10 Sustainable Living Skills For Eco-Friendly Lifestyles

In our world today, we’ve lost many life skills, survival hacks, and sustainable living skills. This is primarily due to technological advancements and increased dependence on lifestyles made easy by time-saving products and machines.

In this age of technological dependency, many have lost some measure of basic survival skills to live without a dependence on the goods and services to which we have become accustomed. In many cases, they are barely taught at home. 

Also, to live a sustainable lifestyle, there are various practical skills that we need to learn. These skills range from those we can teach ourselves to those we can learn from experts. Also, they differ in how much time you spend learning them. Coincidentally, many skills we need to live sustainably also merge with life skills. 

This article explores some basic skills to support your journey to living sustainably.

What is Sustainable Living?

Transitioning from fast-consumption living to environmentally conscious living has become crucial. With growing concerns about environmental issues, people are making decisions to incorporate sustainable practices into their daily activities. 

Living sustainably is a lifestyle that aims to reduce individual and collective environmental impact. We achieve this by making positive decisions that curb climate change and reduce environmental damage. 

This lifestyle attempts to minimize individual and societal use of the earth's raw materials. It also takes a closer look at how we use personal belongings to reduce the environmental damage that lifestyle choices can cause. In essence, it’s also earth-harmony living or net-zero living. 

Sustainability means making choices today that will positively impact the future, like reducing the demands for raw materials and replacing the resources we use to the best ability. 

There are three main principles of sustainability: environmental preservation, economic viability, and social equity. By examining these principles, we can better understand how we need skills to address them.

Related: Our compilation of some of the most important sustainability facts helps point to the increasing need to move toward and increase engagement in sustainable living principles.  Read our full article What is Sustainable Living for more information. 

Environmental Preservation 

This is when we channel efforts into minimizing the environmental impact caused by processes, systems, human activities, and products. It deals with managing energy consumption, prioritizing zero-waste production, and switching to renewable energy in homes and offices, amongst other things.

Economic Viability

This principle deals with frugality. This principle encourages individuals to use socioeconomic resources to their advantage. It concentrates on making decisions and upholding behavior that focuses on living within our means.

Social Equity

This refers to societal structures and systems that actively support present and future generations to live healthily and comfortably. We have to monitor present-day activities so as not to jeopardize the future. 

How Do I Start Living Sustainably? 

There are numerous ways to live sustainably. Some of these ways include reducing resource use, composting, reducing over-consumption, relying on clean energy sources, practicing minimalism, and purchasing local and organic products. Also, this lifestyle varies from individual to individual.

Composting

Composting is the process of returning anything that comes from nature to the earth and allowing it to biodegrade in the soil. This, in turn, functions as fertilizer. We can compost food waste like yam peels, vegetables, and other leftovers. We can turn them into fertilizer when they break down naturally instead of sending them to landfills. 

Reducing Consumption

Purchasing only necessary items is a big step to living sustainably. This entails questioning what you need and why you need it. It also challenges you to note available options before deciding to go out to buy new items. This reduces trash within homes and reduces production waste in the long run.

Shopping 

One of the most sustainable practices you can adopt is to use what you already own. After this, shopping secondhand is also a good practice.

Look out for things you need at an online thrift store, local websites, zero-waste stores, and sites like eBay, Etsy, and Poshmark. Also, pay attention to companies that make eco-friendly and zero-waste products from natural and recycled materials while following sustainable business practices.

Minimalism

Minimalism is making the utmost use of available materials, that is, maximizing resources to the fullest. A minimalist lifestyle supports freeing yourself from clutter and only owning things that serve a purpose. This also helps facilities produce items that support a sustainable planet. Generally, it helps us focus on what matters and what we need instead of mindless buying.

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

If there is less waste, there is less to recycle. It’s important to apply the 4rs, reuse items, or repurpose them for different uses. Also, this helps us reduce the need to buy new items since we can convert old items into useful products.  

What Are Sustainable and Self-Reliance Skills for Self-Sufficient Living? 

