So this blog post is a personal life hack of mine. When I work out, I like to wear sweaters. Now, these sweaters are not always athletic sweaters, but simple sweaters that I buy just to wear on a day-to-day basis. I like to go running in these sweaters because they’re comfortable and warm. However, when I go running with these sweaters, the sleeves tend to run up my arm. I prefer the sweaters to cover my wrist and not bunch up when I’m running. I like the running sweaters that are designed with thumb loops, but they tend to be more expensive as well. Since I love my sweaters that I wear day to day, I decided to create my own thumb loops for my sweaters.
It’s a very simple process to create these thumb loops. First, I laid down my sweater where the sleeve lay flat on the table. I located the center line of the sleeve, and then chose to locate my thumb loop on the bottom half of the sleeve, but on the cuff of the sleeve. I found the center line of the bottom half of the sleeve, and I decided to locate my new thumb loop there.
When I wear my sweaters, my hand falls naturally to my side, in which my thumb faces towards the front of my body. This is why I located the thumb loop on the bottom half of the sleeve.
I wanted my thumb loop to be 1 inch in length and about half an inch from the bottom of the sleeve cuff. Using scissors, I cut a small slit that was 1 inch in length.
For my right sleeve, I used the same process as I did with the left sleeve. I located the center line of the right sleeve, and then located the center of the bottom half of the sleeve. I cut a one inch slit that was half an inch away from the bottom of the sleeve cuff.
I removed my extension table in order for the sleeve to fit underneath the presser foot of the machine. I slid the left cuff over the needle plate and started to sew the edge of the thumb loop. I used a tight zigzag stitch, so the fabric would hold up during washes and use. Since I knew that these thumb loops would go through a bit of wear and tear, I used the back stitch lever to create a strong and permanent attachment at the ends of the thumb loops.
The back stitch lever created the heavy and thicker starting points and end points of the outline of the thumb loops.
I flipped my left sleeve inside out, and continued to outline the other side of this thumb loop. I used the zigzag stitch again and used the back stitch lever so both ends of the opening would have an even reinforcement, of the thumb loop.
When I turned my sweater inside out, the thumb loops were finally finished being created. I use this hack on both of my sweaters, so now the sleeves won’t run up my arms when I workout.
This is a really simple hack for an issue that I dealt with on a daily basis. Although I know my thumbs will stick outside of my sleeves, when I run,they don’t get too cold. Sometimes I will run with my running gloves when the weather drops too low, so technically, my hands are still warm. Some people prefer to not have the thumb loops, but I like to keep my wrists covered when I run. This hack took less than 30 minutes to create and finish, so it didn’t take much time out of my day at all. I hope this hack will inspire other hacks that you might be needing in your life.
I realized that with living a minimalist lifestyle, there are a lot of assumptions about people who live this lifestyle. Minimalists are seen as people who own very few possessions and despise consumerism. There are a number of images that float around on the internet in which bare, white walls, and minimal items are featured in homes. I rarely see images of minimalist homes that hold large possessions. They usually feature the essentials in the kitchen, bedrooms, living room, bathrooms and the rest of the house. I never seem to come across images of minimalist homes that also own sports gear.
However, not all minimalists own the bare minimum in their homes, and not all minimalists stick with the typical standard. I personally do not own a lot of possessions anymore. However, there are activities in my life that do involve large possessions, that I have not given up. In my past blog posts, I have shared the contents of my capsule wardrobe, but I actually do have sports gear that does not get counted into my wardrobe. It’s not counted because it is not daily wear and I only use those sporting clothes on a seasonal basis. I still have my surfing gear and my snowboarding gear that I didn’t count into my capsule wardrobe. My running gear stays active year round, but it’s still not day to day wear.
In my surfing gear bag, I own a wet suit, rash guard, swim suits and board shorts. Since surfing season usually occurs in the summer, I’ll wear clothing pieces from my capsule wardrobe once I change out of my wet suit. Surfing doesn’t require as many specialty clothing pieces compared to snowboarding, so my surfing bag is significantly smaller.
With my love for snowboarding, comes my snowboard, snow boots, and all my riding gear. My riding gear includes my helmet, goggles and neck gaiter. I actually snowboard with a backpack that has emergency items in it, in case my friends or I get into a sticky situation on the mountains. It helps to be prepared to help another person who might be stuck in the snow, when snowboarding. I carry extra snow gear for strangers in case I do need to wait for help to come.
