Buzz Word: Sustainability
Sustainability
noun
1. the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
2. avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.
Yep. sustainability is the latest buzz word…but lets start with disclosing I’m not vegan, or vegetarian and I’m far from perfect, obviously.
Over the years I’ve become much more aware of my consumption for both myself and for others in mind. I’m making more of a conscious effort to do my part to reduce, recycle and reuse. It took me a while to get my head in this frame of mind so if you haven’t already, maybe this is a good moment to push through and take some time to think about it.
My Niece and I in Hawaii
It’s hard not to feel the shame when there are so many shamers out there. I felt it too. We could get rebellious about it, or we could be intelligent. Shaming definitely doesn’t make me want to join in. I believe the attitude going into anything is always better when there’s an inner motivation. But that’s something each person needs to figure out for themselves. I can’t and I won’t tell you that but I can tell you how I came to something…
For me, it began when it was bought to my attention that low quality chemical sunscreens were actually killing off reefs around the world. I had heard of this, but I hadn’t seen it for myself. A beach in Hawaii I visited had only just been reopened. It was heaving with tourists and it was very sad to me that my nieces and I might’ve missed out on swimming with beautiful tropical fish that day all because people were only trying to protect themselves from the sun, but with poisonous lotions.
Then it got me thinking: EEK! We’re putting poisonous lotions on our skin??? If the reef is dying, then it mustn’t be good for us either! (there goes those selfish thoughts again). I don’t beat myself up for it though and neither should you.
This lead me down a path that I’m still currently exploring and finding challenging yet satisfying and I just want to write about it.
Like most things I find, you only really feel the effects after you experience something you consciously act upon. You assume you’ll feel good, and people are quick to tell you so, as a way to entice you into whatever they’re doing. I hate to admit it, but I do feel a sense of feeling good about my choices to do the right thing that also isn’t something that’s just for yourself, but ultimately for others too.
Changing ones lifestyle, or way of thinking is not straightforward or easy. I only know this too well from my experience of putting myself through some kind of self imposed “boot-camp” a couple years back.
Some of us have been bought up all our lives with different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. I was brought up in an immigrant Chinese household, with the reinforced message that meat is good for you and a sign of prosperity. Along with the aspirations of convenience and efficiency from my western influence (American Television and I was born in NZ) which unfortunately means easily discarded packaging and in general, less thought to how we are consuming. This unravelling can take years for some to realise and change.
Believe me – I know how hard it is to change your thinking and lifestyle. I’ve moved from NZ to Melbourne, to London, and a couple of years back, completely overhauled my health and fitness, which was super challenging but I also know that it is possible.
Watching the Australian bush fires, Malibu fires, and Amazon fires recently… we can’t deny that global warming is upon us and that these fires have accelerated the degeneration the our environment, our world, which is why I think we do need to make some if not a heck of a lot more effort to lessen the damage.
I used to think that if you don’t go cold turkey or make some massive contribution then what’s the point? But even if the big picture is a little removed from our immediate reality, I now I realise the point is that collectively we can start to make a difference where we can bit by bit, and we might learn to grow our efforts in the process.
This blog isn’t to shame you - far from it. I just thought I would share with you some of the small things I’m doing to try to reduce, reuse and recycle. Maybe we can help each other and pat ourselves on the back when we do some of them. I figure we all need to start somewhere and sometimes we need a little help. I know I’ve had to ask my more sustainable and environmentally conscious friends for advice, so I’m passing on what I’m trying and what I’ve learnt in hopes that you might find some of these things inspiring, helpful and doable.
They’re not huge game changers but it’s a start and I imagine my journey will grow daily. I have a long way to go too, but do know that every little bit helps. Anyway see what you think….
Don’t consume at all…
Now this may seem ridiculous, but essentially this would be the perfect scenario. So if we can’t not consume (double negative there) then I guess we should try to consume less on the whole, and use and reuse what we have got. Easily said – but how?
Clothing:
I’m guilty of a massive wardrobe – I used to work in high fashion and style has always been apart of my expression. I know its hard but:
- If you try to buy ‘classics’ or really good quality pieces, I guarantee you that there will be a fashion cycle where you’ll be able to wear things again years later. I’ve been able to re-wear amazing pieces that I hadn’t worn in ten years or more. So if you maintain them and they’re cool to begin with, classic pieces, they’ll be in again for sure. Buying things off the high street is fun but they’re so transient and often don’t have good production practices. You’ll always be able to re-vamp a past season’s outfit somehow, whether it’s with jewellery, a new hairstyle or with your evolving natural beauty and personality!
