Goal Action Ideas for Green Living Goals

A beautiful thing about the PowerSheets® goal planner is how adaptable it is to each unique Cultivator. If you cracked open the pages of ten PowerSheets, you'd find ten visions for a meaningful, purposeful life, and ten individual ways of living them out! While some women set goals for their families, others focus on paying down debt—and still others use their goal planner to pursue hobbies, start a business, move to a new place, change careers, make their house a home, and more.

Over the years, we've shared ideas for many of these goals, and today we're adding one more volume to our goal action ideas series: ideas for green living! We’ve compiled our best action ideas for green living and sustainability goals below. I hope it encourages you to dig in where you are!

What are some examples of green living or sustainability goals?

Green living or sustainability goals are as varied as our beautiful Earth! You might focus on individual actions like removing plastic from your daily routines, eating less meat, adjusting your modes of travel or transportation, switching your energy sources, or cleaning up your beauty routine.

Or, you might focus on contributing to macro-level solutions, like learning about issues that affect your local community, getting involved with organizations doing effective work, or advocating for change on a cause that matters to you.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by all the options and the scale of change you desire, but as with all areas of a cultivated life, little by little progress is the name of the game—sometimes with a few big leaps along the way. Your effort will add up over time!

Monthly Green Living Action Step Ideas:

• Discuss an issue or share changes you're making with a friend or family member. A personal perspective is often what moves others to take action.
• Buy supplies (pantry staples, personal care items) in bulk.
• Research recycling requirements in your community. Recycling the wrong items can result in waste, and it's easy to mix up the rules.
• Consider alternative transportation options. Could you bike your kids to school? Work from home more often? Walk to a friend's house? Drive instead of fly for your next vacation?
• Stop by a secondhand shop or browse Craigslist/Marketplace for your next furniture or decor need.
• Explore your local thrift store, consignment sale, or online marketplace like ThredUp when shopping for clothes for you and/or your kids.
• Grow a garden. Herbs, especially, are easy to grow in small spaces and cut down on packaging and waste at the grocery store.
• Research solar panels or alternative energy sources that might be available from your local provider.
• Switch out a beauty or toiletry product for a more sustainable option. Cultivators use and love bar soap, Conscia solid shampoo and conditioner, Leaf razors, Kobee's lip balm, David's toothpaste or Bite toothpaste bits, Elate makeup, and the cardboard-tube Native deodorant.
• Learn a new skill that helps you make the most of what you have, like simple home repair, woodworking, or sewing.
• Research native and drought-friendly landscaping before your next yard project.
• Switch to a reusable period product like the Lunette Cup or period underwear.
• Research an aspect of sustainability that's important to you, then volunteer, make a call, or advocate for it in your community.

 Weekly Green Living Action Step Ideas:

• Clean your home and spaces with cloth towels and old t-shirt rags (instead of paper towels). Many Cultivators also love reusable Norwex products, as well as eco-friendly cleaning options like Blueland, Grove, or simply water, vinegar, and baking soda mixes.
• Shop at a farmer's market for fresh, often-organic food from small, local farms.
• Bring your reusable bags to the store. And don't stop at the grocery store! Keep a foldable one in your bag for shopping trips all around town.

 Daily Green Living Action Step Ideas:

• Spend time in nature and appreciate the beauty all around you—even if it's simply your backyard or neighborhood! 
• Use cloth napkins at meals.
• Pack your lunch (or your kids' lunches) with glass or metal containers and reusable options like Stasher bags.
• Make it a habit to pick up trash wherever you see it.
• Use a reusable cotton round or swab in your beauty routine.
• Appreciate what you have. This will increase your satisfaction and curb the impulse to buy something new for a hit of pleasure.
• Compost your kitchen scraps. More and more communities have services, like Compost Now, that make this incredibly easy, or go old-school with a backyard bin.
• Switch to Who Gives a Crap toilet paper, Dropps laundry detergent, or Marley's Monsters UnPaper towels as you move through your day - all loved and recommended by Cultivators.

• Adjust your thermostat to the edge of comfort.

These are just a few suggestions for items to add to your Tending List each month to make progress on your green living and sustainability goals for the year! We'd love to hear the eco-swaps you've made in your home or daily routines. Please share in the comments!

P.S. Another post you may enjoy: Goal Action Ideas for Cultivating Kindness