Live a life you and the planet can sustain

Live a life you and the planet can sustain

posted onJanuary 3, 2020

Most voices in this space will tell you that you can keep your million miles an hour lifestyle, but by adding small changes you can sustain it, maybe you can. Of course if you want to cling on for dear life then adding a daily 20 minute meditation and a slightly healthier diet will help maintain your sanity as you go through that, that’s not my message. I don’t want you to just cling on, I want you to thrive!

Our planet is in crisis because we’re always wanting more. Our mental health is in crisis because, in order to sustain the lifestyle we think we want, we’re pushing ourselves harder and harder, then getting home and zombie-ing out in front of a screen. Our social lives are in crisis because, in our technological efforts to be more connected, we’ve never been less so. And we’re facing an existential crisis.

 Because we’re looking to programs and books that tell us we can have it all: uphold this fast paced lifestyle while keeping a happy, healthy mental and physical state, and maintain our 21st century consumer-centric expectations while also doing right by the planet. What we’re not being told so often is that life is about choices. And you can’t have it all. That to have happiness we have to give up other things, or at least make significant cut backs. And that, when we learn to truly love the small things, when the big things do come around, they’re a wonderful bonus.

Here are a few examples of ways I intend to live right by my mind and the planet:

Travel less – holiday more!

I’ve had some of my favourite adventures closest to home. Living in Malibu, driving up the coast to Santa Barbara and enjoying a getaway a stone throw away. Living in the UK and travelling by train to Paris, Brussels, Rome. Renting a van and camping in the wild of Scotland with friends. Taking the ferry across to the Isle of white – surfing, swimming and spending days by the shore. There is adventure in planning a trip by car, van, train and boat. 

A goal of mine for 2020 is to cut down my long haul flights to 2 per year, reducing my carbon footprint significantly.

Simplify everything

I’m an example of someone that for years has taken on more than I can chew. Of course this started as a ballerina training 8 hours a day and running Naturally Sassy, writing a cookbook and managing a food business with products stocked in stores nationwide. Crazy, definitely. A good story, absolutely. 

Since then and as I’ve found my feet with my business, I can see how much unnecessary stress I was creating for myself. Overcomplicating things has been my way for years, in the hopes that more would make me happy. What I’ve realised by simplifying my life, is less truly is more. With that realisation you take less from the world and live more sustainably because of it. 

Eat plants for the planet

The BBC recently released an article on this next critical 18 month period in dealing with the global heating crisis, amongst other environmental issues. Animal agriculture is either number 1 or number 2 contributor to man made greenhouse gas emissions, depending on which studies and data sets you go by.

It’s a fantasy to assume that we can solve this crisis without all being willing to give things up and take a hit on our lifestyle and consumption. For us to turn this around we all need to be willing to make big changes, going meat-free is a big one! Whilst I’ve been meat-free for years now, there is so much more I can do with Naturally Sassy to help provide useful tips and delicious recipes to make a transition to plants for the planet a fantastic one for your plate.

My message is simple, you can’t have everything, you can’t have the high powered and high strung job and the peaceful quality of life at the same time. Life is about decisions and you have to choose. I’m here to urge you to choose happiness, peace and simplicity. 

Naturally Sassy is about those simple but wonderful moments, doing right by your body and the planet. Seasonal eating, zero waste living, creative recipes, home workouts and sustainable living. Taking less from the planet, and reaping more. 

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