Sustainable Living With FIRE (No Mom Required)

Sustainability. It is what the world needs to live in till the future. It helps us in focusing on the present without compromising on the future. While, for some people, it might not be as important to be sustainable, for others their life might depend on it.

Climate change, sustainability, and global warming are all terms we have been hearing recently. Climate Change has already started affecting the weather and leading to abnormal weather patterns. Global warming denotes the heating up of the planet, which is leading to climate change.

Countering all these issues is necessary for the betterment of the world. To counter these issues, the term sustainability has come up. Through sustainability, one can use their resources only for their needs and not compromise on the future generations’ requirements.

Incorporating sustainability in your life is an essential part nowadays. It is a great idea to try to incorporate sustainability in your FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) journey.

How Can I Make My FIRE Journey Sustainable?

Now that you have figured out what sustainability is, you would be wondering, that sounds good, how do I do it? To get started on incorporating sustainability in the FIRE movement, you should first start with incorporating sustainability in your life. Achieving so could be done with some lifestyle changes.

• The Three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. These three words have been ingrained in our minds in recent times. And not for a bad reason. These 3 R’s are a very important part of sustainability as reducing items by buying less will cost fewer resources, reusing items will save resources by not buying new ones, and recycling will help through using already used resources.
• Conserve Electricity: There has been a recent trend in buying electrical items which are more conservative. More conservative items will utilize the energy provided to them more efficiently, leading to less energy consumption. However, they cannot be perfect at saving energy, for that, you have to step in and turn the product off when not in use to save energy.
• Sustainable Means of Transport: Using a car is the norm in the United States due to the lack of public transport. However, if it is available to you, try to use that instead of your car. It would also maybe help reduce travel times, as more people using cars would mean more traffic. It is a great way to be sustainable.
• Sustainable Eating: Going out for a steak with your family occasionally should be fine, but going out every day might be bad for you and the environment. The meat industry has a huge impact on the environment and produces tons of gasses which make the globe warmer. Reducing it is one of the best courses of action you can take, and so is reducing the food you waste. Be sure to only make as much food as you are going to eat, as sustainable eating is a huge win for the environment.

• Getting Educated and Involved: A great thing you can do is be part of the community which is hellbent on making a change. These communities try hard to make changes. While incorporating sustainable lifestyle changes is a great change, it is only going to be enough if we can stop huge environment-harming corporations from changing their ways as well. Supporting local communities fighting against these bad practices is a good start.

These are just some changes you can make to your daily lifestyle to give your life a bit of the sustainability spice.

FIRE and Sustainability

FIRE and Sustainability go hand in hand. A lot of what sustainability is advocating for is a lot of which you will encounter and do in your FIRE journey. Both FIRE and sustainability advocate for living below your means. Through living a FIRE lifestyle, one can also be living a more sustainable lifestyle. To begin your journey of combining the two, you can get started on with some of the following points.

• Reducing Consumption: In FIRE, you have to live a thrifty lifestyle so that you can live a stable lifestyle in retirement. Well, the same could be said with sustainability. Reducing consumption leads to a sustainable lifestyle as a more luxurious lifestyle will lead to more harm to the environment due to more resources being used, which honestly might not be needed. Living a thrifty lifestyle helps both, so why not cut down on your not necessary expenses?
• Minimalist Living: Lean FIRE, also known as the minimalist way towards financial independence, is a popular way of FIRE. It helps by focusing on what is important and what is needed instead of a more luxurious lifestyle. Minimalism is also a great way towards sustainability, as reducing your wants might help in reducing resources used.
• Traveling on a Budget: Travelling is fun and why shouldn’t it be, you get to explore the world and discover new places. However, airplanes are known to have a huge amount of gas emissions, and renting a car at the place you are traveling might also increase air pollution. So what can you do? Well for starters, while you are traveling look for alternate options that are more sustainable such as trains or buses. These methods are cheaper as well as better for the environment. Try to make sure where you stay is also eco-friendly.
• Sustainable Income Streams: If you plan to make more money using side hustles, try incorporating sustainability into them. While creating a new business, you can incorporate environmentally friendly values to it to reduce its negative impact on the globe.
• Sustainable Retirement: Sustainable retirement is a great way to retire, as it ensures that you leave resources for the upcoming generations as well. While it might not sound great to some FIRE users who have been aiming for a more comfortable lifestyle after the thrifty lifestyle, it is a great way to keep being sustainable after retiring. You can also actually live a comfortable life using sustainable means as well, and it will also ensure that you have enough money for the rest of your retirement, so it is a win for both the environment and you.

Conclusion

FIRE and Sustainability are more related than people would like to think. FIRE encourages for a more sustainable lifestyle as it is key to financial independence. By making your goals more sustainable, you can also help future generations have the resources you do and keep on improving the world. Here is to change!