Sustainable living sounds great — but where do you even start? For many of us, the desire to live more eco-consciously is there, but the process can feel overwhelming or expensive.
The good news? You don’t have to make drastic changes to make a real difference. Small, consistent steps — especially around how you shop, live, and furnish your space — can add up to major impact.
At CORT Furniture Outlet, we believe living sustainably should be simple, affordable, and accessible. Whether cutting back on waste, changing how you shop, or rethinking your furniture, we’re here to help you turn Earth Day inspiration into everyday action.
To kick things off, here are 10 practical and achievable Earth day resolutions to help you live more sustainably this Earth Day — and all year long.
1. Find Alternatives to Single-Use Plastics
Almost all of us contribute to the single-use plastics problem. Plastic packaging, water bottles, straws, and iced coffee cups are all items we use regularly. In fact, Americans buy about 50 billion water bottles per year. That comes out to an average of 13 bottles per person per month. That’s a lot of plastic that can end up in the natural environment or landfills — where it will take anywhere from 20 to 500 years to degrade completely.
Your first step in living a more sustainable lifestyle should be to reduce your use of single-use plastics. Using that water bottle example, switching to a reusable bottle could save an average of 156 plastic bottles a year. Not only does reducing single-use plastic help save valuable resources and reduce harmful pollution, but it also plays an important role in protecting precious ecosystems, reducing water pollution, fighting landfill waste, and more.
Here are a few easy ways you can reduce single-use plastics in your daily life:
- Use reusable containers for leftovers and to-go plates
- Carry a reusable cup with straw or water bottle for drinks on the go
- Bring reusable bags on shopping trips (Tip: Keep some in your car at all times so you always have one on hand in case of impromptu stops.)
- Purchase a water filter for your tap for cheaper, healthier water and reduced plastic use
- Recycle single-use plastics in your home and replace them with reusable household items like glass containers, bamboo and metal cutlery, stainless steel options, etc
- Commit to refusing unnecessary disposable items like plastic straws when dining out
2. Start a Home Garden
Gardens, big and small, can benefit the environment — and your budget — in many ways. An at-home garden can help you reduce food transportation costs, emissions, and water runoff. Additionally, growing your own fruit, vegetables, and herbs can save you hundreds of dollars annually.
Whether you live in a small apartment or have gardening space in your backyard, you have a few options for crafting your own sustainable oasis. Here are some quick tips for how to start a garden from scratch:
- Pick the Right Location: Look for a spot that gets at least 6 to 8 hours of daily sunlight. If space is limited, consider raised beds or vertical gardening.
- Prepare the Soil: Test your soil’s pH and nutrient levels with a home soil test kit. Use compost (our next eco-friendly resolution!) or organic matter for better fertility.
- Select the Right Plants: Start with beginner-friendly plants like lettuce, radishes, and herbs, and use the USDA Plant Hardiness Map to determine which plants are best for your region.
- Plan Your Layout: Arrange plants based on sunlight needs and spacing. Be sure to leave enough room for growth and airflow.
- Water and Mulch: Water your plants often while being careful not to overwater, and apply mulch to retain moisture.
- Maintain and Protect Your Garden: Weed regularly, watch for pests, and harvest regularly to encourgae continued growth.
Want to take things further? Consider joining a community garden project. If your neighborhood doesn’t have one, start one of your own!
3. Start Composting
If you’re interested in starting a garden, composting might also be beneficial. Composting, or the recycling of food and waste, provides a long list of environmental benefits, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating the impact of droughts, reducing erosion, improving soil health, recycling nutrients, and more.
Here are a few items you could add to your compost bin (with or without a garden):
- Fruit and vegetable scraps
- Coffee grounds
- Clean cardboard
- Eggshells
- Grass and plant clippings
- Dry leaves
- Shredded newspaper
Need a little help kicking off your compost journey? Plenty of valuable online resources can help you get started. Consider checking out this Composting 101 guide by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
4. Say No to Fast Fashion
Updating your wardrobe can be fun, and all those clothing haul TikToks can have you itching for an online shopping spree. However, these videos and microtrends encourage overconsumption, which can harm the environment.
Earthday.org states, “The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer industry of water, requiring about 700 gallons to produce one cotton shirt and 2,000 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans.” Multiply those gallons times however many shirts and jeans you bought on your last spree. How much water went into making that haul possible — and is it worth it for how many times you actually end up wearing each clothing item?
