Are you interested in eco-friendly living? It’s definitely been a process for me to “go green.” Keep reading for a year-in-review and an update on my sustainability journey.
If I’m honest, February is a pretty ugly month in Minnesota. It’s full of dirty snow, cold weather, and no random vacation days to look forward to. However, it’s also the month I get to call my birthday month, which helps to break up its dreariness. If you’re like my deeply introverted husband, then you may prefer that no one knows when your birthday is. However, if you’re more like me, I consider my birthday to be a much bigger deal than a one-day celebration. It’s really like a celebration week…or month! Truly, I’m not opposed to buying myself birthday gifts at any point in the year.
Jokes aside, I thought my birthday month would be the perfect time to talk about what sparked my passion for sustainable living. If you want to know a little more about me in general, feel free to visit my Meet Maggie page. However, this blog post will focus more on my “why.” Why I choose to live sustainably, what that means for me, and where I’m at in the journey. In fact, I think this is something I will continue to do once a year. I would love for this community to keep me accountable to my eco-friendly goals. We’ll call it the Magnificent Chronicles of My Sustainability Journey (a working movie title…just kidding). I’m excited to share my heart for the planet with you in hopes that you will comment and share about your own.
Simple Living
Living simply has been engrained in me since childhood. With two musicians for parents, putting down roots wasn’t the norm. We moved a decent amount when I was a child and travelled quite a bit overseas for mission and humanitarian work. I learned to pack a suitcase as a tiny tot, travel light, and feel at home anywhere. And that’s because home wasn’t in the “things” for me – it was with the people I loved. And this is where my sustainability journey really began. It was the idea that being happy wasn’t directly related to items that were easily disposable.
That being said, simplicity felt harder the older and busier I got. Ever-changing fashion and on-the-go eating are probably some of the biggest culprits for waste. And up through college, I was still dependent on other people determining my lifestyle to some degree. But after college, I found myself wanting to breathe in my living space. It was exciting to create my own lifestyle. And I knew that I wanted to have fewer material things that I loved and valued more. With owning fewer possessions, I enjoyed the added perk of less clutter too!
Sustainability Journey: Checkpoint 1
So, where am I at these days with simple living? I wouldn’t call myself a full-on Marie Kondo fanatic, but I do embrace many of the principles of minimalism. And I think that minimalism and sustainability really go hand-in-hand. One of the biggest inspirations to switch to an eco-friendly lifestyle was the realization that my material possessions should be priced fairly in order to support the workers. Therefore, I prioritize higher quality over quantity. And with that, I value small and local businesses, eco-friendly fabrics and materials, and the fair treatment of workers.
Trouble Spot: Fast Fashion
This is probably true for many of us, but fast fashion is a hard cycle to break when switching to a simple lifestyle. I used to be a bit of a clothes horse who “never had anything to wear”. Let’s face it – the retail industry knows how to market to get us to buy! And I totally understand wanting to look good, but I’m no longer interested in looking good at the expense of the environment. The cold hard facts are that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all human carbon emissions and is the second largest water-supply consumer. After this major conviction, I decided it was time to change my clothing patterns. Here are some steps I’m taking:
- Keeping a list of the items I truly need
- Knowing the environmental impact of different fabrics and buying accordingly
- Buying from sustainable companies
- Shopping secondhand (especially if I’m looking for something trendy)
If you’re interested in learning more about the environmental dangers of fast fashion, check out my blog post, Earth and Wallet Friendly Fashion.
Brands to Check Out
One of the blessings of sustainable fashion is that eco-friendly brands market and run their companies differently. The companies that I love value fair wages for their employees, high-quality items, and timeless pieces. Better yet, they are transparent about the environmental impact of their businesses. These companies use less water, monitor their carbon emissions, and are creative with their fabric materials. Since there are many sustainable brands to love, here are a handful of my favorites to represent different categories:
- Pact Clothing (Cotton Basics)
- Mate the Label (Loungewear)
- United by Blue (Outdoor Wear)
- Tradlands (Timeless Staples)
- Reformation (Dresses)
- Warp + Weft (Denim)
- Organic Basics (Intimates)
- Girlfriend Collective (Activewear)
Respect the Circle of Life
Another huge factor in my sustainability journey has been learning more about the natural order of the universe or the “circle of life” (cue music). Basically, I’m starting to recognize the ways my choices impact the planet as a whole and then come back to impact me again. There’s that whole circle thing (cue music round two). It’s hard for me not to change after seeing how much single use plastics and other disposables hurt the environment. There are some impactful documentaries out there like A Plastic Ocean that definitely opened my eyes further.