I don’t limit how much clothing I have for each sport, but I also don’t own an excessive amount of clothing per sport either. I’ve gone snowboarding for many years, and I own enough clothing pieces that can last me the entire trip. The longest snowboarding trip I’ve taken, was a one week trip and I always had enough clothing to last me the whole trip. My riding gear never changes, but once we get off the mountain, I’ll change into regular clothes. Usually the temperatures are so cold, I’ll sometimes wear my snow pants and jacket just to stay warm, even after I get off the mountain. I am conscious about how many pieces I have per sport. I have a set bag that I use for each sports, and everything fits in each bag.
Since I run on a daily basis, I have running shorts, sports bras, pants, shirts, sweaters and thermals that can last me year round. I only have two of each clothing piece, but so far, this amount is working for me.
I’ve always loved to play sports and sports have always been a part of my life. When I started my minimalist lifestyle, I didn’t know how other people dealt with their sport clothing, or accessories that come with each sport. I never mentioned it, because it seemed “unminimalistic” of me to hang onto my sport items. The minimalist lifestyle images that I came across on the internet, never included sport items so I felt that my lifestyle needs was somewhat out of place. Everyone seemed to live with the bare minimum. But I love the sports I participate in. I love my running gear, my snowboarding gear and my surfing gear. They make me happy, and when I’m gliding down the mountain or sitting on the ocean, I’m so very thankful that I have the opportunity to experience those places. So my minimalist lifestyle includes my capsule wardrobe, my sporting gear, my ceremonial Vietnamese dresses and a few other items. And although, I don’t live with an excessive amount of clothing, I don’t seem to fit the minimalist standard either. With the implementation of minimalism into my life and knowing that I don’t exactly fit the images I find on the internet, I still wouldn’t have it any other way.
So I’ve written a lot about the benefits of living a minimalist lifestyle, but I admit, there were adjustments during the process as well. I tend to talk about the positive benefits of minimalism, and living a minimalist lifestyle, but I never talk about the struggles that I had to go through. There are a few drawbacks when it comes to a minimalist lifestyle, especially when starting out.
A lot of The process is trying to figure out your footprint and how you want to go about living in this lifestyle. Categorizing your life from daily routines to evening routines, what is necessary and unnecessary, and then going room by room to illuminate items is a bit daunting. Sometimes, this can be a guessing game where a small pile of “maybe items” gets created. That pile did come in helpful though, and it lived in a closet for awhile.
However, if you think through the declutering process slowly and carefully, having regrets will not likely be the end result. With everything you own in this world, everything can technically be replaced. During my decluttering process, that temporary pile really helped me out. It helped me mentally and emotionally detach room the object, which made it easier to part with. Once I knew that I hadn’t pulled anything from the pile out in awhile, I would donate that pile.
Here are some Pros and Cons with transitioning to a minimalist lifestyle:
Pros:
Less clutter
More organized
Save money
Value experiences over stuff
Cleaning is easier
More time to enjoy your life
Freedom
Less stress after getting rid of toxic “friends”
You’ll spend your time better because you’ll be more organized and you’ll know what to do.
You’ll have fewer tasks simply because you’ll be fully aware of your priorities.
You’ll have more money because you’ll spend money only on the essential things;
You’ll clean your home faster simply because you’ll have fewer things;
You will know what to wear because you’ll be wearing pretty much the same clothes every day.
You’ll be more focused and more productive.
Cons:
Accidentally getting rid of something you later need
You might look poor
Spouse might not be willing to adopt a minimalist lifestyle, causing arguments
If you have kids, they will always want stuff and while they can’t have everything, as a parent you don’t want to be cruel.
If you love shopping, minimalism will not come easy to you.
Not everyone will understand what you’re doing. Probably your spouse won’t be happy with your decision and you’ll have conflicts. Your kids, well, they are kids. They will want more stuff all the time.
It’s hard to resist new cool gadgets especially if you love technology.
Admittedly, I have donated items in which I did have regrets about, but those items were not meaningful items. They were items that were simply useful to specific situations. More so, my adjustment to this lifestyle was an adjustment for those closest to me. When the holidays or my birthday, rolled around, it was difficult for me to explain to my gift giving family members that I didn’t want physical gifts. If I had to choose a gift, I just wanted to spend time with them, and share a meal. Sometimes that went over well, sometimes it didn’t.
There were also moments, when I wanted to buy a particular product, but I really had no need for it. I’m human, and I still have desires to own certain products because it’s technically it’s an upgrade to something I own. I always end up lecturing myself and reminding myself of the many reasons why I don’t need it. I still like cool products. I still like interesting clothing. I still have wants that I have to pull back on. This will never go away, so I just have to figure out an exit plan, each time it does come up. Most of the time, I default to the responsibility of maintaining the new item. That’s usually the ultimate reason why I won’t end up buying a product.
