Tips for living and working more sustainably

By: Amanda Phagan, Edited by: Joey Morris

Published: May 9, 2025

As residents of planet Earth, we all play a role in mitigating human-induced climate change. While governments and corporations hold significant decision-making power, we can make small changes in our personal and professional lives to prioritize sustainable practices.

Explore how to live and work more sustainably, and discover additional learning opportunities in our guide.

Easy ways to live more sustainably

Turning the tide on harmful habits begins at home. While world leaders, governing bodies, and corporations play a significant role in shaping sustainability outcomes, everyone can make an impact — even from the comfort of their couch! You can reduce your damage to the planet by incorporating the following habits into your personal life:

Reduce — and properly manage — your waste

"Waste" is anything you throw away. This includes food waste, trash, and other discarded items like clothing, furniture, and building materials. Unfortunately, most of what we discard ends up in landfills — large, manmade sites where waste is dumped into the ground and covered with soil.

While landfills improve community sanitation, they also release potent greenhouse gases (which accelerate global warming), destroy natural habitats, and contaminate water sources. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 146,120,000 tons of waste entered landfills in 2018, compared to 82,510,000 tons in 1960.

You can reduce the environmental burden of your waste by:

• Using clothing and household items for as long as you can.
• Preparing the exact amount of food you intend to consume.
• Composting your organic waste (food scraps and paper products).
• Participating in a recycling program for materials such as plastic, glass, and paper products.
• Disposing of materials like medications, electronics, and building materials through the proper means (i.e., contact your local waste management center for information on where to direct waste that is unsuitable for landfills).

Avoid single-use plastics

Single-use plastics include plastic straws, cups, cutlery, water bottles, and grocery bags. While these items are marketed as "disposable," they often cause more harm than good.

Rich Razgaitis, the CEO of water dispenser company FloWater, says: We need a full-blown revolution against single-use plastics. Not just straws, but the entire bottled water industry and single-use plastics, which don't biodegrade — but photodegrade and end up in minuscule pieces that destroy our environment and bodies.

In fact, according to a 2025 study published in the journal Nature Medicine, the concentration of microplastics in our brains rose by about 50% between 2016 and 2024.

The tiny plastic shards primarily contain polyethylene, a polymer commonly found in single-use plastics. These microplastic and nanoplastic (MNP) particulates have been linked to increased risk of inflammation, cardiovascular events, and dementia.

While it can be hard to avoid single-use plastics entirely, you can reduce your reliance on them by:

• Limiting your consumption of take-out food and beverages.
• Drinking and eating out of metal, ceramic, and glass containers.
• Bringing reusable bags to the grocery store.
• Using metal or compostable cutlery instead of plastic whenever possible.
• Purchasing products that use sustainable — and, when possible, non-plastic — packaging materials.

Conserve energy

Conserving energy means reducing your reliance on electricity. While we need electricity to perform many essential tasks, we can cut back on our usage and, when possible, switch to cleaner energy sources.

According to the EPA, most U.S. electricity comes from natural gas, coal, and nuclear power. Natural gas and coal are especially damaging to the environment; they emit greenhouse gases and other pollutants, which can contaminate air and water. Drilling for natural gas also destroys fragile ecosystems.

Razgaitis lists energy systems as one of the ways we can make a difference in the fight against global warming. He states that policy and regulatory modifications, private sector innovation, and public awareness to drive change are key elements of incorporating renewable energy systems. In your home, however, you can make a difference by:

• Unplugging electronics that aren't currently in use.
• Turning off lights when you aren't using them.
• Choosing energy-efficient appliance models.
• Incorporating solar or wind energy when possible.

Easy ways to work more sustainably

According to the 2024 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals Report, global average temperatures soared to 1.45℃ above pre-industrial levels in 2023, making it the hottest year ever recorded.

Corporations — especially major manufacturers — play a significant role in determining the direction of sustainable development. Fortunately, we can make some sustainable choices at work to reduce our carbon footprint and encourage others to do the same.

Push for sustainable procurement

Razgaitis says employees should push for sustainable procurement and challenge [their] organization to measure and reduce its carbon and water footprint. Individual actions matter, but they scale exponentially when embedded in company policy, culture, and customer experience.

Sustainable procurement encompasses supply chain ethics, "green" facilities, and trustworthy corporate governance.

Work remotely

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers have realized that their workforce can get as much — if not more — done working remotely than in a physical office. If you can work remotely, even for part of the week, you can significantly reduce your (and your organization's) carbon footprint — especially if you usually commute via car or bus.

According to a 2023 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), remote workers can reduce their carbon footprint by up to 54% compared to onsite workers — especially if they take other measures at home to reduce their emissions.

Start or join an affinity group

Joining a social group of like-minded employees is one way to focus on sustainability at work and motivate others to do the same. According to a study published in the 2014 edition of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, being part of a team dramatically increases people's motivation to complete difficult tasks.

If your organization doesn't already have a sustainability affinity group, start one! You may need to gauge interest and/or contact your human resources team.

Benefits of sustainable habits

You can help change the world by incorporating sustainable practices into your life. Just a few of the benefits of practicing sustainability may include:

• Cleaner air, water, and soil
• Fewer greenhouse gases
• Less time stuck in traffic
• Fewer microplastics in your body (and the environment)
• Tax write-offs (for electric vehicles and solar panels)
• Increased morale at work and home
• Fewer extreme weather conditions
• Preserved biodiversity
• Less waste in your trashcan (and local landfill)
• Get closer to meeting the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals

Learn more about sustainable living and working

Whether you're interested in starting your own sustainable business, creating change from within an organization, or practicing eco-friendly habits at home, an edX course or program can help you learn the skills you need to succeed. Browse our available programs to get started.