5 intermediate eco-minimalist tips

It's finally here--part 2 of my eco-minimalist tips series. Part 1, eco-minimalist tips for beginners, is all about ways to save money and also be more eco-friendly. Intermediate eco-minimalist tips still focus on budget-friendly items but include actions that require spending money as well.

Unfortunately, lots of greener alternatives cost more. Hopefully, as they become more mainstream, that will not be the case. But until then, it's helpful to put your dollars toward supporting them wherever you can. There are some more abstract concepts in here as well.

1. Financial institutions and investments
2. Waste
3. Internet
4. Make your home more resource-efficient
5. Decisions based on facts are eco-minimalist

Financial institutions and investments

Did you know that financial institutions are some of the worst offenders when it comes to funding fossil fuel companies? The bank that holds your savings account, credit card, mortgage, car loan, or retirement fund could easily be contributing large sums of money toward worsening climate change. Your money, which means that you are indirectly funding climate change as well, perhaps without your knowledge.

For example, in the States, we have 2 institutions, Citi and HSBC, which are pledging to be Net Zero by 2050 with 1 hand while the other hand gives money to extracting oil from the Amazon rainforests. According to a CNBC article from April 2021, the biggest fossil fuel financer is the Postal Savings Bank of China. But banks from all over the world are responsible for this issue, and some of them continue to increase their funding.

Other well-known banks that continued to support the oil and gas industries after the 2015 Paris agreement include JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, RBC (Canada), Barclays (UK), and BNP Paribas (France).

Likewise, some of the "top" stocks on the market are for companies that aren't sustainable. They also try to find ways to greenwash their brands because it will help their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria standing, which boosts their stock performance. In order to appear to care about what happens to the environment, they simply copy and paste some ESG terms on their website, all the while being extremely vague about what they are actually doing to be better.

Unfortunately, many companies that provide retirement plans for their employees simply choose index funds (a collection of stocks and bonds), which closely follow the performance of the stock market. These funds don't have to be actively managed, which means they save the employer a lot of time and money while still (hopefully) providing appropriate returns on their employees' investment. 

However, it also means that the assets that the retirement funds are invested in are a set of stocks that don't differentiate based on whether they are socially responsible. For example, an index fund based on the S&P 500 is going to simply be the 500 stocks that fall into that index. These are all large companies, which historically do not care about being socially responsible as much as they should. Recent companies that made the index are Facebook, Amazon, and JP Morgan Chase. 

Something else that many people probably don't think of in terms of climate change is their insurance policies. Be it life insurance, health, auto, etc., one of the ways insurance companies keep afloat is to take the premiums they receive from their policyholders and invest them to earn interest. Where does that interest come from? Usually, the same financial institutions and/or stocks that commonly fund Big Oil. So this is another avenue that needs exploring and possible correction.

Luckily, things are (slowly) changing. More employees are speaking up and asking their employers to invest their money in more ethical and socially responsible ways. Some financial institutions are changing their investments and working their way toward being green. And lastly, there are lots of banks and investment firms popping up that offer green alternatives.

I consider updating where you keep or borrow your money an intermediate step because it will take some time. Obviously, you are not going to change your mortgage, car loan, credit cards, retirement accounts, insurance, and checking/savings accounts overnight. Any loans have to be moved slowly because those changes affect your credit. So does opening new credit cards or closing old ones. Depending on how many accounts you have, it could take you years to completely transfer everything over.

That's why I'm asking you to consider making moves slowly but surely. First, make certain that you understand the consequences to your personal finances and credit for each move you make. Then start with something relatively easy. Take a few months to find new bank accounts and move your money over. 

Then, consider opening a green credit card and start using it to build up your credit with it while phasing out the use of your non-sustainable cards. You could actually stop using your old cards but keep them open. This way they still reflect positively on your credit reports as far as the length of credit history, but don't give your money to dirty energy companies.

Meanwhile, you can advocate with the company you work for to get them to switch over to socially-responsible funds for your retirement account. If you have a private retirement account, start researching high-performing green funds and decide what and when you want to move over to them. Thankfully, many green investment opportunities are matching or outperforming their unsustainable counterparts.

If you're thinking of buying or refinancing a house or car, look to applying to companies with sustainable values first. And if now is not a good time for you to change your loan holder(s), question that institution about where your money goes and advocate with them to move towards sustainability.

Waste

Make sure you fully understand what is trash, compost, and recycling based on your local waste management provider's rules, and how you have to prepare each item before you put it in the bin. For example, our local company allows plastics of only certain numbers (1-4), never plastic bottle tops, everything must be washed and paper labels removed. They accept glass jars and metal lids, certain types of paper, and no food scraps or compost in the yard waste.

