Nature - Xanthe Gladstone - Sustainable City Life

Xanthe Gladstone -  Small things you can do while living in the city to be more sustainable: 

The important thing to remember when we are talking about living more sustainably is that it’s way more effective if we all do a couple of small things everyday to live more sustainably rather than just a handful of us doing everything and punishing ourselves if we are not perfect. We should not pressurise ourselves to be living plastic free (although that would be good!) but to just be mindful about the amount of plastic that we are using. Similarly with food, it’s important to be mindful of the provenance of our food, how it got to our plates, and what environmental sacrifices were made for it to get to us, but not let it take too much away from the enjoyment of food in general. 

Here are my tips for living more sustainably in the city: 

1. Get a food waste bin. Food waste is something that I feel hugely passionate about. ⅓ of greenhouse gases come from food going into landfill and a huge amount of food that is produced goes straight into the bin without even coming out of the packaging. It’s the sad truth! A food waste bin is a good solution for your food waste going into the bin and although we should still try not to waste food, it certainly will help reduce the impact. Most councils in cities offer this so if you don’t know, get in touch and see what they can offer. If you have a small outdoor space, you could also create your own compost heap.
   
   
2. Visit a farmer’s market or support independent high street shops. As soon as you start engaging in where your food comes from more, it will become easier to value the journey it’s taken to get to you. You are more likely, when shopping this way, to be buying higher quality produce that has been farmed sustainably and often it’ll be organic too. 
   
   
3. Be organised! It sounds silly but when you are going to be out and about make sure you prepare for that properly by bringing your own things with you. If you know you are getting a takeaway from somewhere, you could bring your own bamboo cutlery and napkins. The most obvious one is to bring a reusable water bottle with you but also keep a bag inside your own bag in case you do a bit of shopping. It takes a little bit of organisation but it’ll soon become habitual and it’s worthwhile as it feels really good when you do that little bit towards being more sustainable on a daily basis.

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