The first few steps
Change is a lot easier when we do it together. First things first, we’ve put together a 6 week email challenge for you. You’ll receive an action each week along with some digestible key info & resources you can explore. We’d love hear how you go. Hit reply any time!
We are rubbish about rubbish.
Seriously. If we all didn't have local services that took our rubbish away and we were forced to see it and deal with it each day then we would create a lot less of it. So first things first, let's reduce our waste as much as possible. It takes a few changes, and going back to a little how the world was, but isn't that worth it to ensure the planet still has whales, mountains & cultures for us to experience, and humans around in the next generations?
Do I need it?
Show us where you spend your time and money, and we'll show you where your priorities lie. Greg McKeown wrote, "You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything." We love this. How we spend our time, love and energy is the most important thing in the world. Scroll down for our notepad below for all the questions you could ask when buying something new to figure out whether it's really necessary.
Can we buy it in bulk?
It saves on packaging and on money. Find your local bulk food stores and grab your produce bags, glass jars and containers and head on in! It's actually quite fun to browse the aisles and try some new things. Also soups in a jar are pretty cool. We even get little portions of loose clay to use as face masks - there's often much more than just food in there. Same goes for things like toilet paper - can you buy it once off in one whole lot rather than seperate packaging each time?
Can I make it instead?
When we think about buying something - whether it's premade cookies in plastic, or a dress, or a piece of furniture - we try and figure out if we can make it instead. It might take a little longer but it could also be a lot more fun. We've made beds from palettes, recycled shutters to make dividers and headboards and smashed old tiles to mosaic table tops. We're all running out of time constantly but spending 30 - 60 minutes in the kitchen each day means we can make wholesome yummy food, and pull us away from our screens.
Is there another alternative?
Remember when we used to ask the neighbors to borrow an egg or some sugar whilst we were baking or a ladder to grab the ball off the roof? Let's go back to those todays! Go say hello and offer your supplies if ever they're needed. Most local areas also have a Buy Nothing Facebook group you can find to join to make it easy to find goods.
Make some swaps
Time to replace your basics! As you need to buy new things (ready for a new toothbrush soon?) it's the best time to buy the earth-friendlier version. Check out a few of our suggestions above and join us on Instagram for a whole lot more. And read this post to get started! We also explore this more in the 6 week challenge.
What are you thinking when you buy?
It takes a lot to make a product. Plastic is made up mostly from oil. Everything else generally needs resources to be dug out of the ground, trees to be chopped and animals to be used. That stuff then needs to use a whole lot of fuel to get somewhere where a whole lot more people need to work on it to mould it into what you're buying. Then it hits the road once more and often turns up taking space in major stores that require lots of land and energy to keep going. Is it worth it? Is it made with quality and craftmanship?
Save it on your phone, pin it, ‘gram it, post it, keep it in your wallet and imprint it in your brain. Use it every time you’re about to buy!
How are you buying?
This is our heirarchy of buying. Can you refuse it in the first place? Can you embrace a little minimalism (or a whole lot of it)? If you collect your waste for a month (or even do an audit of your bin for the week) what can you do to help eliminate it? Nearly every place big or small can have a worm garden and most of us can do quick sewing job whilst watching Netflix!
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
Watch, listen & learn!
There are so many excellent resources you can consume to learn more about all the topics we cover. In our email series we link to quite a few more but to get you started, here are some are our favorites to start off with.
