10 fun ways to live more sustainably

Who says living sustainably has to be taken with a straight face and involve cutting things out of your life? It's about thinking outside the square and having fun with the changes you make. Here are ten fun ways to use less of the world's resources without feeling like you are shortchanging yourself. What else can you add?

1. Go scwhopping, not shopping. The girls of The Big Schwop organise mass schwops in New Zealand. You bring good condition clothes you don't wear, and you can take home something else you love in exchange. To make this good thing even better, you can have a glass of vino while you schwop. There's one on at Auckland's Langham Hotel this weekend, and registrations are still open. Or, you could organise your own on a smaller scale with a group of friends.
2. Don't give birthday cards. What do people do with them afterwards? I don't know, because I'm never sure what to do with mine once the novelty of displaying them on my desk wears off. They are a waste of trees, and nowhere near as nice as a big hug and a face to face birthday message. Can't see the birthday boy/girl face to face? Call them, email them, Facebook message them, or send them an e-card. Electronic messages are easier to keep too, because they don't take up physical space. The no-birthday card policy is a great excuse if you forgot someone's birthday too: "Forget? No I didn't forget! I didn't send a card because I was waiting to give you this great big hug instead."
3. Switch to loose leaf tea. Besides being all the rage right now, drinking loose leaf tea uses less resources than tea made from tea bags. No bag means less resources used in production. Once you're done with the leaves you can put them straight in the compost.
4. Wear a g-string instead of briefs. To add to the numerous other advantages of g-strings over briefs,  they are also better for the environment because they use up less fabric... hehehe
5. Eat at the restaurant rather than take away. Takeaways are usually excessively packaged, with each thing in its own container, then the whole lot in a bag, with some single use chopsticks or plastic cutlery to top it off. As well as saving resources, eating in is so much more fun than taking it home to eat in front of the TV. Enjoy the chance to really catch up with whoever you are with, or if you are alone, spend some time with your thoughts.
6. Buy a beautiful refillable pen. The amount you invest in a beautiful refillable pen is probably not much more (or maybe even less) than the amount you would spend on "throwaway" Bics over the rest of your years. Think about how much nicer it would be to use a beautiful ink pen every time you write than some temperamental ballpoint. The challenge is to make sure you don't lose it!   
7. Get an Ecotanka. These beautifully crafted stainless steel bottles will last forever, so you can ditch plastic bottles for good. They keep water cool and don't make it taste funny.
8. Go vigilante on your housemates' wasteful habits. Got a flatmate who washes in hot water, uses the dryer when the sun's out and leaves lights on when he/she leaves the house? Tried suggesting that they shouldn't do these things but they just don't care? It's time for vigilante action. Once they've put the washing on, sneak in and turn it down to cold. Dial down the time they've set the dryer to go for. Sneak into their room and turn the lights off. Experience the buzz of being a clandestine eco-warrior!
9. Don't throw away cardboard boxes. Learn to make awesome things from them instead!
10. Spend a Saturday morning trawling local garage sales. Trademe may be a more direct way to find exactly what you are after, but there's just something about looking through other people's stuff. I find it fascinating. And you might find something amazing and out of the ordinary, at a bargain price. Only do this if you actually need stuff though - buying crap that you don't need is still not a good thing even if it's second hand crap.

Do you have other fun ways of living more sustainably? I'd love to hear them - add a comment below.