Biofeelia lifestyle choices – for your health and the planet’s. Choices to create more health with less impact
Particularly good for you
Food
- Eat organic produce
- Limit processed or canned foods, cereals, snacks, soft drinks etc.
- Have a balanced whole foods diet with a vegetable base. Eat like an Okinawan, the elders (representing the true Okinawan lifestyle) live up to 120 years of age and eat mostly vegetables as a base to their diet followed by fruits, grains, nuts, tofu, fish, chicken and have very little meat, sweets and alcohol.
- Eat a little less than you think you need – studies reveal ‘calorie reduction’ has been shown to extend lifespan.
Feelings
- Experience some ‘Biophilia’ (well-being through our connection with nature) each day through a walk in the outdoors or any sport or activity involving nature (surfing, tramping, fishing, gardening).
- Be still in nature, sit on a beach, or mountain top and simply enjoy.
- Get a little sun each day- a dose of Vitamin D helps tremendously to improve mind and body.
- Create a ‘Positive Transmission’ each day – do or say something particularly encouraging or nice to/ for another.
- Harbour positive emotions- monitor your thoughts, dwell on the positive and release the negative.
- Incorporate positive visualisation and affirmations into your daily life- uplifting sayings and thoughts that you can use to empower yourself.
- Make sure to spend time with the people you love and value in your life -build a bank of fond memories.
- Choose to laugh, share a joke, watch a comedy and in general, see the funny side of life.
- Ask yourself each night what 3 things made you feel good that day and why.
Exercise
- Get involved in a longevity sport or a practise that incorporates stretching such as Yoga or the Martial Arts – being flexible keeps you participating in life.
- Participate in life – make an effort to play with the kids, be active with the house work, take the stairs, take up a sports challenge. By participating you say “Yes!” to life and maintain your youth and vitality.
Particularly helpful for the planet
Food choices
- Grow food from home if you have a garden (refer to vertical farming for smaller areas).
- Compost at home if possible and create a worm farm for food waste.
- Cut back on meat consumption and eat more plant based proteins: tofu, brown rice, quinoa, chick peas, lentils.
- Only purchase species of fish known as being from certified and sustainable fish stocks (add info here).
- Buy in season fruit and vegetables.
- Buy organic produce.
- Buy low water, high yield food crops.
- Be GE free.
Your home & work place
- When building, eco-design your house/building
- Turn off lights and appliances when not in use
- Install energy efficient light bulbs
- Buy high efficiency appliances
- Get thermal backed curtains for extra insulation
- Install a convection heating system, or secondly use heat pumps before other heating methods
- Wire your house/office with a ‘kill switch’ (switch which turns everything off except necessities e.g. alarm, upon leaving) install by front door.
- Create a green roof (water catchment and solar panels) or a roof garden to bring flora & fauna into the city.
- Install water catchment and invest in a water filter to utilise for drinking if necessary.
- Install solar heating (heats water) and photovoltaic’s (generates electricity from sun)
- Find a renewable energy company for the extra electricity you may need.
- Plant trees where possible.
- Think twice about watering the garden and water in the evening for less evaporation (plants that have to fight for water drive their roots deep)
- Use mild eco friendly detergents for all washing to protect our water ways.
- Shower instead of bathing and install an efficient shower head.
- Have low flush toilets
- Line dry washing
- Recycle well.
Getting around
- Walk
- Get a bicycle
- Live closer to work
- Take public transport such as buses or trains
- Car pool
- Buy a Hybrid vehicle or a low CC vehicle (many now are very safe for their size)
- Tune your vehicle and drive more smoothly.
- Fit eco tires to your car
- Reduce air travel; holiday locally, or for overseas holidays, holiday for longer periods but less often.
Consuming
- Think twice about any purchase (look in the garage and cardboards first for perspective)
- Buy Biospherically Correct products – see Vision Products
- Choose products with minimal packaging
- Buy locally made products where possible.
- Buy natural, organic wild harvested skin and hair care.
- Buy high yield, low water use natural fibre apparel- such as bamboo based apparel
- Buy clothes that you feel will last for many years- style and colour wise
- Donate unwanted clothes to others, or the community collections.
- Use a reusable bag for shopping
General
- Personal – RRR (reduce, reuse and recycle)
- Use both sides of any paper for writing, photocopying etc.
- Read the news electronically.
- Make sure all E waste (computers, T.V.’s, devises etc) goes to a local recycler