After living in a few different cities, it seems their rules are pretty similar to other places I've lived. Of course, we have a lot of near-monopolies for trash and recycling providers here in the U.S., so it isn't surprising that they all offer the same services. It's probably the same company!

Sadly, some companies have decided to stop accepting glass for recycling. This is usually because they have a single-bin recycling system, where all the different materials go in the same container. Since glass breaks so easily, and into such fine particles, it contaminates the other items and also puts the employees at risk of injury. Therefore, broken glass mixed with other recyclables often results in the entire load ending up in the landfill.

Glass is infinitely recyclable, which is a good thing, because the sand needed to create new glass is not a renewable resource, and we're starting to have shortages. The bad news is that recycling glass is not happening often enough, and it is a labor-intensive process that creates its own pollution.

There is also the problem of mixed-media packaging, like those milk cartons and other plastic-lined boxes that some foods come in, or the paper coffee cups that have a plastic lining. Those are rarely recyclable because the facilities simply don't exist in most areas.

Keep in mind that the best packaging is no packaging at all. That's why an intermediate eco-minimalist focuses on package-free items, including pre-owned goods and unpackaged bulk supplies.

While we're on the topic of waste, I want to mention how important it is to understand how composting works. Whether you have access to a composting service or you're doing it at home, it's crucial to educate yourself. Just like with recycling, adding the wrong things to your compost bin that your municipality picks up can result in contamination of, potentially, a truckload or more. That material then gets thrown away, which is exactly what we don't need to happen. 

Also, just because a company markets its packaging as compostable doesn't mean that your local company recognizes it as such. Some items can be composted, but it has to be done with techniques that aren't used by all compost receivers. Those materials that require extremely high-heat composting are not going to break down in your home compost or will take significantly longer than the rest of the batch. 

Make sure you thoroughly vet any companies that offer home-compostable products. The last thing you want to do is poison your plants (or yourself) by putting a chemical-laden, supposedly compostable piece of packaging in and then using the mixture to add to the soil for your vegetable garden.

Internet

Remember how we used to think it was eco-friendly to be paper-free? People started putting things at the bottoms of their emails saying "Save the trees, please think before you print this email" and offices prided themselves on doing everything electronically. Yes, it's important to reduce paper usage because we need trees, especially old-growth trees, to stay rooted in the ground where they belong. But that isn't the whole story.

By being paper-free, we became more reliant on digital documents. Companies like Netflix and Hulu started popping up as more affordable alternatives to cable or satellite TV services. Social media came around.

Also to save paper, people started using ebooks and e-readers instead of buying paper versions. We read our news and gossip online instead of buying newspapers and magazines. I've heard that many college professors started preferring to receive essays and other homework via email, and it seems like nearly every doctor's office these days uses online patient forms, patient portals, and electronic messaging systems. 

And to think, there were days when the majority of people used paper maps or written directions instead of a maps app on their phone or a GPS system to navigate to their destination. I can't remember the last time I met anybody who does that anymore or anyone who keeps around a paper phonebook that their local phone company delivered to them. 

We even have purely digital money these days, like bitcoin and dogecoin and whatever else is out there. I even saw a mortgage company advertising the other day that they accept bitcoin for mortgage payments!

The problem is that the internet takes electricity and a lot of it. The servers used to run the internet are massive, power-hungry, and HOT. The rooms or buildings they are kept in need more electricity both to run the servers and to keep the rooms ice-cold so the machines don't overheat. 

Because so much important and sensitive data runs through the internet, these buildings often have the highest level of security, which probably means more electronic gadgets like security cameras and monitors, keycard scanners, and backup servers. 

Then there are the backup generators in case the main power source is lost. Most generators run off fossil fuels.

Some companies recognize the problems they have created by being such successful internet resources. For example, Google states that they have been carbon-neutral since 2007 and will be carbon-free by 2030. 

That's great, but I have one more point to make about the internet that many people don't think mention when it comes to sustainability--what it does to our health. I wear glasses, and my eye doctor told me that I (and many others he sees) have vision impairments that are due mainly to looking at a screen all day.

Having to buy glasses every year or two creates waste. While there are some companies that make more sustainable frames, they are usually quite expensive and might not be compatible with all types of lenses. And the lenses? They're made of new materials, of course, and are usually not recyclable. 

You can usually donate old prescription glasses, but I'm guessing that no matter what, everyone's glasses eventually become part of a landfill. 

And what about contact lenses? One study showed that 15-20% of contact users were flushing their used contacts down the drain. What??? That added up to 20-23 metric tons of plastic waste going into our water system! We do not need more plastic going into our water that will eventually break down into microplastics. Also due to their size and flexibility, they can easily slip through filters at water treatment plants and end up back in cleaned water. Blech. There are some programs to recycle contact lenses, btw. There are programs through eye doctors or you can send them directly to Terracycle.