There are always benefits and drawbacks to every lifestyle. These lists are the items I remembered about my experience with the transition. Even though there are drawbacks to living minimally, the gains outweigh the losses. the change in my mindset also helped me transition to the lifestyle easier, because I realized that I didn’t need much to be happy to begin with. If you want to test out this lifestyle for awhile, I highly recommend it. Make use of the “maybe pile”, if you unsure about donating an item. Think through your decisions, and enjoy the process along the way. It can be a wonderful learning experience, and you may discover that you are happier, owning less items.
The principals of simple living, describe a minimalist lifestyle pretty well. Minimalism itself, is more commonly used to describe art, “A trend in sculpture and painting that arose in the 1950s and used simple, typically massive, forms.”
In the last decade, minimalism has become more mainstream, and has grown in popularity. Through social media, and the release of the documentary, “Minimalism”, it has gained quite the following.
To use the word minimalism as a lifestyle, we have to look at the definition of simple living. Simple living encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one’s lifestyle. These may include, reducing one’s possessions, or increasing self-sufficiency. Simple living may be characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they have rather than want.
People who practice simple living, may do so for a variety of reasons. Some may live this lifestyle for personal reasons such as spirituality, health, increase in quality time for family and friends, work–life balance, personal taste, financial sustainability, frugality, or reducing stress.
Simple living or minimalist lifestyle is a conscious decision to live with less material possessions, and refrain from excessive materialism and excessive consumerism. Minimalism doesn’t necessarily mean that you are only allowed to live with the bare minimum to maintain your life, but to live without the excessive items that don’t add to your life.
When I started my transition to a more minimalist lifestyle, I noticed a change in my mindset as well as the time spent on my daily routine. Choosing outfits on a daily basis became easier and my life became easier to manage. I didn’t waste time on maintaining unnecessary possessions or routines. I simplified my life by only keeping possessions that are important to me, and letting go of the rest. It was a conscious decision for me to transition to this lifestyle; it just made more sense to me. I sought out happiness where my possessions did not fulfill. Granted, I still love to dress up for parties, gatherings or to go out to dinner, but I did get rid of all of the other unnecessary items.
I’ve never regretted my transition to a minimalist lifestyle. As time has passed, I have evaluated and continue to re-evaluate possessions that I might still want to donate. I always look for more methods to design my life to become ever more simplistic; it never ends.
I enjoy life more now, than I ever did before. I enjoy going to cafes and drinking my coffee on the weekend mornings. Enjoying every sunset I can take in, and being thankful to even experience it. I love having conversations during a good meal. I love going outside to spend time in nature and I love to spend time with family and friends. I love white walls, a clean floor and clean surfaces. My home brings me peace and my space is serene. Minimalism has changed my life in so many ways. Over ten years ago, my life changed for the better, and I can never go back to the way I used to live.
So I’m a simple girl which means I have simple ways of organizing my life as well. Since I am a minimalist, I actually don’t own a lot of jewelry. So, I thought I would show you how I organize my jewelry.
When I was a kid, my necklace always became tangled, no matter how I seemed to store it. I didn’t really figure out how I wanted to organize my jewelry until later on. Parts of my jewelry organization was due to the fact that I didn’t have that much jewelry to organize when I get older. It actually really helps my life to organize less stuff than more stuff.
I thought I would show you how I organize my necklaces, bracelets, and earrings
For my necklaces I like to use a Velcro strap, in which all I have to do is grab the Velcro loop and my necklaces fall naturally in an organized fashion, due to gravity. I also use a Velcro strap to organize my bracelets. For some of my necklaces I like to use a binder ring, because the design gets caught on the Velcro, when I lift it up. But for the most part, I’ll use Velcro straps. I also like using the Velcro straps due to the flexibility that it allows. If I need more space, to organize my jewelry, it allows that need.
I use a Velcro strap to organize my bracelets. One of my bracelets is fairly wide in shape so I needed something that was flexible to it.
My earrings are organized a fairly special way. I never really had a clear way of organizing my earrings up until I just thought, “Why not just attach them to a piece of fabric?”. So that’s exactly what I did. I sewed a piece of extra fabric to the inside of my jewelry pouch, and I just attach my earrings to the fabric. I actually pre-punch holes using a pushpin something generic and I just attach my earrings to those pre-made holes. I like this design because of the fact that the earrings don’t get lost and the backing of the earrings are still protected by the extra piece of fabric.
