Embrace Slow Living and Live More Sustainably
The slow living movement has been gaining traction in the last few years. What started in the 1980s as a fight against fast food to conserve traditional cooking values in Italy, known as the slow food movement, has now spread out to all areas of life.
Slow living takes a holistic approach as a movement that promotes well-being for each and everyone of us - including the environment we live in.
This is not the first thing people think about when they hear “slow-living”, but by incorporating slow living in your own life, you’re naturally going to be more sustainable. This article explains how it happens.
The Slow Living Concept
Slow living and sustainable living means not only taking good care of our body but also of our extended body - the planet.
Slowing down is a challenging idea for most of us. What will happen when we slow down? We might fear we won’t get things done, we’ll miss out and stay behind in all areas of our life. We imagine we won’t be as productive at work, or keep our active lifestyle.
These beliefs are completely wrong — quite the opposite is true! When we’re busy, time passes more quickly; we have less time for ourselves and our loved ones and make automatic choices without much reflection.
Quality over Quantity
You’ll find that a simple, fulfilling life is much better than a busy life.
The idea of slow living isn’t to do everything at a slower pace. It’s taking a step out of the fast-paced modern life and spending most of our time working on things that actually matter to us (including the global us).
When you slow down, you engage more deeply with whatever it is you’re doing. It can actually make you more productive, creative and accomplish more of the things you want — while being happier.
Slow Living is Sustainable Living
When we slow down, we become more strongly connected to the Earth.
Slow-living is low-impact living. It’s not only about ourselves, but the way we connect with others and with nature. It’s looking after the environment and living in a natural, organic way.
When you remove yourself from the quickened pace of daily life, you start making more conscious decisions, like buying ethical fashion.
You have more time to live with intent. You start planning ahead and you’re able to consume in a more sustainable way. A slow life helps us recognise our role as a member of the Earth’s biodiversity and take a nourishing, rather than an extractive approach.
Live Slow, Live Mindfully
Life at a slower pace helps us to become more aware of what we eat, wear and use in our everyday life.
By living slowly, we become more conscious of the real impact we are having on the planet - the waste we produce, the environmental cost of the clothes we wear, the impact that the products we use in our kitchen and bathroom have.
At Velvety, for example, we only work with brands that are ethical, sustainable and source mainly biodegradable and organic materials. We endorse upcycled fashion and recycled fabrics, because we know we need to take care of the planet (urgently).
As we become aware of the environmental cost of our daily living, and begin to look for better, eco-friendly alternatives, we naturally start moving towards a more conscious and sustainable life. Our choices slow down and we start calculating not only the monetary but also the environmental cost before buying or using anything.
Slow Living & Slow Fashion
Slow fashion is a slow living alternative to the fashion industry.
Slow fashion is, of course, embodied in the slow living movement as it rejects the fast, unethical manufacturing of clothes that are harmful for humans, animals and the environment.
By rejecting the constant consumption normalised by the fast fashion industry, slow fashion promotes awareness of the impact of the clothes we buy; it promotes transparency, traceability and sustainability.
At Velvety, we focus on ethical clothing in Australia and only sell ethical brands that care about the animals, people and the planet.
Are You Going to Be the Change?
To finish this post, we invite you to stop for a minute and reflect: what is really important to you in life? What do you want to prioritise spending time on? How could you have a more sustainable life for you and the Earth? Let us know in the comments below!
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