Self-reliance skills are closely related to sustainable living skills. This supports the optimal use of local resources while championing sustainable development. A self-reliant person is an innovator, coordinator, organizer, and decision-maker. People with such skills can provide for their needs independently for an extended period. People often interchangeably use sustainable and self-sufficient skills but are not entirely the same.

Self-sufficiency skills help in meeting needs without reliance on the outside world. As a result, there’s a heavy focus on independence and being able to survive even in the harshest conditions. These skills enhance living one’s life without reliance on the outside world. Although you’ll find that many of these skills also translate to what we need to live sustainably, the intention is different. 

Sustainable living skills pay attention to protecting the earth’s materials, living within our means, and reducing our environmental impact. Skills for a sustainable lifestyle contribute to humans' economic, environmental, and social lifestyles.

Types of Sustainable Living and Life Skills

People can learn various types of skills to live a sustainable lifestyle. These range from basic skills to some that require deep learning, so you can create time to understand them. Some of these skills are: 

Cooking 

Everyone needs to eat - from kids to adults. There’s no denying that consuming a healthy meal and reducing processed food intake is important to our health. You fuel your body when you consistently eat one healthy meal after another. Homemade food reduces costs. It also gives the certainty of required nutrition for the family and individual. Learning how to cook also helps in waste management. When people reduce ordering food, fewer takeaway packages end up in landfills. 

Cooking is a necessary skill. This skill is not just restricted to preparing meals alone; it also entails knowing the proportion of raw foods to prepare to avoid wastage that contributes to our global food waste problem.

Additionally, this skill informs us about using kitchen equipment and how to improvise when certain utensils aren’t available. This also encompasses learning to bake goods like fresh bread and pastries. This way, you can provide yourself and your family with nourishing dishes.

Growing Your Own Food 

Cooking and growing food go hand in hand. When you grow your food, you can prepare it into desired meals. Many people take up this skill due to the fear of food scarcity and insecurity if there's a break in the food supply chain. However, this is something anyone can begin to learn at any time. 

Growing food means you no longer have to rely heavily on supermarkets and grocery stores. Also, it helps you save costs, especially when price hikes.

Plus, you can grow whatever fruit, vegetables, and food you choose. By growing your own food, you can curb the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in the growth process.

Preserving and Fermenting

Preserving food teaches us to rely less on other synthetic preservatives that commercial food producers use. Preserving food relates directly to growing food because you’ll need to preserve the crops you grow. In this light, food preservation is a necessary skill that helps us prevent food waste in society.

We can preserve food in various ways. These include pickling, dehydrating, fermenting, salting, drying, canning, freezing, and bottling. We can also preserve meals by making jam, relishes, chutney, and so on. 

Gardening

Developing gardening skills and techniques makes growing food, flowers, and edible plants so much easier. Gardening is a great skill that shows how caring for something and watching it grow from seeds to plants is rewarding. It deals with sowing seeds and having knowledge about soil composition, pest control, tackling plant problems, harvesting procedures, and storing seeds. 

Generally, this skill allows you to easily access edible plants, fruit, and vegetables. These days, it’s easy to get seed packets with instructions on usage. You can even turn garden time into fun by inviting friends and family members. Even if you don’t have ample garden space, you can start with a container garden or simply grow your herbs on the windowsill.

Related: Apartment Gardening - All You Need To Know To Get Growing.

Composting

This is the act of making fertilizers from food scraps. Composting not only enriches the soil but also helps to fight against global warming. This is because the decaying organic matter in landfills releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, usually in the form of methane. 

Making good compost requires a moderate mix of organic materials. You should have “greens” like vegetable peelings, weeds, and lawn clippings, and “browns” like cardboard, newspapers, brown leaves, crushed eggshells, etc. Good compost helps plants grow and reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers.

Sewing, Mending, and Knitting

Sewing is one of the basic skills that we’ve lost over time. In the past, most women, men, and even children knew how to sew, knit, crochet, and mend garments. Many people teach themselves how to sew; however, you can also learn from an expert. 