Fast fashion brands contribute to substantial amounts of carbon emissions, landfill waste, health concerns at every eco-level, and water, soil, and air pollution. It takes a lot to produce each item, ship it across the ocean, and deliver it to our doors. And once we no longer want an item, it likely ends up in a landfill.
When stocking your closet, consider how impulse clothing purchases and overconsumption can impact the environment. If you want to make your transition out of fast fashion simpler, here are some tips to get started.
Purchase Sustainable Clothing
Sustainable fashion companies, or ecologically and socially responsible clothing brands, offer a fantastic way to stock your closet while also keeping the environment in mind. Sustainable clothing chains often source, produce, distribute, and market their products in a way that’s less taxing on the environment. Plus, they tend to last longer too. Do your research to find sustainable brands before stopping by a store or clicking “add to cart.”
Shop Secondhand
Sustainable fashion brands tend to have a higher price tag, but the higher quality can be worth it. If you’re on a tighter budget, you still have options. Second-hand stores and apps like Poshmark, Depop, and even Facebook Marketplace are immensely popular. Choosing used and second-hand items is a great way to shop more sustainably.
Shop Less Often
Fast fashion can pressure you to stay updated with the latest trends and always have a new wardrobe. But those new shorts you purchased last summer are probably just as good for this year, and that concert fit you bought can be repurposed for everyday wear. If we all shop a little less frequently, it can help reduce clothing demand and landfill contributions.
Challenge yourself not to purchase unnecessary new clothes, accessories, and shoes for as long as possible. Here are some tips that can help you change your shopping habits:
- Start with a 30-day no-buy challenge and gradually extend it.
- Unsubscribe from emails and unfollow fashion brands that tempt you to shop.
- Use a “waitlist rule.” If you want something new, wait 30 days before buying to make sure you actually need or want it.
- Experiment with new outfit combos to use what you already own in different ways.
- Borrow from friends if you need a specific accessory or clothing item short term.
When you need to shop for new clothes, opt for longer-lasting clothes or secondhand, upcycled, and recycled options. You might even consider rental options for special occasion attire like wedding guest dresses or suits.
5. Rethink the Way You Furnish
Much like fast fashion, fast furniture can be produced quickly, cheaply, and in a wide variety of styles. However, the fast-furniture trend can have many of the same negative environmental effects as cheap clothes on demand.
Depending on design, build quality, and construction, fast furniture might not last long. Unfortunately, that can come at a cost to the planet — especially when these items wear out or go out of style and end up in landfills.
But that doesn’t mean sustainable furniture has to be expensive. Sustainability is all about choosing what will last you in the long term and be used and loved for years to come. That’s where CORT Furniture Outlet comes in.
Our gently used furniture is part of a circular model that prioritizes reuse and refurbishment. In fact:
- Over 95% of CORT’s furniture stays out of landfills
- Each piece is rented 2–6 times over 3–4 years before being resold
- Our process saves an estimated 368,862 tons of CO₂ annually
- Every item is cleaned and inspected through our CORT Clean Certified™ process for quality and safety
Here are a few ways to avoid fast furniture and furnish smarter:
Shop second-hand or outlet furniture from trusted brands
Choose furniture made from recycled or sustainable materials
Rent instead of buying for short-term or transitional living situations
Extend the life of your current furniture with care, repairs, or reupholstering
With CORT Furniture Outlet, you can furnish your space with confidence — knowing your choices support both your lifestyle and the planet.
Additionally, purchasing second-hand items or those made from quality materials can aid in reducing your overall carbon footprint. If you’re ready to opt out of fast furniture, here are a few ways you can make more sustainable furniture choices:
- Shop second-hand or quality, gently-used items from brands like CORT Furniture Outlet
- Choose furniture designed with recycled materials
- Select pieces made from sustainable materials for longevity
- Take special care of the furniture you currently have to extend the lifespan of the product
- Support furniture brands that support “green” initiatives (e.g., tree planting)
- Rent furniture as opposed to purchasing cheaper items in temporary situations
- Shop from local furniture brands to help reduce carbon emissions
- Consider mending, repairing, and reupholstering furniture items rather than replacing them completely
6. Shop Locally
Food that has to be transported over longer distances can be more harmful to the environment than one might think. Imagine all the carbon emissions, air miles, and fossil fuels used when producing, processing, packaging, flying, driving, and shipping meat and produce from other countries and regions. Additionally, imported foods are often packaged in plastic to protect them from damage during travel, whereas at local farmer’s markets, foods often come free of these unnecessary wrappings.
