How To Be Sustainable While Living With Your Parents

By: Shriya Atreya & ​Tanvi Pulavarthy

​No matter how young or old, sustainable life is always attainable. Although it can be difficult in a more uninformed household, it is easier than you think! As teens ourselves, we face the same struggle. Through our experiences, we have learned some helpful tips and tricks to be more sustainable while living under someone else’s roof. 

Limiting Fast Fashion:
One long-term change you can incorporate into your everyday lifestyle is to discontinue shopping at fast-fashion chains. Most fast-fashion chains produce a lot of unused material which ends up going to landfills. When the unused materials or clothes are burned, it releases CO2 gasses into the air. The excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has detrimental effects on the environment and contributes to global warming. Some easy ways to help avoid this contribution to the climate crisis is to repurpose or recycle old clothes, buy from thrift stores, donate clothes, and support local/small businesses.

Reusable Necessities:
A simple way to make an impact on our environment is encouraging the use of reusable materials. It can be as easy as using a reusable water bottle or using towels/rags instead of paper towels that make a big impact on our world’s plastic production and deforestation. Our world uses around 5 TRILLION plastic bags A YEAR, but only 1-3% of them get recycled. Another great way to reduce plastic use is to switch your plastic toothbrushes with bamboo ones. They are just as effective, but much more decomposable. Similarly, plastic razors can be swapped with safety razors that are more cost-friendly long term. Switching to these alternatives can not only benefit you but they can also benefit and enrich our environment.

Home Gardens:
Though this one may be a bit more difficult, a home garden is a great way to replenish not only the soil but yourself as well! A home garden may take more convincing but is undoubtedly worth it when you can get fresh produce right from your backyard. By researching how to make and take care of your garden you can act on your goal towards a more sustainable lifestyle. 

Doing small things to modify your lifestyle and being more aware of how you contribute to the world’s environmental decline is the first step towards conquering one of the most pressing issues we are facing today.