- You can also buy from charity shops or vintage shops. Often pieces you find will be more original, rare and cheaper! Plus it’s not contributing to extra production.
- Another thing you can do is sell your clothes on Ebay, Depop or donate to charity. But know that a lot of clothes that go to charity are shipped off and dumped in Africa! I’m pretty bad at the Ebay/Depop thing, but I’ve been trying to sell some items there. That way what goes around, comes around and you’ll be helping other people look great.
Paper Theory Designs - listen to a podcast with founder Tara Viggo here
- You can rent amazing clothes… yes rent. A company called Onloan lets you rent three pieces per month from really cool high St to luxury brands that are perfect for office wear.
- Make your own clothes – this used to be very granny-ish but hey, apparently grannys are in and so is sewing! Personally I’m a terrible sewer but I like to think one day later, I might learn or teach myself. If not just as a hobby. I kind of like the idea of being able to choose myself a beautiful linen or rework something I already have. So if you’ve had any inclination to do so, I happen to know that Paper Theory (she’s one of my bff’s) has made it cool, VERY cool with her simple, chic and easy to follow patterns that have really cool modern styles. It’s all ethical and sustainable too. She’s sewn me a few sample pieces and I love them. I bet it feels good creating something of your own too.
Experiment with vegetarian and vegan meals
I went to a Vegan Party at Vegan Cafe Eat by Chloe put on by Bosh TV with my friend Lina
I’m Chinese and have been bought up on mostly rice, noodles, beef, pork, chicken (and vegetables! My mum would be annoyed if I didn’t mention the vegetables!) But overall our family were known for our ‘meat eating ways’ but some of my family members have been cutting down. So it’s quite a change we have all had over the years. Maybe it’s social influence, maybe its for health reasons – but I know that too much of anything is not good and can get boring!
Many of my close friends are vegetarian and when I met my boyfriend, he was vegetarian/plant based, though he calls himself a ‘flexitarian’. When we were in LA recently, I was the only one out of five people at the restaurant who wasn’t vegetarian! That has NEVER happened to me, and really highlighted the social shift.
I admit, part of why I refused to change early on was probably because I didn’t want to be ‘wrong’ for how I’d grown up and had been taught to think, I also didn’t want to look like I was buckling under peer pressure. But as an adult who can think and feel for myself and know what I wanted for my life, I started to eat more vegetables and I noticed a difference in my skin (it was brighter), if I was under the weather I instantly perked up and seemed to get better very quickly if I ate predominantly green leafy vegetables.
When I was very young growing up in NZ, I was bought up by very outdoorsy hunting and fishing older siblings. I love animals but there is still some kind of disconnect for me, seeing some animals as a food source. My attitude is slowly changing – and I’m working on it. I think I would like to mostly become vegetarian some day soon or at least reduce my meat meals to one or two days a week.
If you want to or think you can make these changes, for environmental reasons, or for animal reasons then do it. I applaud you. If you’re like me, and sometimes things can take a little time, just start to integrate more vegetable meals into your diet and start to lessen either the amount of meat or the number of meals that require meat per week.
I tried a recipe that I wouldn’t normally make from The Cookaway
I have been doing this steadily for a couple of years and have a much better repertoire of vegetarian meals that I really love so it’s not such a mental block for me to make when I’m starving and more likely to jump to my old easy satisfying go-to meals. Once you get used to the different ingredients, they start to become more ‘staples’ in the cupboard or fridge. For me that’s things like black beans or chickpeas or miso paste and that back up tofu just in case. I never used to buy those things. I even like vegan grated-cheese (its made out of coconut and tastes really good!). The thing that has really made it more interesting though is that I have been experimenting and has made it into something I really enjoy. So I suggest just getting interested in what you can create that doesn’t involve meat, maybe just once a week or every couple weeks in the beginning. See if you can find a really interesting and yummy vegetarian meal that you go out, find those ingredients that you’ve never used before and see what you can do with it. There are loads of recipes out there on the internet. I’ll link a couple of my own soon.
Also if you’re not a confident cooker, there are companies like The Cookaway (who I’ve tried) who have chefs that come up with great recipes and send you the exact ingredients with instructions, down to the number of cardamom pods! Easy!