While we're on the topic of medical waste, let's talk about other ways that the internet affects our health. Looking at a screen means more time being inactive (sitting or lying down), neither of which is good for our bodies. People often spend extended periods in positions that are not ergonomic, leading to chronic pain.

The light waves from electronic devices affect our circadian rhythms and therefore our sleep, which can lead to poor concentration, memory, decision-making skills, lowered immune systems, weight gain, and physical injury, just to name a few problems.

There's also a lot more stress involved with being so easily connected to the rest of the world. People can be reached more easily, and a balance between having privacy and interaction with the community is lost. Many feel obligated to respond immediately to any electronic request that comes through, even if it wakes them up in the middle of sleeping.

Easier access to the internet also means more exposure to all the troubles on this planet, all the judgment of others, and more problems that we have no power to solve individually. Anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts are emerging at younger ages, and many believe it's related to how much time a child spends on social media.

All these physical and mental ailments lead to more doctor trips. And if you've ever been in a doctor's office, I'm sure you've noticed how much waste the medical community creates. For our safety, most items that touch us are single-use. Protocols also dictate that healthcare providers wash their hands both before and after interacting with each patient, often with chemical-laden soaps, and then use paper towels to dry their hands because cloth harbors germs.

Then there's the medicine we're prescribed. Developing and mass-manufacturing drugs take a lot of resources. The meds come in bottles that most people throw away without even checking if they can recycle them. Unused medicines get flushed down the drain (and traces are later found remaining in our drinking water) or go into landfills where they can contaminate the ground.

Trust me, I'm not trying to demean our healthcare workers and all that they do. Nor do I necessarily have any solutions or alternatives to offer to the system that's already in place. I'm just saying that the system is not eco-friendly, and the more internet we consume, the more we seem to need healthcare and depend on this system.

Obviously, I love the internet. And it's great that some internet-related companies are moving toward sustainability. But there are still many consequences to spending so much time online, so I try to use it sparingly and focus my time on other things, like being outdoors or working on crafts. 

Make your home more resource-efficient

As climate change becomes more and more of a problem, virtually every place on the planet will experience more extreme weather. If you've noticed you need more heating and cooling each year, you're not the only one. 

And needing more climate control because of climate change is a vicious cycle, because of the energy consumption needed to keep a house comfortable. There are lots of free or less expensive ways to live with various temperatures, such as layering clothing, cross-breezes, consuming hot or cold food or drinks, etc.  But if you live in a place that gets especially hot or cold, more drastic measures are probably needed.

However, making a building resource-efficient goes beyond heating and cooling. It involves thinking about how your house uses fuel, water, electricity (besides climate control), and how both replacing or repairing some structural/mechanical items affect the environment.

I searched around for relatively easy ways to increase the resource efficiency of where you live. A lot of these can be done even if you don't own your home. I'm sure you all know about things like LED light bulbs and washing clothes in cold water, so I'll leave those out.

• Don't leave the water running when you aren't actively using it. That means turning it off while you brush your teeth, not having it gushing out while you're scrubbing dishes in the kitchen, and potentially turning it off in the shower while you soap up!
• All the appliance stores (and some power companies) will encourage you to switch out appliances, water heaters, furnaces, etc. for more energy-efficient ones. But where do the old appliances go? Ask an installer that before you agree to buy a brand-new version, and then decide whether repairing and maintaining what you already have is better for the planet. A third alternative is to replace a broken appliance with a newer, used one.
• Have plants to water? What about a greywater system? Funnel water from showers, dishwashers, and sinks (and only use eco-friendly soaps) through a filtration system, then into a tank that you use just to water plants. A cheaper alternative is to get rain barrels and hook them into your gutter's downspouts.
• In terms of plants, consider switching to native, drought-resistant plants that are perennials over annuals. Research into plants and trees that grow well together. Lastly, if you live in a climate that is favorable for it, why not try growing your own food in place of more decorative items? I've read that some people are also starting to convert their lawns into a vegetable garden, which sounds like a tasty and pretty use of planting space.
• Even if you can't install a solar system for your home because you rent or due to the costs, lots of municipal power companies are offering programs to buy into greener energy sources. There are also solar rental plans and community solar farms. If your power company or locale doesn't have these options, here's yet another opportunity to advocate for their availability.
• Did you know that windows have seals? These seals break down over time, which leads to increased heating and cooling usage and costs, and might also allow unwanted moisture into the house. You may be able to re-seal your windows. If not, consider replacing them. Sometimes there are tax rebates to do so, just like you can find with solar energy credits. Once again, please try to give your old windows to a construction salvage company.
• If it's going to be hot outside, close all your windows and curtains/blinds before the sun hits them. Invest in floor or ceiling fans to keep air circulating.
• Black-out curtains are great for temperature control, but they're usually made of petroleum products. You can get just as much insulating power by using multiple layers of natural fabrics. Just make sure your curtain rods are reinforced to hold the extra weight!
• In rooms that you aren't using, get vent covers and close the doors. No need to heat or cool a space that isn't utilized.
• Plug all your devices and small appliances into surge-protecting power strips to keep them safe. When you aren't using anything on the strip, turn it off or unplug it to reduce phantom power drain. Personally, I find this makes for more peaceful sleep as well. I enjoy sleeping in a completely dark room without all the little red, white, and green standby lights from nearby electronics.
• If you have electronics that use batteries, invest in rechargeable batteries. They cost more up-front, but many are made to be recharged 1000 times or more and are just as powerful as their single-use counterparts. I have some rechargeables that lasted even longer than the battery charger--they're over 10 years old.
• Maintain what you have. Now that I'm living in a house and not an apartment, I learned that furnaces and air conditioners should be regularly serviced to make them work more efficiently (you can't just switch out the filters!), and you have to actually clean your roof to keep it in good condition. As someone who always rented, this was all news to me!
• Speaking of furnaces and air conditioners, did you know there are reusable filters? Yes, they cost more, and you'll need more than one. You take one out and clean it (I think most people use a hose) and a second one goes in while the first is drying. Pretty much all of those single-use filters are made of non-compostable materials that you can only put in the trash.
• Add a microplastic filter to your clothes washer. There are a few different options. I've seen one that's a ball that goes inside the washer, which is helpful if you have to use a public/communal laundry. Others get attached between the washing machine and where the water drains out to the sewer. Like with the lint filter in your dryer, you have to clean these regularly. But totally worth it to reduce the amount of plastic going into our water.

