Welcome to Green Week

Over the next week, we'll offer simple tips for living life more sustainably—one day at a time.

Planet Earth gives us the most beautiful things, from singing birds and soaring trees to fields of wildflowers and fireflies in summer—not to mention the essentials that sustain humankind. For the sake of all living organisms, ourselves included, we need to live within Earth’s means and leave a lighter ecological footprint where we can. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean living a spartan life devoid of loveliness. In fact, we’d argue that the opposite is true.

If you love the taste of tomatoes fresh from your backyard, the feel of soft linen napkins at the dinner table, or the joy of creating a home-cooked meal, congratulations! You are already making sustainable choices, even if it’s by default. Here’s the secret: Living more sustainably often overlaps with living a life filled with rich pleasures.

This year, we are honoring Earth Month with our very own Green Week. Each day from April 15 to 22, we'll be sharing tips to inspire you to live a little more sustainably. Follow along—and don’t be surprised if you find that living green really does equate to living better.

Day 1: How to Live More Sustainably

There is a misconception that going green is an all-or-nothing endeavor, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Small acts can have big impacts. You might be surprised by the difference you can make by simply adjusting your thermostat by a few degrees or opting for a plant-based meal instead of meat once a week. Start out with easy swaps and build on those successes as you go—and remember that it’s all about progress, not perfection.

Day 2: Cleaning and Laundry

In the not-so-distant past, people cleaned with natural ingredients that got the job done. With advances in chemistry and the rise of the cleaning products market, we started getting ever-bolder commercial cleaners that promised to make the job easier and more effective. The only problem with these modern cleaning products? They come in an endless parade of plastic packaging and often contain synthetic chemicals that can be harmful to the environment.

More Cleaning and Laundry Tips:

• 8 Household Uses for Castile Soap—the Natural, Non-Toxic Way to Clean Almost Anything

• 4 Easy Ways to Make Fabric Softener

• Natural, Eco-Friendly Ways to Clean Your Most-Used Bathroom Surfaces

• 4 DIY Drain Cleaner Recipes That Use Natural Ingredients to Prevent Clogs

• How to Make Homemade Laundry Detergent That Will Effectively Clean Your Clothes

• This 4-Ingredient Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Will Make Every Load Sparkle

Day 3: Food and Cooking

For many of us, some of life’s greatest pleasures center around food—whether growing it, preparing it, or best of all, eating it. How fortunate that this basic human need can bring such contentment. Unfortunately, modern food production, a preponderance of plastic, and the enormous problem of food waste have become a strain on the planet. Yet there are so many ways that we can stem the tide of unsustainable food practices, and rather than feeling like a chore, most of them—like baking homemade treats and exploring new recipes—are already one of our favorite things to do.

More Food and Cooking Tips:

• 9 Surprising Things You Should Compost—and 10 You Shouldn't

• 9 Food Scraps You Should Never Throw Away—and the Best Ways to Use Them

• Bake It, Don't Buy It: 6 Treats That Are Better Homemade
  

• Beyond Organic: Learn How Biodynamic and Regenerative Farming Are Changing Sustainable Food Production
  

Day 4: Gardening

Few things are as fulfilling as coaxing plants to life and tending to their needs. In fact, gardening is one of the most popular hobbies in the United States. When it comes to sustainability, a garden can go either way—it can be a water-hungry, over-manicured space drenched in harmful chemicals and offering little hospitality to local flora and fauna, or it can be a thriving ecosystem alive with native plants, safely welcoming birds and pollinators, and looking gorgeous all the while. With more and more gardeners leaning away from the former and into the latter, we predict the garden of the future will be a flourishing affair where nature is celebrated rather than tamed.

More Gardening Tips:

• 12 Alternatives to a Traditional Grass Lawn—and Why You Should Consider Making the Switch

• 10 Composting Tips That Will Keep Your Soil Healthy, According to Martha’s Head Gardener

• A Beginner's Guide to Composting, According to Experts

• This 3-Ingredient Homemade Weed Killer Uses Vinegar to Safely Remove Unwanted Plants

• What to Know About the Anti-Lawn Movement, Which Supports Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Grass Yards

• 9 Ways to Save Water in Your Yard and Garden
  

Day 5: Home and Décor

We’ve come a long way since using caves for shelter—and along the way, we’ve created an extraordinary array of structures that we call home. From micro-apartments to sprawling mansions, the places where we reside define much of how we spend our domestic lives. With a unique combination of function and form, our homes provide essentials like shelter and water—but they also offer a retreat from the world, a haven that many of us want to make special through design and décor. In both the practical and pleasurable aspects of the home, there are incredible opportunities to be more eco-friendly, from simple ways to be more water-wise to skipping "fast furniture" in favor of the joy of thrifting.

More Home and Décor Tips:

• 14 Creative Ideas for Repurposing Old Objects in Beautiful New Ways

• 15 Things You Should Always Buy at the Thrift Store, According to Design Insiders

• 10 Clever Ways to Upcycle Old Furniture, From Desks to Dressers and More
  

Day 6: Crafts and DIY

In an age when most everything you need is available to buy, and oftentimes available to buy cheaply, some may wonder why anyone would want to actually make anything themselves. But if you love handcrafting or are a do-it-yourselfer, you know. There is so much satisfaction in making or repairing something yourself—it’s like a subtle superpower that releases you from the grip of consumerism, allowing you to create unique items and save money at the same time. And oh, it’s also super sustainable! Anytime you choose to DIY or craft something instead of buying new, you are saving the planet from having to deal with more of our stuff—and bonus points for that dopamine hit.

Read the original article on Martha Stewart.