For those baristas and coffee enthusiasts:
There’s been a huge shift to alternative milks from regular dairy milk over the past couple of years. To be honest, I’m generally a purest when it comes to coffee. I like it black, or sometimes with some heated textured dairy milk. Some alternative milks are difficult to balance with espresso. But I admit, when I tried Oatly for the first time at my pop up cafe for Jamie Oliver I was impressed. It didn’t affect the taste of my coffee as much as I expected (some milks like almond or soy can be a little thin, acidic and curdle). I still believe that good quality dairy milk tastes best with espresso, so I only drink high quality milk from most good specialty cafes like Northiam dairy or Brades Farm milk which is my favourite (as seen above) - who are leading the way in ethical, sustainable farming in the UK. The other part of the time I enjoy oat milk flatwhites (either Oatly, Minor figures or Califia). Very recently this week I discovered a pea protein based milk called Sproud barista milk (seen above), which I originally thought was made from mushy peas – I expected it to come out green! So I was unsure of what to expect, but it was great! Its made from split peas, not mushy peas and in the same town as Oatly (Malmo, Sweden). I’m yet to experiment more but it froths well and it’s much lower in sugar and carbs than Oat milks so, that is really attractive to me.
Mix it up a bit:
I’m going to list a few natural and sustainable brands below that I’ve been experimenting with and using. You can make your own judgements, but I’ve been pretty happy with them. I published some stories on my instagram yesterday
Featured here: Kankan hand-wash, Ren Skincare body wash, Cafe Concetto reuseable cup, Sttoke Reuseable cup, Green People UK Toothpaste, Bambaw Zerowaste reusable makeup remover pads, Better Eco Corn dental floss, Smart Ass TP.
Natural skin care:
This is something that I’ve really been focusing on a lot over the past few months. I’ve been using up my old products (so not to waste them) and replacing them with a lot of new, natural, sustainable, ethical brands. I have noticed a massive difference in how my skin feels and it has even increased my confidence to wear less make up. When I’m sleep deprived or stressed, I can get small patches of red dermatitis on my cheeks. It’s very irritating, and I noticed my previous products made my skin sting and exacerbated the situation. However since I’ve been using these natural skin care products, I haven’t had any problems, my skin seems brighter, less agitated and smoother. I’m definitely not changing back to the big brands that have synthetic chemicals and also often test on animals!
Ren Skincare – I’m most impressed with this company’s environmental efforts - they aim to be ZERO WASTE by 2021 (thats NEXT YEAR!). They make a lot of their containers using plastic from the ocean or recycled plastic, which is fantastic. I have their body wash (which smells amazing), a range of their moisturisers and I’m loving the Daily AHA tonic from their ‘Radiance’ range. I really like their Evercalm green range too, but want to try their anti-aging range! But their SPF mineral sunscreen is probably the best out there. I’ve tried so many different sunscreens – both chemical and mineral (and believe me it makes a difference in protection!) I made a IGTV video about it with my friend which you can see more on it here.
Face Theory Skincare - for skin and face cloths made from bamboo. I also use and really like their face wash a lot. It comes in a glass pump which means you never use too much.
Bybi Beauty – my favourite product of theirs so far is their bronzer which comes in a little pot, their Mega Mist spray is incredible. It makes your skin look dewy and plump. I poured some into a mini atomiser and I take it on long aeroplane flights and regularly spray my face and it makes me feel so fresh and shiny. I’m a bit obsessed. I interviewed the founders on my podcast Love What You Do ep #7 who are really inspiring. They did give me that little bronzer pot to try, but I bought the mist myself in Boots because it was Elsies favourite, and I can see why!
Green People UK has some nice moisturisers in a small pump which I’ve been using. I also really like their avocado and rose hip oil which I use nightly with a seaweed serum of theirs. I don’t find their branding particularly exciting, but their ingredients and product is actually really good and reasonably priced.
Bambaw Zerowaste - for reusable make up pads and corn floss! Used cotton pads apparently shouldn’t be flushed down the loo and can’t be recycled! So reusable pads are definitely the way to go!
Ethique is a NZ based company which has a huge following and seems to be particularly popular amongst my vegan friends. But I got a trial pack for Christmas. They are basically bars of shampoo, conditioner, face and body wash. It’s a different process than a liquid so may take a bit of time to get used to, but I actually really enjoyed using the shampoo and conditioner! I might get a bigger bar, I’m just not sure how to keep it in my shower without it leaving a mess.
Dandruff: Having black hair I’ve always had a bottle of Head n’ shoulders around just incase. But if you do suffer from the odd dry scalp, you could try Jason’s Natural Care dandruff shampoo. It’s quite smelly and to be honest I find it a bit over powering, but it’s a really good natural alternative if you’re not needing to use it regularly.