However, nowadays, many people tend to throw out torn pieces. Learning these skills is important because they save us money, enhance creativity and reduce homemade trash. Even if you don’t have a sewing machine, you can learn how to hand-sew and mend clothes. It can also serve as a livelihood for those who have a deep interest.

Carpentry

This is one of the practical and sustainable life skills we need. Carpentry enables the repair and restoration of older furniture and even the construction of new ones. It reduces over-consumption and extends the lifespan of products. 

Even from a young age, you can teach kids the importance of fixing things. For instance, some homes will buy building materials to make repairing a fun skill. This instills the knowledge of creating and repairing in children. 

Collecting Water

Water is life, and everyone needs clean, drinking water for survival. This makes the skill of collecting water very important. Climate change brings more extended periods of drought, water shortage, and water scarcity in many areas.  As a result, collecting water is the safest option for survival.

Setting up barrels to retain water for households, gardens, and pets greatly reduces water bills.

Related: Why Is Water Conservation Important?

Upcycling

Upcycling clothing and other items are the process of converting old materials into new products of higher quality and greater functionality. Upcycling is creative reuse. It’s transforming recycled products into something with new higher value. It keeps reusable materials out of landfills and allows you to create unique pieces.

DIY skills

“Do it yourself” is the method of constructing, modifying, or repairing things yourself. This way, you don’t need the help of a professional or certified expert.

DIY projects often involve upcycling and recycling. It gives room for a shift to a sustainable lifestyle. For instance, people can turn old shirts into kitchen napkins. By doing this, the home creates less trash. Making personal care products like zero-waste dish soap bars from organic ingredients like essential oils also helps the environment by reducing plastic bottles. 

Sustainable and self-sufficiency skills are numerous. Many basic skills vary per individual. Other sustainable skills are wild food foraging, first aid, animal husbandry, and housekeeping. Apart from helping you build new skills, you can also talk to people around you about your interests as a way to find community. 

Related: Best Books on Foraging.

Importance of  Sustainable Living Skills

When adopting skills for living sustainably, it goes on to affect many aspects of your life. Many of these are also life skills that everyone can learn. It goes beyond redefining an individual’s lifestyle to reduce living costs and protect the environment. Let’s explore some of the benefits of these skills:

Cost Saving

Sustainable life skills help you reduce your cost of living. This also contributes to reducing the earth's natural resource consumption. As a result, it helps save costs when most things that need to be paid for can be sorted independently. Many families who prioritize these life skills end up protecting not only nature but their money in the long run.

Health Benefits 

Consumption of quality and non-toxic food products promotes good health. Living a sustainable lifestyle helps in attaining physical fitness and improved living standards. We can achieve these health benefits due to little or no consumption of foods with chemicals. For instance, when we grow our food, we can carefully watch what we put into our bodies.

Environmental Stability 

Utilizing different types of solar energy, using non-toxic materials, and effectively maximizing the planet’s raw materials will ensure the environment is stable. This then supports the current generation's and future generations’ needs. 

Energy and Water Maximisation

Sustainable and self-sufficiency skills help us conserve water waste at home, impacting utility bills and water wastage. When we collect water, make compost, and upcycle items, we save energy and maximize water usage. 

Products Durability

By adopting certain skills, we extend product life spans. We do this by converting items to new ones and repairing or mending them. For instance, upcycling helps convert waste products into new materials. 

Conclusion

It’s a great idea to learn basic sustainable living skills. They empower you to contribute to the sustainable development of society. At the same time, you get to save money and practice self-sufficiency. 

You can take advantage of the internet by becoming a self-taught individual to learn these. You’ll often find YouTube videos and course creators that teach various things, from first aid to sewing techniques.

You can also ask friends and family members to guide you. Alternatively, you can learn these basic practices from community classes. Collectively, we can regain the lost skills in our societies to support caring for our planet.