Make it your personal goal to reduce your carbon footprint this Earth Day by shopping locally where possible instead of buying imported food. Not only will you enjoy the freshest, seasonal ingredients, but buying locally helps to support your community and its workers, benefitting the environment and your local economy.
7. Limit your food waste
Over 92 billion pounds of food is wasted in America each year. That equates to 145 billion meals that can feed those in need and about 38% of all food in the U.S. Plus, when food is left to spoil in landfills, excess methane gases are released, trapping heat in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.
This Earth Day, eliminate unnecessary food waste whenever possible. Only buy what you can consume and take away only what you’re sure you can finish to help lower carbon emissions and significantly reduce food waste in your household.
Here are some additional tips for fighting food waste at home:
- Think once, then twice, before throwing food away
- Ensure that you’re storing food correctly
- Freeze food that you may not get to immediately
- Commit to eating leftovers before buying new items
- Make a shopping list and eat before grocery shopping to avoid buying too
- Meal prep to ensure food doesn’t spoil before you’re able to cook it
- Learn to can, pickle, or freeze foods
- Donate leftover goods to your local food bank
8. Be Mindful of Your Water Consumption
The overconsumption of water has had a substantial impact on the environment for a very long time. With water demand and usage at an all-time high, water shortages and droughts are rampant worldwide.
Water is finite, meaning we don’t have unlimited access to clean drinking water. If the Earth’s water resources aren’t appropriately managed, more shortages can occur in the near future, affecting future generations. Reducing how much water you use can significantly impact the environment.
To reduce your water consumption, try implementing a few of these tips:
- Turn off the water while shaving, flossing, and brushing your teeth (You can save 8 gallons of water per day while brushing your teeth and 10 gallons of water per shave, according to the EPA.)
- Purchase eco-friendly appliances
- Opt for shorter showers over tub-filled baths
- Don’t allow water to run when hand-washing dishes
- Inspect your home for water leaks
- Install a low-flow showerhead
- Limit your water use by washing larger loads when doing laundry
9. Invite Friends Over for Earth Day Crafts
While a crafting day isn’t necessarily a resolution, you can create some Earth Day projects that will help you practice sustainability all year round. Here are some great crafts to consider:
- Upcycled T-Shirt Tote Bags: Instead of tossing old t-shirts, turn them into reusable tote bags perfect for your next grocery run.
- Make Seed Paper: DIY plantable paper for greeting cards and gifts using scrap paper and herb or wildflower seeds. (This is also a great way to learn how to recycle paper at home!)
- Tin Can Planters: Turn old food cans into cute plant pots.
- Plastic Bottle Bird Feeders: Keep that plastic bottle out of the landfill by making it into a bird feeder that also supports local wildlife.
- Recycled Magazine Coasters: Repurpose old magazines into sustainable home decor using some glue and Mod Podge.
10. Consider Other Sustainable Living Resolutions
Feel like there are more resolutions you can commit to this Earth Day? Get ready to do your part in taking care of the planet by implementing a few of these ideas into your daily life.
- Walk or bike whenever possible
- Mend and repair clothing instead of throwing them away
- Repair or get secondhand electronics before purchasing new ones
- Make cleaning more sustainable by DIYing your home cleaning products
- Keep lights off during the day, and enjoy natural sunlight instead
- Turn off and unplug electronics when they’re not in use
- Have bills and other mail sent electronically whenever possible
- Stop your junk mail delivery
- Opt for text or email receipts when shopping
- Replace shopping with other activities
- Share your sustainable lifestyle with others to encourage change
Celebrate Earth Day with CORT Furniture Outlet
Looking for a meaningful way to make an impact this Earth Day? Start with your furniture choices. At CORT Furniture Outlet, sustainability isn’t just a trend — it’s built into everything we do.
Our gently used, high-quality furniture is designed with above-average industry standards and built to last, reducing the waste cycle caused by fast furniture. Every item in our outlet has already lived multiple lives through CORT Furniture Rental. Instead of being discarded, it gets a new lease on life — helping to keep furniture out of landfills while reducing carbon emissions. In fact, CORT’s circular business model saves 368,862 tons of CO₂ annually, making it one of the most sustainable choices for furnishing your home.
By shopping at CORT Furniture Outlet, you’re not just getting designer-quality furniture at budget prices — you’re making an eco-friendly choice that reduces waste, lowers emissions, and supports your local community.
