This spring, we bet there are two major “save the dates” in Shailene Woodley’s datebook: March 20, the day Insurgent, the second movie in the Divergent trilogy, dropped in theaters, and the upcoming April 22: Earth Day. Since Shai prescribes to living a green, clean life every day, we imagine the free-spirited starlet will welcome the day with extra sun salutations, sip her famed homemade bone broth in a bamboo bowl and pull some other mindful moves, all while juggling interviews, photo shoots and appearances to support her new flick (it seems like she’s got one immaculate work-life balance).
Aiming to get to Shai’s green goddess lifestyle is a great goal, but if you’re not quite ready to, say, use a kombucha scoby to give yourself a facial — an actualbeauty tip she dropped in a recent Q+A with Nylon — Shailene recommends trying some commonly overlooked ways to make a big impact while barely lifting a finger. “I think you should find one small thing that works for you and dedicate and commit to that one thing every single day,” Shailene told Nylon in the rallying cry to lazy girls everywhere, which we heard loud and clear. Scroll down to learn four super manageable, Shai-approved ways to protect the planet every day.
1. Unplug your electronics when you leave the house: It’s second nature to flip the switch on your coffee maker, lamp and TV when it’s not in use. But a surprisingly large number of electronics cannot be entirely shut off unless they’re fully unplugged. To stop the constant, unnecessary drainage of energy in your home, Shai recommends unplugging these “vampire devices” everyday. Sure, it might seem like a hassle to hit every item on the checklist, especially if you prize your precious morning minutes, but try piggy-backing it onto your am routines that have you already accustomed to pulling the plug, like once you’ve whipped up your smoothie bowl breakfast in the blender or given yourself a quickie blowout with your hair drier.
2. Don’t ask for things like straws at a restaurant: Who isn’t guilty of grabbing wayyyy more napkins than they could ever use with that not-super-saucey dish, or saying “yes” to to-go utensils when you’ve got perfectly clean — and more importantly, reusabe — knives and forks at home? Shai’s here to help us remember the little things with her tip to pass up using straws at restaurants. Yet another reason to practice DIY-ing your lipstick on-the-go.
3. Make it a goal not to drink out of plastic: It’s shocking, but 10% of the total amount of plastic manufactured each year ends up in the sea (cue the images of polluted beaches and pics of birds with their heads caught in six-pack rings and the super-sad feelings that go along with it :/). Shai supports ditching the environmentally damaging, slow-degrading material when you can, and it’s a move that’s pretty easy to make. Consider the just-as-durable glass water bottle/cup and its added benefits, including instant gratifications like purer taste and, over time, advantages like saving money. Oh, and they’re way, way cuter, too — who doesn’t LOVE drinking out of a mason jar?
4. Turn the water off when you don’t need it: We can all hear our mothers telling us to turn off the water whenever we brush our teeth (welp, at least the habit stuck!), but Shailene is taking the H2O conservation a step further with her last eco-friendly-for-beginners suggestion, “turn the shower off when you’re washing your body.” It may seem a little drastic, but what Shai’s really asking us to practice is mindfulness. If you don’t see yourself readjusting the tap to find the perfect temp every time you loofa, try investing in a water-saving shower head or reducing your shower time by one minute — and save the singing for later.
What green tips do you live by? Tell us if you’ve tried any of Shailene’s routines in the comments below.
(h/t Nylon; Photo via Jason Merritt/Getty)
