You don’t need to be Greta Thunberg, or to join Greenpeace in order to live a greener and more sustainable life. Actually, everybody can do it and it is easier than it sounds. All you need is to be a little bit more conscious about some actions you take. I know that it is more comfortable and time-saving when you do not need to care about the amount of waste you produce or the food and clothes you throw or about what are you going to cook this time when it is easier to go to a restaurant, but actually, it also makes life easier and even cheaper.

Here are some small easy to follow steps that everyone can apply in everyday life without the need to change our habits radically and in this way we can live more sustainable and eco-friendly life:

– Buy fruits and vegetables in the market and try to prefer local producers instead of huge supermarkets. You do not just support the local economy, but also your food is probably fresher since it doesn’t need to travel a lot to reach you.

-If you have an opportunity, recycle, it is not rocket science to divide plastic trash into yellow bins, glass into green ones, and paper into a blue ones.

-Reuse everything that can be reused – do not throw clothes you don’t wear, sell them or give them to charity or someone else. The same with the food – what you cannot eat, put it into the freezer or give it to someone else.

-Say NO to every babushka in the market who gives you everything packed in a separate plastic bag. Do not buy nor take plastic bags in shops or markets, but reuse the ones you already have and keep them for another use if they are still clean.

-Buy clothes in second hands, especially here in Bulgaria they are great!

-Try to reduce meat and meat products – it may sound scary, but it isn’t that difficult. I am pretty sure no one has ever died of malnutrition because he or she didn’t eat meat three times per day.

-More cooking, less junk food – also buy just as much as you are able to eat and do not throw food. Don’t do shopping when you are hungry and make and follow the list of things you need.

-Reduce using a car, if you can reach your destination easily by walk, cycle or public transport.

-The idea of minimalism goes along with sustainability, do not store a bunch of stuff you don’t need.

As I believe, smaller steps get us further along, and perhaps some of these points might be challenging at the very beginning, but important is to start and the rest is a matter of habit. Also, who knows, maybe we will manage to inspire someone else.

Adriána Čigášová