Sustainability Journey: Checkpoint 2
There are many ways I know I can better respect and care for the planet. As a Christian, I feel strongly that God calls me to take care of the earth. But regardless of religious beliefs, caring for the earth should be a no-brainer for all of us. Why? Because we need water to live, so we should be careful about polluting it. And animals are an essential part of our ecosystem, so they shouldn’t be drowning in oil spills or choking on plastic. Some of these things I can help control as an individual, others need to be handled on a larger scale.
I feel like I’m doing pretty well choosing eco-friendly beauty products and household goods, as well as eliminating things like plastic wrap and paper towels from my life. However, there is one area that I find much more difficult, and I think you’ll understand why!
Trouble Spot: Grocery Shopping
Oh, the woes of the single-use plastics. It’s not easy to grocery shop on a budget and avoid plastic. While I would love to say that I live 100% zero waste, grow my own food, and bike everywhere, that wouldn’t be honest. I live in Minnesota where I’m pretty sure it is winter nine months out of the year, so grocery shopping is definitely one of the most difficult parts of my sustainability journey. While I love going to the farmer’s market once a week from the late spring through early fall, after that point, I rely on the grocery store for produce. For me, the difficulty is finding the balance between getting proper nutrition and sticking to a budget, all while avoiding plastic. Any other eco-friendly enthusiasts feel this struggle? This is how I do my best:
- Visit stores that offer a bulk aisle selection
- Bring my own grocery bags
- Choose non-plastic options when I can
- Not losing sleep over the areas where I have no choice (e.g. berries)
The sustainability journey is all about each of us doing the best we can – doing our part. I know that I can’t control everything, so I’m trying to be accountable in the areas where I can make a change.
Twin Cities Stores with Bulk Aisles:
For my Twin Cities’ friends, check out a few of the stores where I shop that offer bulk foods. I’m sure there are many more, so comment below with stores in your area that offer bulk food selection.
Tare Market in Twin Cities, MN
Personal Health
I feel like it’s an assumption that if you live sustainably, you’re also vegan or at least a health nut. I think that’s a bit of a misconception, but I do think there’s a grain of truth. It’s hard to ignore the value of fresh produce when you value the earth. While I am personally not vegan or vegetarian, I do care more about how my food is raised. I’ve struggled with disordered eating throughout my life and developing a healthy relationship with food has been difficult. I do think that because of this, I care more about what I’m eating. But caring no longer means calorie counting or labelling foods as “good or bad”.
Sustainability Journey: Checkpoint 3
The meat industry, in particular, is responsible for an incredible amount of land and water use, as well as pollution. We’re talking 500 million tons of manure (eww!) every year that pollutes groundwater and the air. Choosing to live “green” has definitely opened my eyes to how sustainability and my personal health are connected.
One of the biggest changes we’ve made in our little family of two has been to join a meat CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Though I am not a big meat eater, I struggle with the idea of being fully vegetarian. However, there are just so many problems with how animals are treated in the conventional meat industry. Joining a meat CSA felt like a balanced solution. And TC Farms isn’t just any meat farm. They are a small, local farm that upholds sustainable values.
Trouble Spot: Eating Seasonally
Living in a cold climate, eating seasonally is not a walk in the park. Half the time it’s too cold here to comfortably walk in a park. But there are a lot of health and environmental reasons to eat seasonally. Some of these reasons include land overuse concern, pollution from transport vehicles, and extra pesticide use to help produce survive travel. But let’s be real, there’s very little produce in season year-round in Minnesota. What to do, what to do? A few things I’ve tried to do:
- Buy organic when possible (knowing the dirty dozen is helpful)
- Look at where the produce is from (travel distance)
- Visit farmer’s markets during the growing season
- Can and preserve fresh produce from the summer
Again, I’m not going to lose sleep over snacking on some berries in the winter. But we are certainly stocked in the sweet potato department right now.
Go Green Goals
Increasing awareness is good, but I never want to overwhelm people with my passion for sustainability. There are already enough things to worry about in this world. My goal is to support everyone no matter where they are in their sustainability journey. And I hope that I will be held accountable in return!
Where are you at with all of this, my friends? Do you have “go green” goals? Just remember to breathe and take each day at a time. Little eco-friendly decisions are something to be proud of too. Well, this wraps up my sustainability report for this year. There will be many sequels to come (but probably no movie…).
Be Well. With Love.
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