The new year usually has people thinking about lifestyle changes they want to make over the next 12 months. One of the most popular resolutions is to create healthy habits. After a holiday season filled with stressful events and piles of sweet treats, we feel the need for a reset. A fresh start to increase our energy and improve our moods for the new year.
Self-care has become a hot topic in the past few years as a way for people to reduce stress and put themselves first. But self-care is more than a bubble bath surrounded by scented candles although that does sound nice. It’s about listening to your body and giving yourself what you need in the healthiest way. But we often overlook our environment in our pursuit of well-being. Trying to improve our health in a toxic environment is a sure way to slow results. To reach our goals, we need to consider how our habits impact the world around us.
How Bamboo Supports Wellness
Environmental pollutants can cause serious illnesses like heart disease, respiratory disease, and cancer. Basically everything you’re trying to prevent by creating healthy habits. Running a marathon through a smog-filled city or swimming through an ocean of plastic isn’t going to give you the health benefits you’re looking for. It’s only when we connect our health to the health of the planet that we start seeing results.
Trying to fix your health and the health of the planet all at once may seem overwhelming, but they're very closely connected. When you start a new wellness routine, sustainability should be a part of your plan, and having the right tools can make all the difference.
Bamboo is one of the most sustainable materials on earth. It can support healthy habits by replacing materials like plastic and helping to prevent climate change. Studies who it can also improve our mental health.
How to Start a Sustainable Wellness Routine
Starting a new wellness routine with sustainable tools like bamboo is easy if you focus on four main areas: sleep, hydration, nutrition, and movement.
Switch to Bamboo for Better Sleep
Sleep is vital for mental and physical health and the first step in a healthier wellness routine. It’s our time for our brains and bodies to truly rest and reset and helps reduce our risk for chronic diseases.
According to sleephealth.org, more than 20 million Americans suffer from a sleep disorder. If you’re not sleeping well it could be because of your environment. The amount of light in your bedroom will affect your body's circadian rhythm. Take a quick look at your bedroom. Are your windows letting in too much light while you’re sleeping? Try some bamboo blinds or bamboo curtains to make your space darker. You can add a blackout liner to bamboo blinds if you need to block the morning sun, but the sliver of light they let in can help gently wake you in the morning.
Another common issue that leads to poor sleep quality is sleeping at too hot or cold a temperature. Heat and humidity can change your body’s sleep cycle and decrease slow-wave sleep — the type of sleep when our bodies are most relaxed. If you tend to sleep too hot, try switching to bamboo sheets and blankets. The natural fibers in bamboo sheets make them incredibly soft, moisture-wicking, and breathable.
If you're cold when you sleep, you’ll still want bamboo sheets but will want to layer them with cozy bamboo pajamas for a warm, breathable experience.
Hydrate With a Bamboo Water Bottle
Besides sleep, drinking water is one of the easiest and most important ways to improve your health. Unfortunately, more than half of adults don’t drink enough water. Lack of hydration leads to headaches, fatigue, and more serious health problems like heart attack and heat stroke. Water helps regulate body temperature, protects your joints and muscles, and flushes out toxins. Being fully hydrated has also been shown to improve concentration, give you more energy, and ease dry skin.
You may already be drinking plenty of water, but could your water bottle be doing more harm than good? Using disposable plastic bottles is leading to 2 million tons of single-use plastic water bottles being thrown away each year. The plastic breaks down into microplastics that harm wildlife and can even make their way into our food and drinking water.
A simple solution is to switch to a reusable bamboo water bottle. Unlike plastic, bamboo doesn't use a lot of energy during production because it’s an easy-to-harvest, renewable resource. Reusable bamboo water bottles are durable and long-lasting, but when you finally toss them they'll break down in a few months. Keeping a bamboo water bottle on hand will keep hydration top of mind and help you stay hydrated.
Add Bamboo to Your Kitchen for Healthier Eating
When you think about health and wellness routines, you probably think about the food you’re eating, or not eating. Only 10% of Americans are eating the recommended amount of vegetables and only 12% are eating enough fruit. It’s no wonder the acronym for the Standard American Diet is SAD.
Eating a well-balanced diet that’s low in sugar and high in nutrient-dense vegetables is critical for long-term health. Often people lack the proper tools for cooking so they choose convenient pre-packaged meals or hit a drive-through instead. When you’re faced with a drawer of warped plastic utensils or your itty-bitty cutting board from college, chopping up fresh produce does not seem fun.
Fortunately, the kitchen is another place where bamboo can help improve your well-being and build healthy habits. Having the right bamboo kitchen tools can save time, improve the quality of your cooking, and can even make food prep safer. When prepping healthy meals, start with a bamboo cutting board and proper bamboo utensils to make things easier.
When you're done chopping all your new favorite veggies, be sure to toss your scraps in a countertop bamboo composter. They’ll break down and you can use the compost in your garden!
Try Bamboo to Reduce Stress and Increase Movement
The most common change to improve wellness is exercise. The fitness industry is a $32 billion business because who doesn’t want washboard abs and a summer bikini bod? While a toned body is often presented as the ideal, exercise is about a lot more than your physique. The CDC recommends at least 30 minutes of exercise each day to maintain a healthy weight and stay physically healthy. Studies also show exercise has a positive impact on mental health by releasing feel-good endorphins.
If you're looking to start a new fitness routine, you don’t have to train for a marathon or sign up for 90 days of h-e-double-hockey-sticks. Any movement that gets your blood pumping and your muscles engaged is a great place to begin.
Walking is one of the most underrated forms of exercise there is. It’s completely free, and most people can find a space to walk in a neighborhood, park, or on public trails. Like any fitness routine, be sure you have the proper gear. Even a relaxing walk in the woods will feel like a chore if you’re battling blisters or sweaty toes. For a comfortable hike, stock up on a few pairs of bamboo socks that wick moisture away from your feet. Enjoy the pillowy softness and pair them with some fashionable bamboo shoes.
Switching to bamboo socks and shoes helps keep the natural world cleaner for you to enjoy. The majority of socks are made from cotton or polyester blend. Unlike bamboo, cotton requires a lot of pesticides to grow – over 16% of all pesticides are used for cotton which makes up just 2.5% of all farmland.
Polyester is a synthetic fiber made from non-renewable resources. It’s a form of plastic but isn’t recyclable or biodegradable. Bamboo is naturally occurring and will break down as long as no toxic dyes or chemicals are added. Switching to bamboo socks means you’ll reduce pesticides and microplastics in our land and waterways.
Bamboo Supports Healthier Habits
There’s no need to revamp your entire life to focus on your health. Simple changes will be easier to maintain and small steps can lead to a big impact. Consider your sleeping, eating, and exercise habits and look for ways to improve them. To have a bigger impact on your health, choose sustainable materials like bamboo for the gear and tools to support your lifestyle changes. Cleaning up the environment has a direct impact on improving your health!
