When we live heartfully, we expand our awareness. Our heart longs to sustain peace, so we find ways to conduct our livelihood and practice habits that support our mind, body, soul and the environment.
Sustainable living can be defined in many ways. It means different things to different people. On a spiritual level, it means living consciously, heartfully with everyone and everything around us, with love and respect towards our Mother Earth.
People will gradually realize that to live sustainably we do not have to undergo major lifestyle changes, but make simple changes in our choices.
Here are a few tips to make those choices.
1.Buy consciously
When buyers make conscious choices, companies will listen. When we choose organic clothes or vegan leather, companies will definitely find ways to satisfy the demand. Ignorance has so far led to the death of farmers and animals. Should fashion come at the cost of life?
2.Buy when it is necessary
Reuse and recycle as much as possible. The global fashion industry runs on the dictum of buy and throw,thus it causes huge wastage of resources. The quality controllers in various industries will agree that many products end up in landfills due to minor faults.
3.Don’t follow trends, create them
Fashion tends to be cyclic. What was a trend ten years ago will find its way back. It is smarter to create your own sense of style than blindly follow fads and trends. What may be ideal during a particular season in one part of the world may not be feasible in another part of the world. Choose what works best for your body type, and the climatic conditions in your country.
4.Help artisans, earn good karma
Older traditions have been ignored for mass production. We can revive our cottage industries and buy products that are manufactured ethically and priced appropriately, e.g. handlooms.
5.Less can be more
It is possible to dress well and look our best even with a small wardrobe. Mix and match, play with layers, up-cycle and keep quality over quantity always. It helps us save money to overcome the urge to wear something new all the time.
Your wardrobe can become a treasure chest of stories behind each item of clothing.
Try to choose sustainable fashion, because:
It values energy, resources and the time that was put into making the product,
It is better for everyone, the economy and the planet, and you are what you wear, too.
A blog by Divya Nagaraj