Loo Paper:
I received some samples a while back from a company called Smart Ass which is a pretty funny name. The toilet paper is made from sustainable bamboo and sugar cane waste. Their parent company is a NZ company called Decent Packaging who make compostable disposable products for the cafe industry. I’ve done work with them in the past on their video content so I learned a lot about them then. Initially the toilet paper didn’t feel as thick and plush as other readily available supermarket brands , but when I thought about it, and you’re literally wiping your butt and flushing it down the loo, why should it matter! So I did a bit of research into what the best value sustainable toilet paper is out there in the UK market (there are now quite a few), and this brand is the best value, and the best looking packaging by far. The other loo papers look a bit wack. So I bought a subscription to their product so that I don’t need to embarrassingly lug a huge 9 pack back from the supermarket because you get 42 rolls in a box! After using it for a while now, I don’t even notice any difference!
Dental Hygiene:
Natural tooth paste – Green People UK It’s takes a while to get used to because it doesn’t foam up like the regular toothpaste we are all probably used to, but I’m able to stick with it because I know it’s natural, organic and not harming to the environment. There are lots of toothpastes out there in jars, but that doesn’t work for me. My sister is a dentist so oral hygiene has always been important in our family. I did ask her opinion on natural toothpastes though, and she said that fluoride is really important in toothpaste because it helps repair decay, especially as you get older. This toothpaste doesn’t contain fluoride, so I’m wondering if maybe alternating it with a regular toothpaste or finding fluoride in other ways might be an option. Feel free to share your thoughts on this. Tbc.
Dental floss – is usually made from nylon, coated in wax and are not biodegradable. I’ve found a vegan dental floss made from corn. I bought a metal container with corn floss for travel (by sustainable company Bambaw Zerowaste ) and a glass container of corn floss for home by Better Eco (on amazon). They’re both really small and chic, and come with refills so no more little plastic dispensers!
My favourite re-usable coffee cups:
Sttoke – Is a non-breakable cup that has a ceramic inner. It looks chic and has a closable mouth piece too.
Café Concetto – metallic cups keep the heat in really well, and are a nice shape. I really like the look too. I even use it around the house.
Cleaning products:
I’ve been using Ecover dishwashing liquid for a while now, and I love it. One way not to over use it, is to put it in a glass pump bottle by the sink (I ended up reusing a soap dispenser that I had).
Method UK has natural window, anti-bacterial and lime scale sprays. I love the smell and feel so much better knowing that it’s made of non-toxic ingredients, especially as I have a cat!
I’m yet to use Splosh, but I’ve just ordered and received it – so will update this later. But the concept is refills… so you don’t keep buying bottles. You buy the bottles once, then order refills that comes in recycled and recyclable materials. You can always refill other branded existing empty bottles with the Splosh refills. I quite like the cardboard stacked like books in the cupboard too!
ECO Laundry Egg
I’ve been using an Eco Egg for about 6 months now. I love that it saves me money as well as knowing that it’s environmentally friendly. I just bought some replacement balls that are fragrant! I also was unsure about detergents irritating my skin as I sometimes get eczema and now I don’t need to worry or think about this or worry that I’ve run out of detergent! (which always used to happen. I try to limit my washing generally (part lazy, part me wanting to keep the quality of my clothes) and I think detergent is a rip off. But give this a go!
The BEST smelling eco-handwash:
Kankan – it’s a new hand-wash and even though I know one of the founders, it’s honestly the most incredible smelling hand-wash I’ve ever used. Their packaging is amazing and their refills come in aluminium recyclable cans. Genius! You get one glass bottle pump then just need to buy the refill cans. Mine is mandarin and sage. I wash my hands even when I don’t need to, just for the waft AND they plant a tree for every can sold.
https://www.kankan.london/
This one is for girls only:
When Mooncups came out I admit I was a bit grossed out and couldn’t imagine using one. But I’ve been using a menstrual cup for over a year now. It took a while to get used to, but do bare with it because it gets easier and actually more convenient. You could mix it up and use both to begin with. Don’t worry you’ll find your own rhythm and ways to use it efficiently. It’s also a good way to monitor how much blood you’re actually loosing each cycle.
Best thing is that in the long run you’ll also save a bunch of money! I really love it now and I feel so much better using these over bleached tampons and flushing it down the loo into the ocean! Here’s a link to this one I found on sale here