Golden Rules for More Sustainability in Everyday Life (Poster)

• When shopping for food, look for organic, Fairtrade and sustainability labels as well as regional production and seasonal products (pesticides have mutagenic and hormonal effects and can drastically reduce the intelligence of our children in the womb).
• Grow fruit or vegetables in your own small garden or herbs in the kitchen. You can make juice or jam from fruit.
• If you have bought too much once or have a good harvest of your own, freeze the surplus food for later consumption or give it away.
• Avoid throwing away food.
• Pay attention to short production and transport chains for food.
• Avoid packaging and disposable items. Use your own storage containers and decant food or buy unpackaged goods. Use reusable systems and choose glass instead of plastic.
• Use tap water.
• If you are pregnant, make sure you get enough iodine!
• Buy regional, local, seasonal and sustainably produced food.
• Take leftovers from restaurants with you.
• Always check the ingredients and do not buy products with environmentally critical ingredients.
• Use sustainability as a criterion for purchasing decisions: e.g., followfish or MSC labels.
• Use a shopping guide (Greenpeace or WWF).
• Buy substitute products or non-endangered species.
• Boycott illegal fishing.
• Reduce meat, fish and dairy consumption – having meat and fish just once a week protects the environment and ecosystems.

• 10 golden rules against food waste

     Basis for a healthy diet

• Nutrient-rich foods are the basis of a healthy diet.
• Vegetables, fruit, whole grains and protein foods should be consumed regularly à the plate below shows the daily distribution.
• Among protein foods, you should consume plant-based foods more often (legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu).
• Reduce or avoid sugar, unsaturated fatty acids and sodium.
• Prefer foods that contain predominantly unsaturated fats.
• Water should be the drink of choice.

• Use cleaning products without environmentally toxic chemicals. For many types of dirt, household remedies such as baking powder or vinegar help.
• Use electricity, heat and water mindfully. Avoid standby functions; switch off lights and technical devices where you do not need them. Replace old light bulbs with more sustainable lamps (e.g., LED) and install motion sensors in certain rooms or gardens.
• Buy energy-efficient electrical appliances as well as durable and modular household items.
• When building a house, restoring or renovating, sustainability is central. Above all, this means minimizing the input and consumption of energy and resources.
• When choosing wall paints, screeds and floor coverings, pay attention to materials and quality labels as well as environmental labels – this will spare you many pollutants.
• Avoid flame retardants and be sure to ask about them when buying furniture and furnishings.
• Before you simply throw away discarded furniture, consider whether you could create something completely new and unique from it.

• For short distances, leave the car and use a bicycle or walk instead – this benefits both your body and the environment.
• Public transport and travelling by train are good alternatives.
• If you depend on a car, form carpools or drive fuel-efficiently. If you stop, switch off the engine.
• For people who drive rarely, car sharing or an electric car can also be a real alternative.
• Avoid air travel.

• Even on holiday, think about nature and environmental protection as well as sustainability.
• Does it have to be a holiday by plane – or does your own region, your own country offer diverse opportunities for recreation? Avoid air travel and offset flights, e.g., by planting trees or investing in climate protection projects.
• Choose organic or sustainability-oriented hotels or accommodations.
• Travelling abroad? Then support regional value chains, local farmers, and buy local products.
• Look for local and sustainability-oriented restaurants.

• Prefer clothing made from organic fabrics or recycled materials, second-hand items, or products from labels that produce locally.
• Pay attention to the fabrics used as well as eco and sustainability seals. Pure fabrics (cotton, wool, polyester, etc.) are preferable to blended fabrics (cotton-polyester mix).
• Before throwing clothes away, give them away or swap them, take them to second-hand shops, or create something new from them.
• Baby clothes can also be leased.
• When buying cosmetics, always pay attention to the ingredients.
• Avoid synthetic fragrances and dyes as well as silicones.
• Avoid microbeads or microplastics. Pay attention to and reduce the following types of plastics: polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and nylon.

• Buy regional, seasonal, organic, Fairtrade and sustainable products.
• Go to flea markets or second-hand shops. Many things are still too good to be disposed of. This saves both money and resources.
• Use items multiple times or share them, e.g., use swap platforms, rent items, or place classified ads.
• Switch to green electricity.
• Separating waste correctly protects our environment. Sort organic and residual waste, glass, plastic and waste paper. Batteries and medicines must never be disposed of with household waste! Collect waste paper and take it to collection points.
• Report "wild" (illegal) dumping.
• Avoid packaging and waste. Use reusable packaging materials. You can take drinks in your own containers and food in reusable boxes. When shopping, use durable fabric bags instead of plastic bags.
• Avoid plastic and dispose of plastic properly.

• Inform yourself about and communicate sustainability. Share tips and suggestions. If you have questions, contact manufacturers directly.
• Disable standby settings. Also switch off your phone more often.
• Unplug charging cables as soon as charging is complete.
• Use devices with a very good energy efficiency class.
• Service life and useful life matter: buy durable products and use them for a long time.
• Reduce your use of electronic devices – many substances have mutagenic and hormonal effects and even influence the intelligence development of our children in the womb.
• Share devices and information materials with neighbours or friends.

