When you’re feeling down, a little natural greenery can readily boost your spirits. There’s a reason people enjoy the smell and sight of flowers, while a healthy diet can improve your mood, as well as your body.
In other words, being connected to nature has numerous advantages for your life, so why not improve your home? This is your living space, so developing a greener or eco-friendly way of living here will create a positive effect that can ripple into all other areas of your life. These improvements will help you to feel better, both in terms of outlook as well as about yourself.
Add Natural Greenery
condesign / Pixabay
Most people don’t live in the open countryside, but this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy nature. Even if you don’t have a garden, you can readily incorporate a number of plants and flowers into your living space. As long as you water the plants yourself, all you really need is a window for sunlight.
It’s well established that plants have a positive influence on people. This is due to their bright, positive colours, relaxing aromatic scents or just through improving the aesthetic of your typical living area. It may be a subtle difference, but it will greatly benefit your mind.
Choose Local, Sustainable Produce
linsight / Pixabay
Similarly, why buy food grown half way across the world when there are local farmers and businesses to take advantage of? This is a great way to support the local community and you always know your fruit and vegetables are fresh! Additional benefits to eating local food include more flavour, more nutrients and the option to enjoy seasonal produce at its finest.
Yet, if you want even fresher produce, why not join the community and start growing yourself? This can prove to be a very rewarding experience and, again, working close with nature can lift your spirits. Furthermore, you can ensure your food is free of various harmful chemicals and pesticides.
Stop Using The Car
AdinaVoicu / Pixabay
While the car can prove useful as a form of transport, you should identify the areas and opportunities where you don’t need to use it. If it’s only a short distance away, why not walk? It may seem simple, but the benefits should speak for themselves.
Not only is walking a great form of exercise, it gives you an opportunity to think and reflect on any issues that you might be facing. It also allows you to explore local areas and see the natural spaces that are close to your home – these are things you miss when you drive by in a car.
Similarly, if you need to go somewhere a little further away, try cycling. This is great for solving the intermediate distances between walking and driving. Again, it is also offers good exercise.
Harness Natural Resources
MrsBella / Pixabay
Using nature isn’t just about making you feel better. You can also use the natural elements to provide alternatives to harmful, man-made options. Wind and solar energy are obvious examples, but there are easier options on a smaller scale as well! Why not try rainwater harvesting, as this doesn’t contain the chemicals you might find in tap water.
This is easy to collect, with just a container, but can be used to water plants, clean windows and more! This saves on your water usage and, when it comes to plants, ensures everything is as clean and organic as possible.
Recycle And Repurpose
Recycling is a common part of daily life by now and the importance of recycling speaks for itself. Yet there is much more that can be done than just organising your bottles, tins and paper waste once a week. Have you considered what happens to your furniture and electric appliances?
If you aren’t familiar with “freecycling”, it’s a green alternative to disposing of these items. Instead, why not encourage some positivity and give these items away for free? This can help support others in need and there’s never anything wrong with doing a good deed once in a while.
Likewise, you can find other freecyclers in your area to acquire new items. Not only will this save you money, it’s better for the environment to use items that already exist, so you can feel better about your impact on the planet.
Hopefully, these ideas have you shown you how easy and simple it is to introduce some greener living methods into your life. Not only is this better for the environment, it can help improve your own body and mind too!