Have you taken on new sustainability habits this year? Or maybe you began your journey with research before deciding what steps you'll take next? Either way, we salute you for your curiosity and ambition to take the first steps to living a little more greener. To help inspire your journey, we'd like to share a story from our team member Patti as she navigates her own sustainability journey and tests new waters (and products).

Sustainability. What does it mean to you? To me, it’s an ever evolving process toward living more gently on our Earth. That means changing ways we’ve always done certain things. Like many, I am not a fan of change, and adapting a more sustainable lifestyle means changing long-held behaviors, which can feel overwhelming. Moving societies through the behavior transformation process can be complicated too, as people tend to have different levels of knowledge and different motivations to adopt new behaviors.

“I’ve always used X, why should I switch to Z?”

My advice: Start small. Just start with one change. My path towards sustainability has taken a lifetime, and there is still much room for improvement. One significant change happened almost 2 years ago when I came across a company that sells laundry detergent pods. Some of the things I liked about this idea and the company:

• eco-friendly ingredients
• no animal testing
• low-waste packaging
• super easy to use
• not having to handle large jugs of laundry detergent
• gets shipped right to my door

So I decided to give it a shot. Initially, it seemed a bit more expensive, but in the long run, I have realized that my waste has dramatically decreased, in terms of detergent usage, money spent, and the waste I dispose of. In the photo to the right, that's all that's needed to clean and soften one load of laundry!

I like these detergent pods, too; they seem to work well. My clothes are clean and don’t stink. (Isn’t that what you want from a detergent?) I now use the same company for fabric softener and dishwasher detergent, too. I still keep one bottle of liquid detergent around, in case I need to pre-treat stains (often), hand wash anything (rarely), or if I happen to run out of pods (occasionally). But good news - Better World Refill Shop and Refill Goodness have opened on the near west side in Lakewood, and both shops carry these types of products, plus so much more to help guide you in your path toward sustainable living. Do you know of, or shop at other similar stores in the area? Have you made any changes or switches in your life? We’d love to hear stories of your own sustainability paths, too. Shoot us an email, or hit us up on our social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

Stay tuned as we share more steps you can take towards your own sustainability journeys!

*Disclaimer: This article in no way endorses or promotes certain products, services, or companies above others. This is the author’s own sustainability journey and is not to be taken as a road map of how one should live.