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Slow living is encouraging people to change their lifestyles to enjoy each moment and give back to the planet. You may find it fulfilling, too, but your shopping habits might not align with the movement as much as you’d like.
Learning how homemade products support a slow living lifestyle could motivate you to make positive changes to your typical purchases.
1. Making Creations Requires Time
Projects almost always take time out of your day. While that may irritate people with fast-paced schedules, it’s an excellent opportunity for those who prefer slow living. Remain mindful of your senses while making something like new dish towels or art for your wall.
A 2024 study from the British Journal of Healthy Psychology found mindfulness improves your mental well-being while reducing depression symptoms. You’ll feel better and avoid participating in mass production that pollutes the ecosystem.
2. You’ll Only Create What You Want
Buying, returning and throwing out goods is a harmful cycle for the environment. If you’re making the things you need, you know you’re getting the item exactly how you want it.
You won’t cause carbon emissions to ship something you ultimately don’t keep, and you won’t throw the item in a landfill because it’s not what you ordered. If you discover you don’t like one of your projects after finishing it, you can always play around with it to change it into something else.
3. You Can Eat More Mindful Meals
Handmade projects require time, even if they’re recipes. Carefully select each ingredient according to what you’d most enjoy or benefit from eating. Include a variety of flavours to dazzle your tastebuds. You could mindfully make each meal at home by diversifying your diet with options like:
Salad dressing: Mix spices and oils to create personalized vinaigrettes.
Granola: Roast oats, nuts and other ingredients to boost your energy without sugar or processed foods.
Yogurt: Use a yogurt maker to create creamy blends to go on salads, pair with granola or mix with berries.
Nut milk: Blend soaked nuts to sip on frothy milk made without a carbon-emitting manufacturing plant.
You won’t need to rely on takeout orders if you know how to prepare your favorite foods. Remain present through each step of your latest recipes to engage mindfully with your diet and enjoy a slower living lifestyle.
4. Homemade Products May Contain Fewer Chemicals
When you know your household goods align with your green values, your home will likely contain far fewer chemicals. You won’t have to worry about washing cleaning products down the drain or throwing out chemical-based products because eco-friendly alternatives are your new standard. Making things like cleaning solutions will slow your spending and make your life even greener.
5. You May Treasure Handmade Belongings Longer
The fast fashion industry produces cheap products that break easily. Each brand’s customers have to return for new purchases faster if theirs fall apart. Making your own goods means you can select well-made supplies so everything lasts longer.
You could also appreciate your new belongings because they have great memories attached to them. If you turn a beloved sweater into a cosy hat, you may keep it longer because you spent years with it. Slow living emphasizes the importance of appreciating what you have, which is much easier with handmade goods that repurpose things you love.
6. Turning Ideas Into Reality Affirms Your Self-Sufficiency
Slowing your lifestyle requires a strong intuition. You have to know what you enjoy and which dreams best support your values. If you practise turning your creative ideas into household belongings, you’ll reaffirm the self-sufficiency slow living often requires. Plus, you’ll develop a greater sense of self-confidence as each project successfully ends.
7. Making Things Fosters Gratitude
Appreciating what you have is much easier if gratitude becomes a natural skill, so hone it by making things by hand. You’ll learn to value your skills and passion for the planet. You may also become more confident in your ability to learn because you’ll likely try new crafts and excel at them with time.
Feeling grateful for your life doesn’t only make every day more pleasant. The practise can even reduce your cellular inflammation if the feeling lasts. You’ll feel more grateful for your belongings if you’ve invested your time and energy into them. Make a conscious effort to feel that way while spending time in your home so it becomes an instinct that supports the environment and your long-term health.
8. Communities Rally Around Homemade Projects
People sometimes get wrapped up in fast-paced lifestyles because they don’t want to feel lonely. If you slow down and focus on things like homemade products, you’ll likely still fill your life with people you love.
You may find local hobby groups where people are making the same crafts you’re exploring at home. They might even want to hang out to help you with your goals, leading to long-standing friendships.
9. Your Loved Ones May Want to Join You
Family members don’t always align on everything. If your immediate loved ones don’t appreciate the environment like you, your slow living projects could change their minds. They’ll see you creating beautiful things and might want to join you.
If they have fun during the projects, your sustainable values may appeal to them. Carbon emissions in the U.K. have fallen 60% since the 1970s, but they could continue decreasing if more people made small changes to their daily routines. Getting together to make things instead of buying mass-produced goods will support the planet and might encourage others to do the same.
10. Homemade Goods Help People Embrace Imperfection
Some shy away from things they aren’t naturally good at doing. While that’s a common feeling, slow living encourages you to practise embracing your mistakes.
The lifestyle is a learning process you refine with time. Adding homemade projects to your typical routine is another way to practise skills and grow from your experiences. You’ll explore new aspects of yourself while improving your carbon footprint through a slower lifestyle.
Improve Your Slow Living Lifestyle With Homemade Goods
You don’t need a long history of creating things to explore the crafting world. Start making homemade products to support your slow lifestyle, and you could experience new kinds of personal growth. Think about what you need around the house and how you can make those things at home to minimise your shopping, shrink your planetary impact and find new perspectives that deepen your daily gratitude.
Mia Barnes is a dedicated freelance writer passionate about health, wellness, and mindful living. She is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Body+Mind Magazine. With a focus on empowering readers to prioritize their well-being, Mia’s articles aim to inspire positive lifestyle changes and promote holistic self-improvement.
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