You can make the world a better place right now

Hello :)

What if just by changing one tiny habit you made the world a better place, more green, clean, kind, and beautiful?  I think most of the population now agrees that global warming is a real thing.  I see it,  but I am also an annoyingly optimistic person, hoping to rub off on you! 

If i can find the pod cast/youtube video I'll post it below.  They were talking about Health, but he made a comment that if we as a global population don't make serious changes right now, the earth will only last another 10 years.  That is a very dramatic statement, but it stuck in my mind because its so dramatic.  If this is true hopefully that will inspire some urgency in at least some of us, it inspired me to write this article.  And if the severity of that statement is not true, wouldn't you like a healthier, more beautiful, and kind society anyway?  Just like this website title, the smaller the change that we make the more permanent and easy to maintain.   If we all picked one thing to improve on we would be making the world a better place in some way, but also making our own lives better.  Who doesn't want more of the good stuff?!

Here is a list of ideas, that hopefully inspire you to reach for a better life and world.  If you have any ideas that you'd like to add, please comment below!

1.  Walk or bike instead of drive
2. Carpool or take the bus instead of driving
3. Plan out your day, so that you eliminate any extra driving - saves time too!
4. Buy in bulk
5. Use both sides of the paper
6. Only buy what you LOVE - If everybody did this alone, consumerism would almost not exist, and we would all be sooo much happier living life as our true expression.
7. Quit your job if you hate it and find or create work that you absolulty love, this is a game changer.
8. Eat Vegan
9.  Only eat organic, free range, non GMO... Or at least pledge to do it more often.
10.  Maybe just eat vegan one or two days a week.
11.  Quit buying or eating packaged food.  Or maybe set a cap of how much you will spend per week on packaged food.
12. Use both sides of the paper.
13.  Clean with bio degradable products
14. Better yet, clean with food!  Lol, clean with vinegar and baking soda can replace almost all cleaners
15. Laugh more, or even fake laugh - it works, I just started laughing writing about it.
16.  Pick plants that require minimal care, these are usually plants native to your area, plus it will just be easier and take less time to maintain.
17.  If you don't have any plants, get a plant - Bamboo and succulents are so easy.
18.  Quit going to the gym and go for a walk or find a new outdoor sport.
19. Put on jackets instead of turning on the heater - not as comfortable but it will save you a lot of money.
20.  Use candles for heat.  Three candles will heat up one room to almost uncomfortably warm in about two hours.  If you do this, make sure the candles are on a safe stable surface, away from anything that could catch fire.  I like using those giant bowls or lanterns to ecase the candles.
21.  Meditate - I know how how earth can meditation make the world less polluted?  Well if you stick with it, you will start to see shifts in your life, you will notice that you naturally make different choices, that you feel less impulsive, often leading to consumerist tendencies, or decisions that make take some time to re-do.  If you don't know where to start try a guided meditation, you can find them many places, but for sure Youtube.
22.  Are you the type that buys a car every 2-5 years?  Stick with one call for 10+ years, that will make a big impact on the environment.
23. Compost - If you're a plant lover like me, this will save you quite a bit of money in soil, and you'll be closing the loop a lot.
24.  Open the windows, or if remodeling, add bigger windows, or a skylight.  Yes you would be generating waste with the old windows that the contractor will have to throw out, but you'll dramatically reduce your need for electricity, and newer windows have better insulation, so you'll need your heater less, yay for lower bills!
25.  Slow down.  Just slow down in general, but also slow down enough to make mindful well thought out & researched decisions.
26. If remodeling choose post consumer recycled materials, or wood from trees that grow really fast, or harvested from a sustainable forest.  Your designer or architect will know what resources to provide you.  You could also choose to work with someone that is LEED certified.
27.  If you have a tendency to waste food, try making smaller portions and freezing them, so there is less effort to cook and clean.  But if you cook in bulk, like for the week, when storing it, put it away in pre-portioned containers, and freeze anything that you likely won'[t eat with in the next two days.  This will also save you money.
29. Use glass instead of plastic.  If you're throwing everything away to get glass that is not as environmentally friendly - donate it to someone you know :); glass is so much better for your health than plastic.  When we put hot food in plastic pieces of the plastic bind to the food, which we later ingest; super toxic to our systen, and I'm not sure the body knows how to get rid of plastic.
30. If you're having a party, anything thing that you plan on throwing away; ie disposable dishes and cutlery, buy bio degradable, better yet, wash everything and save it for next time!
31.  If you are a home owner, paint your roof white, or do a green roof
32.  Grow your own food.  Or pay your neighbor for their food.  My mom buys almost all of her fruits and vegetable from her friend, its fun when they see each other, its a win win, her friend gets money, and all of her hard work doesn't go waste.  And my mom gets organic, in season, local, freshest of the fresh produce anyone can get.  But we can all grow herbs in our window sill or patio if we have limited space.
33. Use coconut oil instead of lotion.  Game changer.  I love how my skin feels. I now only use coconut oil as my lotion, in the shower before I dry off, and that's all I need.  I know I am getting extra vitamin E from the coconut oil, NO chemicals, and I save quite a bit of money, its so much cheaper and lasts way longer than lotion.
34.  Use olive oil or any other food oil as your hair mask.   I get so many compliments on my hair (I love it every time).  But I take really good care of it, I put olive oil in my hair every day before I take a shower.  I've done an article on this before.
35. Practice self love, be as intentional as you can to fill up your own cup.  It's hard to describe how this has spilled over into all areas of my life.  I am more patient, more compassionate.  I don't really meet crappy people anymore, AND when they are crappy, I feel love for them, because I know that they are acting out of lack and fear, and they almost always calm down after a little while.
36.  Plant a tree on your property.  In college I did a paper, on how important trees are in our society.  They reduce domestic violence by 40%, one new tree on your property will increase your value by 10%, One tree will lower your electric bill by 10%, seeing foliage reduces anxiety, stress, and depression.  Going for a walk in nature, and seeing the lush trees, in several distance view points, does something to the brain that it relieves chronic depression, when done daily.

To be continued... I will continue to add to this list.

But please, think about what would be easy for you to change or try out for a month, and see how it fits in your life.  All of these will make the world a better place, and most of them will save you money in the short term, make you healthier and your life better.  A better your makes for a better world.

​Sending love, Jessica