The fabric piece flips out, to access the earrings easier. I also keep my extra earring backings on a small safety pin that’s attached to a ring. I have quite a few extra earring backings, so, I have quite a few safety pins on the ring.
I created an extra detachable fabric earring piece for traveling as well. This travel earring organizer is used when I need to use different backpacks or bags while traveling. It’s used for trips when I don’t want to bring my entire jewelry pouch.
I organize my rings in a similar manner, where I keep them organized on a small necklace chain. The necklace chain for my rings is kept with my other necklaces. It’s easy to lift up the necklace chain and have the rings fall naturally. When I travel, I will keep my rings organized on a carbiner, but most of the time, they stay on a necklace chain. They don’t get tangled, and they stay organized, due to the sequence I arranged them in.
So, that’s how I organize my jewelry. If I ever acquire more jewelry, or a bigger bag, I’ll likely use the same techniques and system that I have for this bag. Hopefully, some of the methods I’ve shown you here, might spark and idea for your organization system.
Sustainable fashion is a movement and process of fostering change to fashion products and the fashion system towards greater ecological integrity and social justice. Sustainable fashion concerns more than addressing fashion textiles or products. It comprises addressing the whole system of fashion.
There are seven different routes to sustainable fashion. There’s more than one answer to be fashionably responsible. Not all of the methods to approaching sustainable fashion, suits all people equally, because we all have different needs and preferences.
There are seven different moving sections to sustainable fashion.
Sustainable Fashion can be broken down into seven categories:
On Demand & Custom Made
Made to order
Tailor made
DIY
Green & Clean
Keeping a green and clean production process throughout the products life cycle
High Quality & Timeless Design
Traditional production
Artisan crafts
Animal rights
Fair & Ethical Fashion
Fair Trade: According to Fair Trade USA, products that get to bear the “Fair Trade” logo “come from farmers and workers who are justly compensated.”
Ethical: The Ethical Fashion Forum says that “Ethical fashion represents an approach to the design, sourcing and manufacture of clothing which maximizes benefits to people and communities while minimizing impact on the environment.”
Repair, Redesign & Upcycle
Repair clothing so that you can give it a longer life
You can redesign clothes to customize it into a unique piece
If you don’t plan on wearing or using the clothing item, you can upcycle it into another use
Rent, Lease & Swap
Rent or lease formal wear, so you can keep your wardrobe quantity under control, and you’ll get to choose from more options
Swap clothes with your neighbors, friends and family
Secondhand & Vintage
Shop at second hand stores or swap with neighbors, friends and and family.
These multiple methods to support a more sustainable fashion industry, and can be adopted by everyone. There really isn’t one “correct” method to the sustainable fashion route. I wanted to mention these seven methods, because I know I’ve written about creating my own DIY clothing from existing pieces, as well as shopping at thrift stores, but I’ve never listed all of the different methods to support a more sustainable fashion industry.
Under the accordance of sustainability, recycled clothing upholds the principle of the “Three R’s of the Environment”: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, as well as the “Three Legs of Sustainability”: Economics, Ecology, and Social Equity. To change the existing fashion industry into a more sustainable system, we need to practice reducing waste, reusing textile materials, and recycling old textiles. The balance between the social, economic and environmental responsibilities needs to be taken into account as well.
Sustainable fashion takes a lot of self awareness from the entire fashion industry. It means actively working with the countries and farmers who take care of the materials we source, to create our textiles. We also need to make responsible decisions that won’t damage our resources or harm our environment. I buy a lot of clothing from thrift stores because I like the variety of options I can choose from. Walking into a thrift store, is like walking into a time capsule, and it’s a fun experience for me. I also upcycle a lot of my clothing pieces that have reached the end of their life. For clothes and textiles I want to keep, but I don’t want to wear, I will upcycle the items into something more useful for my life.
If you want to support a more sustainable fashion industry, consider adopting and practicing at least one of the seven methods that support the sustainable fashion industry. You can choose more than one method to support this much needed system. If possible, try to implement all seven methods into your wardrobe collection.
I definitely have plastics in the bathroom. I did try to transition to glass bottles for my bathroom products, but the glass was too slippery and didn’t seem efficient. When it comes to products are used in the bathroom, I do have a set amount of items that I can refill. However, there are items that do come in plastic packaging and plastic bottles, that end up being recycled or go into the landfill.
I have bottles that I refill for my Dr. Bronner’s liquid peppermint soap, my body lotion, and my conditioner. I use bar soaps a lot, so I buy bar soaps that either don’t have packaging at all, or come in recyclable paper packaging.
