How to prevent overwhelm in your sustainability journey

Sometimes starting your sustainability journey can just seem overwhelming. How do I know where to start? How can I sift through all of the greenwashing? And sometimes once you have started, it can feel like you are falling down the rabbit hole or pushing a boulder uphill. Complex, difficult, seemingly useless and with no end in sight. 

Familiar? Yeah, same here.

We do have some advice though. 

One: Find a community

Firstly, finding a community is helpful; people at a similar stage in their journey, or who are just ahead to inspire and motivate us. This might be finding a local sustainable community initiative, picking up a couple of hours at your local refillery, joining Facebook groups or following more like-minded people on social media. 

If it seems like no one in your current circles seem to have the same mindset as you - all of these actions can help you feel less alone in this pursuit of a more sustainable lifestyle. 

Two: Clarify your why

Secondly, clarify what you are fighting for. We found the Zero Waste Europes’ ‘Dare to Imagine’ resource was fantastic for this; breaking down what a future circular economy may look like and really visualising what the future so many of us are fighting for looks like. 

“The apartment in which you live is built with renewable, healthy, repairable and reusable construction materials….. 75% of the food we consume in cities is now grown in urban and peri-urban areas helping to close the nutrients loop…… Packaging free shops are the norm and nowhere in nature is single-use packaging waste littered…… reusable systems work with the deposit return schemes ……Menstrual cups and period panties with their sterilization infrastructure represent more than 80% of the market today.” Zero Waste Europe

Are any of these familiar to you? If we can imagine a sustainable future as doable it will help to align our actions. The examples above are things that will make up a future circular economy, so you are on the right track. 

Three: Step Back

Don’t be afraid to take a break

We know the urgency and overwhelming aspect of this fight can make this seem unrealistic - but trust us - there is time for you to take a break when you need to. 

It is so important every now and then to check in with yourself.

Are your new sustainable habits adding to your life? Or only adding stress? Although it will require effort on your behalf to implement new habits and new aspects to your lifestyle - if these don’t feel sustainable to you (as in - can I sustain these habits long term?) then it may be time to check in with them. Shift or alter them. Don’t be afraid to do this, it’s not a ‘failure’. 

After checking in with yourself, take a moment to notice all the little things you have achieved and how far you have come. Below is a journal prompt that could help with this exercise; 

Firstly start by looking at your day. Note down all the things you did, what you had for breakfast, what sustainable habits you have and where are the gaps you might want to work on. 

It is really important to do this without holding onto judgment for ourselves. Simply take note of how you currently live a normal day in your life. 

Maybe you wake up and hop in the shower for 30 minutes using your zero waste shampoo and soap bars. Awesome! You drive into work and grab a coffee in your keep cup from your local before heading into the office. 

Acknowledge the wins, and identify the next steps. 

Leave that note and next time you check in with yourself - look back and use your last entry to see how far you've come and if you have made any changes you hadn’t congratulated yourself for. Maybe next time you check in,  you now wake up and hop in the shower for 15 minutes using your zero waste soap bars. Progress! You bus into work and grab an oat milk coffee in your keep cup from your local before heading into the office. This is progress! There is still room for further improvement, but you HAVE made progress. 

Identify the wins and the next steps. 

We so often forget to celebrate our wins, but these small changes are really significant added together. They deserve to be applauded! No matter how much your efforts can feel like pushing a boulder uphill, that boulder is moving. You are making a difference.