Live green and save money by buying less. Most everyone has much more junk than they need, and clutter actually lowers the quality of life. Living green, by contrast, is uplifting, joyful, full of relationships and beauty, and invigorates with enormous gulps of fresh, vitalizing air. Dispose of a trashy, disposable lifestyle and celebrate the durable force that is being natural.
Living green is more a change in attitude then it is a change in lifestyle. If one thinks of living green in terms of sacrifice, they have it backwards. One does not have to sacrifice any quality of life, but to realize that life is all around, very diverse and restorative, very physically, mentally and spiritually supportive. Realizing that nature is internal and external is soul soothing, too.
Here are just a few examples of saving money and having a far richer life: Look and learn about other organisms, when biking or walking to work. Slow down and smell the flowers. Never have to deal with stinky garbage again. Simply compost all organics in a bucket, bowl or bag and recycle all paper, metal, plastic and more. You can also earn money through recycling. Do not buy on impulse, ever. Instead reward your participation in not consuming the resources of earth with a delightful trip or picnic to shore, forest, or fields. Insulate your home well, and invest in a clothesline to save huge by not using an electric dryer. Give most of your clothes to charity and find that taking care of less stuff is liberating. Plant trees to save energy and to provide beauty and fresh air. Unplug everything in your house, get off the sofa and get moving into a less sedentary lifestyle. Once people begin living as they evolved, they find vast improvements in most relationships.
What people don’t know is that they do not have to give up luxury and consumption all together. What they find is that by taking the bus, or car pooling rather than driving, builds relationships, and saves money. They learn that growing local, in their own back yard or in a community garden, results in healthier, fresher, less toxic and better food. They also learn, that like commuting with others, it fosters rich relationships, both with other gardeners, and with air, water, soil, and harvest.
All of life, at least here on earth, is intricate systems of inter-related systems. We are carbon life forms, and we need forests, ocean and meadows to breathe. When people realize that relationships are the key to all being and inter related sustaining of all that there is, they are not so likely to then isolate, divide and be destructive toward other living things. A broken person feels isolation and desolation. This is because he or she is not in touch with the relationships of fundamental life that keep them, and everything, in dynamic flow. When systems of exploitation emerge, it is due to one feeling a need to dominate another due to a deep seated insecurity.
Make nature your outdoor gym and therapist. Exercises which focus on the breath, because they call for interaction between the plant world and the animal world, help highlight the importance of giving and taking. Activities such as feeling nurtured by sunlight and green vistas helps couples and family find true belonging and true support by living systems.
People who live green are happier about who they are. They feel reciprocity with earth, instead of guilt or sadness. Narcissism for self importance and endless desire to fill unmet needs arise. People who constantly want a better lover, a better car, house, neighborhood, smart device, or whatever, are not mature about relationships. They are always seeking more, and not satisfied with the here and now. They have not fully found the beauty of life, and they do not feel loved, wanted and needed by the creation, and thus by others.
The driving force in most nations is toward consuming, and not enjoying. To make the most of what one has, to celebrate it, is healthy, both in human relationships and in the human in the world relationships that depend upon cooperation. When people cultivate trashy, shallow and non sustainable relationships with others, it is reflected in their relationship to the whole world. Being healthy and connected are the best cures for helping people find their authentic selves, and more connected and meaningful relationships.