you need some new health and beauty products, consider some environmental alternatives like bar soaps and refillable bottles rather than ones that come in plastic containers. Find some recommendations for eco-friendly alternative toiletries here.

Bring your own shopping and produce bags to the store.

Buy loose vegetables and fruit rather than those wrapped in plastic.

Say no to single use items and purchase more sustainable home products like reusable paper towels, silicone snack bags, and beeswax food wraps.

Image of a bottle of Body Lotion from Plaine Products. Plaine is a big name in green products that offers returns and refills on their bottles, practicing eco-friendly beauty product packaging. — **Plaine Products sells refillable, eco-friendly beauty products.**

Easy Water Conservation tips

Reducing your water use at home is actually pretty simple with a few modifications to our daily practices. Despite popular belief, clean water is not an infinitely renewable resource. How much we use, and what we put down the drain, matters.

Try to use one drinking glass or your reusable water bottle all day to avoid washing more dishes.

Make the eco choice to only run the dishwasher when it is full.

Turn the tap off anytime it’s not directly in use.

Buy a rain barrel to collect water to use for your garden or potted plants.

Shortening your shower by even just one minute saves up to 2.5 gallons of water!

If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.

Opt for natural or organic beauty and cleaning products to reduce the chemicals you send down drain and back into our waterways.

Image of a rain barrel collecting water from a down spout on a home. The greenest of the green gardens are rainwater-fed! — **Rain barrels are affordable and can reduce water use in the yard immensely.**

Eco-Friendly Tips for Food

The FDA estimates that food waste accounts for between 30–40 percent of the food supply in the U.S. Here are some easy to implement waste reduction practices to help you be more green in the kitchen.

Cook at home more often. Dining out and ordering in often leads to more food waste.

Reduce your meat intake – raising livestock and growing their feed is responsible for almost 60% of all food production emissions.

Start a compost bin in the yard, on the balcony, or even in a cupboard. Learn how here.

If you have the time and space, grow some of your own vegetables and herbs at home.

For more sustainable greens, shop local and in season to reduce transportation emissions.

Embrace having leftovers for lunch!

Take a regular inventory of what you have already and use it up before buying more.

Image of a storefront with a variety of local produce set up for sale on the sidewalk. Buying local and in-season food is one way to travel more sustainably. — Buying **locally grown** and **loose produce that is in season is more sustainable.**

Green Lifestyle Shopping Choices

I’m sure you’ve already heard the (factual) phrase “the most sustainable product is the one you already own.” However, we know that from time to time you will need to purchase items. Before hopping online or heading out to the shopping mall, consider some of these tips for a more eco-friendly way to shop!

Consider the eco-savings of purchasing the item secondhand, or renting it if applicable.

Think of ways you could repurpose or upcycle the item you’re replacing into something new and useful before donating or sending it to the landfill.

Purchase items made locally and from sustainable materials. Check out our Brands Page for examples of sustainable products and companies.

Learn about sustainability certifications to help guide your purchasing decisions.

One way to practice power over purchase is to start thinking about the decisions you make the way that minimalists do and curb your consumption!

Image of a garage sale set up in a yard outside a home. You can find many cool green things secondhand! — **Looking for items secondhand first is more sustainable than buying new.**

Eco inspiration & resources

Sustainable living and eco-friendly, minimalist lifestyles are becoming popular as we become more aware of the effects of climate change on our planet. Fortunately, this means that there is a plethora of resources and sites to inspire you to become more green too! Here are just a few of our favourite ones:

Zero Waste Canada is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering Zero Waste policies and practices at the community, business and policymaking level.

Zero Waste International Alliance – offers a variety of resources in various formats about zero waste.

Zero Waste Home – you can find many tips and insights on this blog page by author and zero-waster Bea Johnson.

Let’s Go Zero Waste – a site that will help you discover local options that will help you go green near you – from refilleries to donation options and zero-waste grocery stores.

Image of a hand holding up a lightbulb with a small plant inside against a sunset sky. — **Inspire yourself and others by continuing to learn about an eco-friendly lifestyle.**

eco-friendly tips for the beginner conclusion

With so many reasons to be more friendly to the earth and go go green, we hope that you choose to start implementing our eco-friendly tips for the beginner today! Every earth-friendly behavior you adopt and encourage in others gets us closer to a more sustainable future.

Remember, just as every journey must begin with one single step, so will your path to a more eco-friendly lifestyle.