Vivian Nweze is a creator who loves exploring her culture through content and finding ways to incorporate sustainable practices into her daily life. Here, she shares her thoughts on sustainable living and self-love.
Walmart is setting the bar in sustainability with a commitment to protect, manage or restore 50 million acres of land and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030.
Sustainability can be intimidating. The climate is in crisis and the world needs our help. But what can we do? We’re solitary individuals struggling to figure out how to take care of ourselves, let alone the planet. But what if the most effective way to save the world is to first save oneself? After all, when we become more aware of ourselves, we become more aware of our impact. So maybe sustainability is synonymous with self-love and living better is the first step toward taking better care of our planet.
Eating Better With Zero Waste
“The most challenging part of caring for the environment is our own convenience,” says Vivian. “It’s easier to throw things away without thinking twice about the consequences.”
What we eat affects our bodies and what we waste affects our planet. Eliminating 100% of the trash we create is understandably challenging for anyone but we can work toward a no-waste lifestyle while simultaneously eating better because, usually, what’s good for us is also good for the environment.
Walmart has pledged to be completely zero waste in operations in the U.S. and Canada by 2025.
Many zero waste recipes call for lots of fruits and veggies, which most of us know we need more of in life. Try incorporating healthy green smoothies for breakfast, hefty salads for lunch and dinner, and you can even use leftover banana peels to create a nutritious at-home plant fertilizer for houseplants. Almost every part of your fruits and veggies can be used for nutritious recipes or sustainable hacks in your home, and your body will thank you for all the greens you’ve consumed!
Using Less Energy By Spending Time In Nature
Spending time in nature will make you fall in love with the beauty of our planet. Close your eyes and think about that moment at the highest peak of a hiking trail when you stop and take in the scent of muddy streams and crisp, fresh air, the kind that you get when you travel away from the city and find peace in a place that seems far away from the world and yet somehow more connected to everything.
“When my mind feels chaotic and I’m at my wit’s end, I go for a walk, a hike, to the beach, anything. If I have the opportunity to travel, I want to be in forests or in oceans or in the air. Something about natural beauty and the tranquility soothes my constantly frenzied soul. It’s a must for my mental health.” – Vivian
Incorporate this into your self-love routine by challenging yourself to use less energy and spend more time in nature. Try setting times where you won’t use power in the house, unplugging things you don’t need and keeping the lights off during the daytime. But instead of waiting until the moment you can finally binge your favorite shows, spend this time focused on you. It’s a simple effort but no-energy practices have a huge impact on the environment.
Achieving health for our planet and our bodies aligns perfectly. We aren’t foreign to the land around us but rather a part of it. And as corporations like Walmart make pledges to protect, manage and restore 50 million acres of land by 2030, perhaps our individual role in this fight is to make the same commitment to our own bodies. So let’s live better tomorrow by loving ourselves today!
Learn more about what Walmart is doing to build back our planet.
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