• Action days for sustainability take place every year. Join in!
• Visit “Green Events”! Large events create burdens from traffic and waste. The top priority is always the sustainable protection of natural resources. Do not litter and dispose of waste properly. Form carpools or use public transport.
• Sporting activities also affect the environment. Pay attention to the material of sportswear and environmentally friendly production.
• Buy toys made from renewable raw materials (wood, bamboo) and without harmful substances in paints and varnishes. Make toys yourself – there are many instructions for creative ideas in which children can also participate.
• Leave the digital world aside more often and put your smartphone, PC, e-reader and the like away. Pick up a classic book. Play more often with family and friends. Maintain bonds or rebuild them.
• Take drinks and food in your own containers.
• Pick up litter more often when you are out and dispose of it properly.

• There are various educational offers that focus on “sustainability”. These include degree programmes or continuing education programmes, certificate programmes, lectures or committed associations or groups, e.g., Agenda 21, Carlowitz Society (Carlowitz-Gesellschaft e. V.), NATUC, etc.
• Sustainable professional fields include, for example, water management, forestry or urban planning.

• Get involved in networks for a more sustainable world of work.
• Make your entire value chain green and sustainable. Procure equipment that carries environmental and social labels, e.g., Blue Angel, Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Product Standard, etc.
• Use and implement sustainable codes of conduct, certificates and management systems in your working environment, e.g., German Sustainability Code, EMAS, ILO, ISO 26000, ISO 14001, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, OHSAS 18001, UN Convention against Corruption, UN Global Compact, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, etc.
• Encourage your employees or colleagues to adopt sustainable behaviours and reward them. Be a sustainability pioneer – as a manager or as an employee.

• Use sustainable investments. On average, these generate returns comparable to non-sustainable investments.
• Sustainability standards and criteria are diverse – choose the standards and investments that match your values.
• A simple and inexpensive way to invest money long-term under ethical standards is to use sustainability-oriented equity funds. Conventional funds emit five times as much CO₂ as sustainable alternatives.
• As a property owner, invest in energy-efficient refurbishment. This reduces the ecological footprint and saves money.
• Switch to a German bank with sustainability standards. These currently 14 banks, for example, ensure that business with companies is excluded if they violate human rights, destroy habitats, produce weapons, or support nuclear power.
• Initiatives such as “urgewald”, “geld bewegt” and “facing finance” help to find suitable sustainable banks. Established financial institutions generally perform very poorly in sustainability ratings.
• Pay attention to sustainability in retirement provision and invest in pension insurance products with sustainability standards.
• Energy cooperatives are a good choice for investing in renewable energy.

• Waste contains valuable recyclable materials.
• Separate waste correctly!
• Avoid plastic, packaging, plastic bags and waste.
• Use reusable packaging materials.
• When shopping, use durable fabric bags.
• Report “wild” (illegal) dumping.
• Dispose of plastic properly.
• Reflect critically on your own consumption and need for plastic and personal care products containing microplastics.
• Microplastics: the smallest solid, visible particles or plastics, e.g.,
  • Acrylates Copolymer (AC)
  • Acrylates Crosspolymer (ACS)
  • Nylon-6 (Nylon-6)
  • Nylon-12 (Nylon-12)
  • Polyacrylate (PA)
  • Polyethylene (PE)
  • Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
  • Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)
  • Polypropylene (PP)
  • Polyquaternium (PQ)
  • Polystyrene (PS)
  • Polyurethane (PUR)
  • Synthetic polymers (dissolved or liquid) are also considered difficult to non-biodegradable.
• Avoid products containing the listed ingredients/polymers.
• Avoid synthetic fibres such as polyester, polyacrylic, polyamide/nylon.
• Buy and use environmentally friendly products or alternatives such as natural cosmetics or clothing made from natural fibres (cotton, linen, hemp).
• Avoid plastic and dispose of plastic waste properly.

Planetary Boundaries: Nine key processes for the stability of our Earth system & sustainable agriculture

• Integrity of the biosphere
• Climate change
• Novel entities and modified life forms
• Stratospheric ozone depletion
• Atmospheric aerosol loading
• Ocean acidification
• Biogeochemical flows
• Freshwater use
• Land-system change

Protection of water and soils

• Proper and correctly dosed fertilisation
• Sustainable management of arable land
• Approval of new and disease-resistant species
• Expansion of crop rotations
• Promotion of wild insect species and dynamic field margins
• Erosion control
• Mulching
• Intergenerational justice
• Resource conservation
• Preservation of biodiversity
• Consideration of the existential security of agricultural enterprises
• Food supply through high-quality cultivation

• Inform yourself. Include supplementary material on origin and working conditions in the country of production.
• Watch out for misleading colours, images, information and packaging materials used.
• Embed the presented data and information in the overall context (e.g., question whether companies act globally differently than locally or nationally).
• Refrain from buying products and services (boycotts).
• Report dubious advertising and business practices to public bodies (e.g., consumer advice centres, NGOs).
• Complain directly to the respective companies.
• Warn other consumers (personally, via digital media) and create truthful, publicly effective information.
• Look for genuinely environmentally friendly products and services: use industry guides or ask consumer advice centres.
• Maintain an informed and reflective attitude.
• Analyse nutritional values, additives (e.g., sugar, salt and fat content) and the origin/production regions of products.