Decisions based on facts are eco-minimalist

Whenever I think of something I did that I later regret, it usually was the result of deciding what to do based on my emotions. Whether it was that dessert on sale that hurt my tummy or the outfit that sat for a year in my closet with the tags on, I did not think through the consequences of my decision before I acted. I went with what I felt at the time and let that rule my future, often with undesirable results.

As eco-minimalists, there is usually a lot more thought and research required for every action we take because all those emotional decisions can add up to a lot of consequences for the planet.

Someone who buys a brand-new, gas-guzzling car for the looks and status is deciding with their emotions, not with facts. People who decide to do things that are unhealthy even though their doctor says their health is in danger are not using facts. And someone who lives in the desert and insists upon having a lush green lawn, watering it incessantly through the hottest times of the year, is not educating themselves with facts when they decide to do so.

Of course, some people know the facts but just don't care. That is another form of emotional decision-making.

This is not to say every decision has to be dissected and researched to death before being made. But rather that you lean toward having more knowledge for more decisions. For many things, you will end up with a comfortable routine where you know what is the most eco-minimalist choice in a variety of situations, so you don't have to stop, pull out your phone, and research every time a decision comes up.

In fact, I discourage that behavior. Over-researching will probably lead to eco-anxiety. This brings us back to the risk of making emotional decisions--it's possible to care SO much about the environment that you're paralyzed with fear about what's right and can't decide anything at all.

Also, sometimes you will realize that there is no good option. There's just the best choice out of a bunch of not-so-great choices. And sometimes that's what we have to accept and live with. When this happens, try not to be too hard on yourself. Remember that this situation is often the result of the restrictions put on us by others. People with more money and power than us (our government, industry, manufacturers, society) play a large role in what is available to us, and sometimes you can't escape their influence. 

So how can you make more fact-based decisions and fewer ones based on emotions? Here are the methods I use.

1. Go slowly. Don't try to research every single item or subject at once. Start with one thing at a time, and build confidence in an area that helps springboard you into learning more in other areas.
2. I said it already, but be forgiving to yourself if the facts show that there are no perfect options.
3. Do nothing. If you're not sure, feeling overwhelmed, or feel like you need more information, then don't take action. Put the decision aside for another time.
4. Ask for feedback from others. If you have access to other people who care about eco-minimalism, see what their perspective is. Of course, you should still think for yourself and fact-check where possible. But collaboration with like-minded individuals can help inspire new ideas.
5. Use a purchase pause. Wait a day, week, month, or longer, and then revisit whether you really need this item.
6. Write a pros and cons list. I know this is sort of old-school, but I love listing all the facts. It also gives you a record you can refer back to if you start wavering toward making an emotional decision.
7. Find reliable resources for your fact-gathering. Any info provided with authority (i.e. stated as a fact or statistic) should be back with references, and those references should also have a factual basis.
8. Keep in mind that research continues, and therefore what is "fact" sometimes changes. Something you learned 10 years ago may no longer be accurate today. Refresh your information periodically to make certain you are still making the most factual choices.