How Living Green and Healthy Is Actually Affordable
25th May 2021
The world is waking up to a fresher way of living. Going green from the inside out is more popular than ever. Luckily, a healthy and green lifestyle is not only affordable, unlike what you might believe, but we can often even save money while increasing the quality of our lives and the environment. You could even call it a win for the waistline and a win for your bottom line. What could be better than that? If you want to feel better, look better and get more bang for your buck, this is how.
1. Start inside
Living greener starts with our eating habits. A growing demand for organic food and actually caring about our eating habits means that it’s easier than ever to find fresh food that we can feel good about at a great price. Farmers’ markets are becoming more affordable and are suddenly a reasonable alternative to large supermarkets. By shopping locally, we can ask more questions and feel more confident in knowing where our food is coming from. Not to mention the peace of mind in knowing our food didn’t go through a carbon-emitting voyage to reach the shelf.
2. Veggie-tales
Deforestation for the production of our meat is a huge problem for the environment. Luckily, you don’t have to go full vegan or vegetarian to enjoy the health and environmental benefits of skipping meat occasionally. Some people, for example, are only vegetarian on the weekdays, but are more than happy to reward themselves with a burger come Saturday. A quick search on YouTube will help you find a huge variety of tasty treats that are animal free. If the prices at local trendy green eateries make you lose your appetite, check out their menu online and see if you can make your own version at home.
Another thing to consider when eating meat is its source. Similar to a local market, shopping at a local butchery and asking about the origins of their products is a great practice. Most butchers are more than happy to talk shop. Ask them what’s local and skip the Wagyu. Your bank account will certainly thank you as foreign meats such as coveted Argentinian or Japanese cuts will definitely cost more.
3. Get back to basics
Grandma was way ahead of this trend. When it comes to cleaning, ditch the chemical cleansing products for DIY alternatives - it’s not only healthier, but it can also save on the monthly budget. There is almost nothing that a little baking soda and vinegar can’t tackle.
There is also a growing concern and green market for personal care products such as deodorants, soaps and toothpaste. The new mantra cropping up around health and environment is the less ingredients the better. This back-to-basics philosophy means that the chemical impact on the planet and our own bodies is at its bare minimum. It’s time we say goodbye to mysterious chemical ingredients with too many syllables and dubious origins.
4. Don’t believe everything you’re told
As the environment becomes an everyday topic of conversation, we have seen a surge in what has been dubbed “greenwashing”. Greenwashing is where a product is falsely marketed as being good for the environment. These products can often include a higher price tag, while not actually contributing anything good. Making your own homemade products is a great way to avoid this trap.
5. Ready, set, get there green
When it comes to pollution, nothing says industrial like the classic gas guzzling SUV. Nowadays, people around the world are looking for more progressive ways to get around. Perhaps think about if you can buy an electric or hybrid car or if it’s worth selling your existing car and use hiring services which charge you by the hour or day through companies like ZipCar. Alternatively, you can pay to use someone else’s car when they aren’t using it with Turo, saving you money on fuel and insurance.
Another major urban trend are electric bikes and scooters that work off a similar subscription basis and are activated with an application on your smartphone. If electric isn’t your speed, you can always go for a normal bike for that added benefit of slimming the waistline at the same time. With more bike lanes cropping up everywhere and cities becoming more bike friendly, safety is less of an issue than ever before.
6. Adopt habits that help:
Little things add up in the green revolution. Plastic shopping bags are being replaced with reusable tote bags. Excessive packaging is being axed and an effort to go zero waste is bigger than ever. Ditching plastic water bottles is possibly one of the smallest but most impactful ways we can contribute to this new greener world. Not only will you help the planet, you will stop spending excessive amounts on one of our most abundant natural resources. High-end second-hand clothing websites have made shopping for pre-loved clothes more stylish than ever. Although the environmental impact of the shipping may be questionable, you can also use smartphone applications to find stylish pre-loved clothes in your area.
7. The grass really is greener
When considering that living a greener, healthier lifestyle has never been more popular, it’s easy to see just how many habits are worth bringing into your life. You don’t have to do everything at once, just pick a few easy-to-adopt habits and that’ll start you on the right path. People that care about the environment are no longer considered society’s outsiders and gone are the days when living greener meant you needed to go into your overdraft, instead, you can actually save money with a bit of a DIY mentality or ditching the expensive car insurance. When it comes to living green and saving money, there is no doubt that the grass is greener on the other side.
Ready for your personalised quote?
months
${ loanTerm } monthly repayments of
£${ monthlyRepaymentAmount | formatCurrency }
Total repayable
£${ totalRepayableAmount | formatCurrency }