The Challenge: 7 Days of Minimal-ish

Minimal-ish is proposing a challenge this week in hopes of helping our audience live a more minimal lifestyle. Each day will have a specific focus to promote sustainability through minimalism! Hopefully this 7 day challenge will inspire you to extend these sustainable practices into your everyday life (not just this upcoming week!!) Here's a glance at the challenge:

Day One: Meatless Monday

I'm a meat eater myself but know many people who have opted for veganism and vegetarianism, a diet I am leaning closer to these days. It's well known that the animals we get our meat from are treated horribly. The meat industry is one of the most unsustainable and cruel practices in the world- using mass amounts of water to create the smallest meat dishes such as a single burger. This Monday let's scratch meat from our meals. You'll be saving animals lives, lessening environment pollution, and to be honest, you'll probably have a little more energy too without all that greasy meat weighing you down.

Day Two: Take a Walk Tuesday

We'd like to focus on transportation for this Tuesday. While using a car or other forms of public transportation might be essential to get to your job or take your kids to school (we understand these obligations,) however, we would like those who have the option to walk to take advantage of that! Most people seem to live busy lives and bounce from one place to the next throughout a single day, but we urge you to walk or bike on Tuesday in order to avoid unsustainable transportation options such as driving. It'll keep the air a tad cleaner:)

Day Three: Waste Less Wednesday

For Wednesday we'd like you to think about the amount of trash you create in a single day. Try eliminating all plastic and other forms of waste that you have the option to avoid. Yes, we know that most waste isn't created with bad intentions. But let's focus more on making this day as wasteless as possible: use cloth towels instead of paper towels, use tupperware instead of aluminum or saran wrap etc. What helps for me is imagining if I were forced to keep all of the trash I accumulate in a day in my purse. No one likes carrying heavy bags so the goal is to keep your own bag as light as possible. Waste LESS!

Day Four: Thankful Thursday

We'd like to dedicate this Thursday to reflection. What minimalistic and sustainable practices have been easiest for you? What has been the hardest? This will help you to tweak your habits and adjust your lifestyle in order to make a larger positive impact on the environment. Being honest with yourself is key: be up front about your weakness and setbacks, because the more you realize what you're doing wrong, the more you can focus on doing right.

Day Five: Fabric Friday

This day is dedicated to the closet. Narrow in on the pieces of clothing you wear the most often- we all have staple pieces we cling to throughout the week. Which clothes haven't you worn in months? Start getting rid of clothes that you are attached to for no reason. Remember, it's just stuff. You can sell the clothes you don't wear for a little extra cash, or donate it for those who might need it more than you do. I'm embarrassed but proud to admit I got rid of 10 bags of shoes & clothes four months ago. If I can do it, you can too.

Day Six: Sunlight Saturday

This one is about turning those dang lights off!! Are you guilty of having lights on in your house when you can see perfectly fine with natural light from the windows? Do you keep lights on outside of the room you're in? We've all been guilty of this, but on Saturday, try to be a little less guilty. Luckily i have large windows in my home so I can get by without lights for most of the day, but I still try to be responsible with my light use. If you have minimal windows in your home, I understand:) But the point is, keep the lights off as much as possible today.

Day Seven: Savings Sunday

Personally, this day will be the hardest for me because it has the most long term effects. This day we are dedicating to rebudgeting your lifestyle to advocate for more sustainable practices. Perhaps buying a buss pass or bike so you don't have to drive as much. Buying tupperwear so you can use less plastic/cardboard packaging for food. Selling clothing. Buying eco-friendly cleaning supplies. These are all factors to consider when creating a personal budget. By re-evaluating how you spend your money, you can begin to incorporate your responsibilities of caring for the environment into your personal lifestyle practices.

Happy sustaining & have a great minimal-ish week!