In order to live more sustainably, I cut out my use of plastics. Instead of buying plastic bottled drinks, I carried a YETI rambler bottle. I went straw-less, as well. I also invested in reusable bags for when I go grocery shopping. The issue around plastic is that plastic never goes away. Today billions of pounds of it can be found in swirling convergences making up about 40 percent of the world’s ocean surfaces. Every year thousands of seabirds, sea turtles, seals and other marine mammals are killed after ingesting plastic or getting tangled up in it. My triumphs were that it made me feel good as a human being that I had the thought of I am making a difference every time I did not use plastic. My struggles were not shopping online and constantly having to clean my YETI rambler for multiple uses. I think more people use plastics because of the same reasons why people use paper plates instead of actual plates; NO DISHES! Haha, but I felt really good by myself with this change. I do think I will continue with this change because of the impact it does have, especially in Charleston with the ocean nearby. You can start cutting down on your plastic waste in a few simple steps: always bring reusable bags when you shop, ditch one-time use water bottles and avoid products made from or packaged in plastic whenever possible (e.g. select unwrapped produce at the grocery store, shop local, cut down on online shopping.)

A personal change that I considered changing was to eat less meat in order to live more sustainably. Prior to this attempt of this lifestyle change, I never realized how much meat I incorporated with my diet for a protein source (chicken) and how much red meat (steak) I eat weekly. So, for the past week, I decided to cut out meat from my diet, and instead of seeking poultry for protein, I substituted that source of protein with pinto beans and black beans. I’ll be honest and say that I am not a huge “bean person.” This substitution was probably the most difficult aspect that I had to adapt to, because I never liked them in my childhood because of the texture of the beans. Meat generation is a standout amongst the most ecologically dangerous enterprises on the planet, in charge of huge measures of water use, ozone harming substance outflows, pollution and territory annihilation. You have three possibilities daily to enhance the strength of the planet, by diminishing your meat utilization you can decrease your ecological impression.

Eating privately sourced products of the soil additionally brings down the measure of fossil fuels used to transport nourishment over long distances. Which leads into what I want to continue to make different changes in order to enhance the way of living more sustainably. I want to try next to change where I get my fruits and vegetables; attain produce locally.  Eating less meat, or just cutting it out like I did, will help with your health and energy levels tremendously! While I just cut off meat completely last week and being an active meat eater prior, I struggled with not thinking about eating meat. I would have a tendency to constantly have a craving for meat, but consciously knew I couldn’t because it would mess up my recording of how the week of not eating meat felt like. So for me, as you can tell it was pretty hard. Like I said before, looking to beans and nuts for protein solely was a huge change for me and by the end of the week, I did get used to the texture and taste better. An unanticipated benefit was that the change in diet made me feel more full for a longer period of time than did certain meats (nutrient-dense foods). An unanticipated challenge during this diet would have probably have been fighting the impulses to get meat during the duration of the week.

In my experience, I would like to stick to this change in moderation because it did make me feel good. I do not think that I will be able to cancel out meat completely so drastically, but I do think that gradually I will be able to reach that point by controlling portion size to having like say 4oz of meat a day, and then gradually leading to weekly, monthly, etc. My advise to others contemplating a similar change, is that you can do it! And the fact that this simple change can do so much good to yourself and the Earth just make it all much the better! Also, if there is anyone like me, that the best way to do this is eat meat in moderation and gradually diminish in the timing you feel comfortable with.