Make Impactful, Not Sacrificial Changes

You don't have to be spartan to be environmentally friendly. "A lot of people are blocked from living a simple lifestyle because they think they have to live like the Amish or the Unabomber," says Knox College psychologist Tim Kasser, Ph.D. He suggests picking two things you'll try to do differently over the next 12 months, then two more the next year. "Within 10 years," he says, "You'll have changed pretty important things in your life and be living in a better way." Oberlin psychologist Cindy McPherson Frantz, Ph.D. advises making one-time, big changes, such as buying an energy-efficient car, rather than small, ongoing ones like taking daily cold showers. It "makes much more environmental impact and you don't have to suffer," she says.