Enjoying Life Consciously With a More Sustainable Lifestyle
If you associate everyday climate protection measures with giving things up, you’re on the wrong track.Sustainable living means living more consciously. For example, instead of buying disposable products, you treat yourself to more durable items and enjoy better quality. Or instead of taking many short trips, you choose one longer journey full of meaningful impressions and experiences. And if you buy regional products, you are often rewarded with better flavour and fresher goods.
Ideas for Everyday Climate Protection Measures
Maybe you already know many of the ideas below for a sustainable living lifestyle, but you find it hard to turn new behaviours into habits. You’re not alone. If it were that easy, we would have already stopped climate change. That’s why the Klima-Taler app exists — it not only reminds you of many good ideas for a sustainable everyday life but also rewards you for taking part. Here are many suggestions. Give them a try:
Embracing Green Mobility for Sustainable Living
Many trips can be done on foot — and you can even develop fun new routines in the process. Maybe you meet a friend to shop at the weekly market in your neighbourhood instead of driving to the supermarket. Or you bike to work and start the day having already completed a small workout. And if that’s too far, try starting your day by listening to podcasts while using public transport.
The goal is to leave your car parked more often, especially for short distances. If this is already part of your everyday life and you don’t even own a car anymore, perhaps you can convince colleagues, friends or relatives of this important aspect of sustainable living. In April 2024, the ecological transport club VCD found in a study: “If ten percent of traffic in Germany shifts from cars to public transport, 19 billion euros and 5.8 million tonnes of CO2 can be saved.” You could help make that happen!
Saving Energy in Everyday Life
If you’re worried we’re about to suggest piling on sweaters in winter and turning the heating off, keep reading. Green living doesn’t require sacrifice — it allows many small actions to create something great. Washing clothes at 40°C instead of 60°C, turning off lights in empty rooms, or letting hair and laundry air-dry — all are easy to do and have a big impact when many people take part. If you’re willing to go a bit further, you can switch to a green electricity provider or lower your heating by just one degree. Even keeping your email inbox tidy saves energy. These may not seem like major climate actions. But overall, naturally integrating sustainability into everyday life achieves far more than shying away from big changes and remaining inactive.
Green Living is Living More Consciously
Many everyday climate protection measures are about enjoying life more consciously. When shopping, choosing less packaged food means picking up fruits and vegetables, smelling them and checking their quality before putting them in your basket. It may take some effort at first to find out which personal care products are free from microplastics and come in packaging that doesn’t pollute our waters. But caring for yourself with a product that is truly good for both your body and the environment feels so much better.
A sustainable lifestyle has a lot to do with conscious consumption. Ask yourself whether you really need to own a product. You’ll find that it can feel very freeing to own less and still have everything you need. The drill you use only twice a year can be borrowed through neighbourhood networks. Laptops are also available from electronics rental providers. And you’ll find new reading material in one of the many public book-sharing shelves. When making your everyday life more sustainable, you can make a particularly big impact by changing your clothing habits — not only by reducing CO₂ emissions but also by protecting people, animals and the environment from toxic chemicals. The European Parliament has published figures on this.
So buying fewer new clothes and shoes is already a major step toward living more sustainably day to day.
Using Sustainability Apps in Everyday Life
In truth, we all already know what needs to be done. And making small changes doesn’t seem that difficult. Still, replacing old habits with new ones can be tough. That’s why climate protection needs motivation — and a sustainable living lifestyle should be fun. Sustainability apps support you with gamification, small reminders and incentives even for small achievements. After all, many small steps can cover a long distance. The Klima-Taler app provides practical suggestions for climate protection and helps you make living more sustainable. As a reward, you receive Klima-Taler that can be exchanged for discounts and rewards. There’s also a practical “Climate Treasure Map” (Klimaschatzkarte) that shows all sustainable places in your area — with photos, short descriptions and links. So you can always see where a new opportunity to do something sustainable is waiting nearby.
The Path to a Sustainable Living — In Short
A sustainable lifestyle means making conscious decisions that protect the environment and the climate without sacrificing quality of life. Small changes in mobility, energy consumption or shopping habits can have significant positive effects when combined. The key to green living is living consciously, sharing or reusing resources, and questioning your own consumption. Motivation and enjoyment — through apps or incentives — help integrate new habits into daily life permanently. This way, sustainability becomes a natural part of everyday living.
You Don’t Know the Klima-Taler App Yet? Maybe Your City Is Already Participating!
Everyone can download and use the Klima-Taler app for free. You can use your Klima-Taler with many online partners. It’s even more fun if your city or municipality is part of the Klima-Taler network. Take a look!
Your city isn’t part of it yet? Feel free to reach out if you’d like more information.
Markus Schulz
m.schulz@changers.com
