Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 265

12 Month Sustainability Action Plan

It is sometimes difficult for me to believe that I have been living at the cabin for 30 years. I often reflect on how I went about building this isolated homestead, how much work it was and just how long it took. But I also commonly think about what I would change if I had it to do over again.

Most people would look at what I’ve done and think that such a lifestyle is completely out of their reach. However, it is easier than you think. A lot has changed since I first moved there. Technology has improved and so has our knowledge about how best to live sustainably.

If you do not believe that this is something you can do, then join me for #265 The 12 Month Sustainable Living Action Plan.

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E265 the 12 Month Sustainable Living Action Plan.

What I want to demonstrate in this episode is a solid plan of how each of us can transform our lives into something that is dramatically more sustainable in a matter of 12 months. As you will see, I am going to give you a step-by-step action plan to make that transformation. But before we get to that, let’s talk about the good news story of the week.

Good News Story of the Week

This week’s good news story focuses around yet another large environmental restoration project that involved releasing 158 giant endangered tortoises in the Galapagos Islands where they had been extinct for 180 years. These turtles were released on Floreana Island.

Driven to extinction in the mid-1800s, the Floreana giant tortoise had been absent from the island for generations. Its return signals the beginning of a new phase of re-wilding under the Floreana Ecological Restoration Project.

“After years of sustained, science-based work—requiring rigorous studies and patience—the return of the giant tortoises reflects a long-term restoration vision focused on restoring the ecological functionality of Floreana’s ecosystems.”

The tortoises released this week are the result of decades of genetic scientific research led by the Galápagos National Park Directorate.

Through a carefully managed breeding program, these individuals were raised to form a population that is genetically as close as possible to the original Floreana giant tortoise. Tortoises are considered to be a keystone species which help to maintain open habitats, promote native plant growth, and create conditions that allow entire ecosystems to function. Their absence on Floreana altered ecological processes for nearly two centuries. Their return is expected to help restore those processes naturally and drive natural regeneration processes that support a wide range of native plants and animals.

Now, project partners will continue to evaluate conditions for the next phase of re-wilding, which includes iconic species such as the Floreana Mockingbird, Floreana racer snake, Vegetarian Finch, and the Little Vermilion Flycatcher.

Now this is the kind of story that I truly enjoy, just how humanity does have the ability to restore our world. It just takes time, commitment, and a whole lot of work.

Now let’s move on to our episode.

While most of us feel as if we can do nothing about our environmental problems, much less climate change, what I want to demonstrate in this episode is a 12 month plan of how we can completely change our lives. This 12 month plan hits on several ares where all of us can make substantial changes. This of course is going to involve several steps.

If you think this is still beyond your ability then stick around and I will show you that this plan is designed to be realistic, cumulative, and scalable over 12 months.

🌿 12-Month Sustainable Living Action Plan

A Practical Year of Systems Change

🧭 Month 1: Awareness & Baseline

🎯 Focus: Measure Before You Modify

Actions

Outcome: Identify your biggest leverage points. When doing so, I would recommend first making changes that are not going to drastically alter your lifestyle. The point here is to get into the habit of doing things differently and appreciate the value of doing so. What that means is pick something easy to accomplish.

For example, most people can easily reduce their electricity bill by at least 10% by keeping all electronic devices unplugged when not in use. That is easy.

Do a trash audit. What that means is digging through your trash to get an idea of the type of waste you are producing. Then decide what can be recycled, what can be composted. What is the most common thing you throw away. Is it single use items.

♻️ Month 2: Waste Reset

Most people produce a lot more waste than they realize. In the United States, that is almost 5 pounds per day. In many cases, this can be reduced by 50% at least.

🎯 Focus: Cut Landfill Waste in Half

Actions

Outcome: 30–50% reduction in household trash.

🌱 Month 3: Food System Upgrade

🎯 Focus: Increase Food Resilience

What this means is to reduce your dependence on someone else for all of your food. 

Actions

Outcome: First harvest + measurable food waste reduction.

💧 Month 4: Water Efficiency

🎯 Focus: Use Water Intentionally

The average American household uses more than 300 gallons of water per day, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

Indoor use accounts for about 70% of this total, with the bathroom being the largest consumer—primarily due to toilets, showers, and faucets. 

Outdoor use, such as lawn and garden watering, makes up the remaining 30%, but can rise to 60% in arid regions

Actions

Outcome: 15–30% water reduction.

At the cabin, we use approximately 1000 gallons of water a month during the warmer time of year. That includes all water for showers, dishes, and laundry for two adults. This also includes drinking water for two adults, two dogs, and all our chickens and turkeys as well as watering the greenhouse. In the winter time we can cut that back to about 150 gallons per week.

At most we use 1000 gallons of water per month while the average household uses 9,000 gallons a month if not more. So, I know it is possible to cut back.

☀️ Month 5: Energy Efficiency Phase 1

🎯 Focus: Reduce Your Monthly Energy Demand

Actions

Outcome: 10–20% energy reduction, which is completely achievable. The average home uses about 30 kWh per day. At the cabin we use 1.5 kWh per day. I know this because I closely monitor the solar charging system.

🌳 Month 6: Biodiversity & Regeneration

🎯 Focus: Support Local Ecosystems

Actions

Outcome: Your home becomes a natural organic habitat that supports the local ecosystem instead of being a toxic urban island.

🏡 Month 7: Indoor Health Reset

🎯 Focus: Reduce the Toxins in Your Home

Actions

Most people do not realized that over 80K chemicals are used in consumer products in the US and less than 1% of those have been tested for potentially toxicity. One study on household dust showed evidence of 45 potentially toxic chemicals. It may not be possible to eliminate your exposure all together but it is relatively simple to at least reduce that exposure

Outcome: Cleaner air, fewer toxins, improved health baseline.

⚡ Month 8: Energy Phase 2 (Electrification Plan)

🎯 Focus: Plan Fossil Fuel Exit

Actions

Outcome: Concrete plan toward fossil-fuel independence.

🛒 Month 9: Consumption Audit

🎯 Focus: Buy Less, Buy Better

Actions

Outcome: Reduced material footprint.

🥕 Month 10: Food Resilience Phase 2

🎯 Focus: Preserve & Buffer

Actions

Outcome: Increased independence from food supply chains that you cannot control and to also increase you self sufficiency and resilience in the event of an emergency.

🤝 Month 11: Community Resilience

🎯 Focus: Build Collective Strength in Your Community

Most people have the impression that we live on a mountain top in the middle of no where and we are completely isolated and independent. But the reality is that while we are somewhat isolated, we actually live in a very small community of close friends. That helps to produce a certain amount of resilience in the event that something goes wrong.

Most recently, we has a severe wind storm that blew down numerous trees, took out power lines and completely blocked our access road. Three of us got together with chainsaws for about half a day to cut and move trees. No one else, including the local utility cooperative, showed up for three days. Now that is a good example of community resilience.

Now there are a lot of different faucets to community resilience. But there are some small things you can do to get that going.

Actions

Outcome: Resilience beyond your property line.

🔄 Month 12: Reflection & Expansion

🎯 Focus: Optimize & Scale

Actions

Outcome: You now operate a high-efficiency, regenerative household.

🌍 End-of-Year Transformation

After 12 months you should have:

🧠 The Bigger Picture

This isn’t about perfection.

It’s about redesigning your home and your life and producing your own: