I have shared a few times in the past about my sustainability journey and how I got here. To keep a long story short, I started this at the beginning of 2020. I had decided then that my new year's resolution was going to be to become more sustainable. (If I remember correctly, the original goal was to become “zero-waste” which is just about impossible.) I decided my best way to go about this was by making one lifestyle change each month. Here is my list:
January- yogurt: When the year started I realized that I was eating a lot of yogurt. I was eating about 1-2 servings a day which is not environmentally friendly. I easily realized I was eating a large quantity of this unsustainable food, but I was more concerned about the waste each container made. It was a lot of plastic. I started making my own yogurt from milk. Although it was fun, it was very time consuming. It turns out, I had the wrong mindset. I thought saving the planet meant standing in the kitchen all day or constantly picking up litter in every amount of spare time I had. Although these things can help, there are easier ways to make a bigger impact.
February- grocery bags: We already owned many reusable grocery bags because we had already been trying to not use those horrible plastic ones. We collected our reusables so that we didn’t have to buy more. Then, we headed off to the grocery store. I have to admit, this was one of the harder ones. We spent the entire month of February forgetting our bags. It was frustrating for sure. And we still find this to be a challenge (especially when I don’t go to the store with my parents to shop for groceries). It has also been very frustrating to have to order groceries online (during the pandemic) and then receive so many plastic bags used by the online service.
March- cloth napkins, rags/reusable paper towels, and (obviously) less driving: We clearly accomplished a lot in March. We started the month focused on producing less paper waste. Then when the pandemic hit we got bored. To entertain ourselves, we started cutting up beach towels to use as rags around the kitchen. This meant we didn’t use any resources. We simply used what we already had. During quarantine we also found reusable napkins -tucked away in a cabinet- to use for our meals. (That same cabinet had even a few more grocery bags we didn’t even know we had!) Now, we don’t have ANY paper napkins sitting on our dining room table which always makes me incredibly happy. We also spent some time experimenting with reusable paper napkins. (Although it took my brother a while to realize you don’t throw them away immediately.) We found them helpful for messier situations, but didn’t continue to buy them as they didn’t motivate us in any way to use our beach towel rags. I would still suggest them instead of normal papertowels. Also, as a bonus we hardly drove at all in March which definitely helped our carbon footprint. (I didn’t get in a car at all until June!) Thanks COVID - sort of.
April- no seltzer/soda cans: This was just for fun. (I guess that’s one way to put it.) I am not going to say seltzer is necessarily horrible for our bodies or even our planet. In fact, seltzer comes in fully recyclable packaging. (Of course the cans are infinitely recyclable, where plastic bottles and that cardboard the cans come in are not.) However, my family was consuming seltzer at an unsustainable rate. My mom, who has been supporting me to the best of her abilities, was drinking around three cans a day. Now she has none. That is sustainable! People in my family also have a habit of leaving cans sitting around open (still half full) so they lose all of their carbonation. This is where the improvement happens. We drink real water instead of flat seltzer. This way, we don’t need to buy it in a can. We get water package free in our kitchen.
May- vegan: At this point in the year, I knew there was more to do, but wasn’t sure what to tackle next. When May 1st rolled around I said, What the heck? I’m going vegan! At that point there was no turning back. I have found this one to actually be one of the easiest things. There are plenty of alternatives for any food that is originally not vegan. Also, starting during a pandemic was simple because we weren’t going out or eating many meals with anyone else. Going vegan was one of the best, most effective ways to help save the planet. Now, I am more than seven-months strong! (Also, this meant I no longer had to make yogurt. Although, we definitely did do some experimenting with that.)
June- eco (nuts) shampoo/ laundry and youtube: When June came along, I bought some eco nuts as they were advertised to be “eco friendly and multipurpose.” I have done some experimenting but still have more to do. I successfully made shampoo with them which was very cool. I also plan to try washing my clothes with them. I would love to switch to a completely eco friendly laundry routine which will include hand washing my clothes and hang drying them. Stay tuned. I will probably have a blog coming in 2021 about an eco friendly laundry routine. That brings me to my second point. I started filming videos in June. This is beneficial to our planet because I am spreading an important message. However, I didn’t get serious about any of this until later this past summer.
July- one local/ organic produce item a week: In July it was the perfect time of year to start shopping from our local farmers. They grow fully organic produce and it has been the best way to always get what is in season. Although it is on the more expensive side, we have committed to buying a few pieces of produce from them every month to make sure we keep our food local, organic, and sustainable. As a bonus we walked there because it was nice outside and only two miles from home.
August- bulk buying and solar farming: In August we spent some time experimenting at different bulk stores just to try it out. We don’t live super close to any great bulk stores, so we went out of our way a couple of times in August. We were able to get a lot of our dry goods such as beans, rice, quinoa, pastas, and flax at these stores. Although we haven’t continued going to those stores because they are further away, we have been able to go to Whole Foods a few times a month to get what we can from their bulk goods aisle. Of course, with the pandemic, not all bulk is open. We had plenty of times where we couldn’t get a perfectly zero waste option. (This is what I mean by zero-waste being “impossible”.) In August we also connected with a solar farm so we can use more clean energy. This is one of the best things someone can do because they don’t need to add anything to their own house. (August was also the first month my YouTube channel also took off-- in terms of me posting consistently.)
September- veggie Burgers and veggie loaf: To support my journey on becoming plant-based, it was nice to learn some recipes to prevent my meals from becoming too boring. I like simple food, but I needed a little more variety in my proteins. I started making veggie burgers and loafs (kind of like a meatless meatloaf) to find more ways to get protein and avoid all of the packaging that comes with frozen/processed vegan proteins. Also, stay tuned. I will have some tutorials coming soon.
October- laundry detergent (sheets): My dad coincidentally bought laundry detergent sheets at the start of the month which was perfect for a new challenge. We found them to work as well as anything else and were happy with the results. They produced much less waste as their only packaging was a cardboard envelope. 100% recommended.
November- loose leaf tea: In November we bought loose leaf tea in bulk. This was not a very hard transition (however we accidentally had our packaged tea on auto deliver-- oops). We already had tea balls and a press so it was never very difficult to make. This reduced the amount of microplastics we consume substantially. The tea also still tastes great. We also learned that most tea bags can not be composted. This entire journey has been a learning experience. And being open to learning new things is one of the best things one can do for the planet.
December- toothpaste, mouthwash, and a bamboo toothbrush: Lastly, I started using more “zero-waste” products. For my birthday (in September), I asked for all sustainable gifts. Of those gifts, I received a bamboo toothbrush with zero waste toothpaste and mouthwash (in glass). I didn’t start using the toothbrush until this month because I wanted to wait for my plastic toothbrush to die first. Then, I made the switch. I love that I can order the toothpaste and mouthwash in compostable packaging (after receiving the glass jar). I feel like a real zero-waster!
What have we learned? One thing I learned is that there are some simple ways to reduce a lot of waste. I noticed our waste has definitely lowered and now we find ourselves taking out the trash less often. We also find that if we forget to take out the trash in any given week, we can almost always make it through the week before our trash can overflows!
This sustainable year also motivated us to try more sustainable actions. We had already been composting and being conscious of the amount of water and energy we used, I also was already drinking plant based milk (however I switched from almond to oat to reduce water. And I started making my own oat milk to reduce the amount of packaging from cartons. They are not recyclable in my town.)
A few other things I did was switch to compostable cat litter and use paper bags instead of plastic, reuse water (from things like beans) for the plants in my garden, and I even tried making tofu a few times! That was a lot of work though. Shout out here to my mom for switching to rags instead of disposable makeup remover wipes! (She is barely wearing makeup during the pandemic so...) And thanks for following me on this journey! I want to continue this in 2021 and for many years to come. I already have some ideas. (Exxperimenting with dishwasher tabs, shampoo bars, conditioner bars, ditching tissues, and more!)
One last thing I learned was that I can actually stick to a New Years resolution as long as I really care about it and put all of my effort in. I hope you enjoyed the blog and are inspired to try some eco friendly practices this New Year. For now, peace!
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