Embracing a zero-waste lifestyle and reducing the carbon footprint is growing popular. And why not? Over the years, we have done a lot of damage to the planet and made it impossible for future generations to even survive. With the ocean floor filling up with plastic waste and killing aquatic life.

However, it’s not just the water bodies facing the impact of pollution. Plants, animals, and every aspect of nature for that matter. So, it is high time we as  responsible citizens of this planet embrace a minimalist lifestyle. However, if you do not know how to go about with it, here’s how you could get started.

These tips will walk you through the process of embracing the minimalist lifestyle with ease.

Have A Clutter-Free Space

Well, a minimalist life cannot be an overnight change. And it doesn’t come with just sticking posters around your room about embracing a minimalist lifestyle. Instead, it comes with practice. You could start by making one section of your house or room a clutter-free zone. Find out what things are taking up a lot of space and what you might not use often. Get rid of these things.

If you wish to motivate yourself with some reminder around your room on why you wish to be a minimalist, you could start by writing down the reasons. No matter how silly the reason or “why” for your lifestyle choice, write it down. It will help you stay focused and stop you from drifting away or giving up on your goal. You could stick this up in your room as a poster and look it up for some motivation.

Recycle As Much As Possible

Right from the clothes you wear to the things you use at home, recycle as much as possible. If you are not sure what you can recycle, the answer is simple -everything! If it is not recycle-friendly material, do not bring it home in the first place. And if you already have it, instead of discarding it and adding to the landfill, see how you could re purpose it.

For instance, you could carry a small cloth bag with you at all times to avoid taking a plastic bag at the store. Similarly, you could buy a dress that you could wear several times over the years, instead of clothes that you might wear just a few times. Once you start recycling and reusing things, it is not too hard to make it into a habit. Eventually, you would be dealing with fewer things at home.

Do Not Hoard Things

We are all guilty of having duplicates of objects around the house and put them aside in a box. You could name this as a box of “duplicates.” For instance, you would probably need a maximum of four dinner plates at home and not an entire picnic set, if you do not host guests often. The same goes for furniture and other things around the house. Start identifying things to keep into this box and leave it aside for a month. If you do not need anything from it during that period, you probably do not need it at all. So, donate it to someone who could use it. Once you give up on the habit of hoarding, living a minimalist life becomes a cakewalk.

Reduce Food Waste

Plan your meals and try to cook at home. Also, make it a habit to have the same food for all three meals. This way, the leftover from one meal goes up to your next meal, not just reducing the food waste, but also helping you save money.

For instance, if you spend something around $13 to $15 a day on your takeout meal, you end up spending something around $4745 to $5475 a year, just on food. And not to forget the health risks that come with consuming outside food regularly.

Make Saving A Habit

Set a budget and make sure you save that amount of money every month. If you are wondering how saving money could help you embrace the minimalist lifestyle, think about it this way. When you save money you are depriving yourself of the freedom to splurge money on things you do not need, but might possibly buy. Set target savings for the year or quarter. For instance, you could try saving around $500 a quarter by reducing your expenses.

If you have loans, just pay the minimum amount and keep saving until you reach the $500 a quarter mark. This way, by the end of one year, you have significantly cut down your cost of living and the best part is, you have $2000 in your emergency funds. And you can achieve this by saving less than $40 a week. Remember, the change might not happen overnight, but will eventually make a huge difference.