For the items that do come in plastic packaging, that includes my sunblock, my face moisturizer as well as dental floss.
My bathroom isn’t completely zero waste. I do use plastic containers and refill them as needed. And for specialty items, they come in plastic containers. I wish sunblock didn’t come in plastic containers, but so far, mine do. I think it’s entirely possible to have zero waste bathroom though; mine just isn’t. When it comes to my conditioner, I will transfer some of it into a larger stainless steel water bottle, and add water to dilute the formula. I’ve noticed that my hair responds better when my hair doesn’t have residue left over from the conditioner. For my other items that come in plastic containers such as dental floss, face moisturizer, I haven’t found a good alternative is for my skin yet. I’ll keep looking though, I think the battle is always on going when it comes to striving for a zero waste lifestyle.
Truth be told, you start small, start with baby steps. You have to look at this challenge as the fact that you’ve accumulated your items over a period of time, technically, your entire life. Don’t look at decluttering your home all at once as a whole, that’s too overwhelming and no one needs that.
When I initially started minimizing my possessions, I envisioned a goal for myself, that applied to each area of what I wanted to tackle. The vision didn’t include everything that I would end up decluttering, but there was a feeling of peace and tranquility I was seeking. I wanted to see more space between my possessions, clean surfaces, simplistic routines and a more uniform look with my wardrobe. I started out by going from room to room, and I filtered through items that I knew I did not use anymore, or would not use in the future; items that I kept “just in case I need it”. Getting rid of definite YES items was easy, but then I would make a pile of MAYBE items. I always gave myself a few days, and would then return to the MAYBE pile of items, and see how I felt. Almost every time, I returned to the MAYBE pile, I never kept the items. The initial shock and emotional attachment I had when contemplating about getting rid of a possession, was a feeling I had to recognize and get used to.
I started with my bedroom because it was the easiest room to declutter. It’s a lot easier to declutter your personal items versus communal areas. The biggest area to tackle in the bedroom, was my closet, specifically my wardrobe. I created three piles. One pile was for items that I frequently wore, one pile was for items I knew I did not wear at all or that I had not worn in a very long time, and the last pile was the maybe pile. If I was unsure about any items that I wanted to keep, I would hide them from my view. What I mean by that, is I would hide in the closet; literally, a closet. The reason why I did this was because I wanted to make sure that I didn’t need the possession emotionally or physically. Most of the time when I hid my items, I really didn’t need them any longer. I was still emotionally attached to the possession, and that’s what my hesitation was. Hiding items out of view, out of sight is an emotional training method that I use to really test my need for the object. I didn’t end up hiding too many objects.
Also, for my wardrobe, I adopted a capsule wardrobe. A capsule wardrobe is a collection of clothing for a season. There are many different types of capsule wardrobes, and it really boils down to your own preference and climate. Some people have seasonal capsule wardrobes, in which they have a set wardrobe for each changing season. Some people will combine seasons so that they may have a set of clothes for the colder seasons and then one for the warmer seasons. Some have year round capsule wardrobes, which they don’t change out their clothes at all. The set number of garments they have, they will use for the entire year. I have a year round capsule wardrobe. My capsule wardrobe also sticks to a specific color palette, so when I do buy a new piece item, I can only choose from that palette. It actually makes shopping easier, since I only look for certain colors and certain styles. When I started my capsule wardrobe, I started with 30 items, but it’s now become a 40 item capsule wardrobe. I’m more comfortable with 40 items, since life has changed a bit.
For my bathroom, I evaluated my morning and nighttime routine and really set a goal of what I wanted out of those routines. Honestly, I just wanted a simple routine. I didn’t want to constantly buy products and spend my money on questionable personal care items. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the mornings to get ready. At night, I don’t mind as much if my routine takes a bit longer, since I’m still trying to wind down; in the morning though, I want to get out the door.
So, I used up all of the bathroom products I knew I didn’t need, or were items that were not ideal for my lifestyle. I invested in vegan makeup and replaced toxic chemicals in my bathroom, with non toxic products. I cleared off my vanity counter and reduced the items I needed to maintain a clean bathroom. The irony was that the more products I had, the more complicated my morning and evening bathroom routines were. You’d be surprised how many products you don’t really need, and how toxic those products really are to your health. By simplifying the items in my bathroom, I was re-setting my expectations and standards for myself.
I went through each room and each area, and applied the same methods. I would first evaluate why I didn’t like the space or wasn’t happy about the space, and then I would envision what I wanted to feel, see, when I entered the room. I would then evaluate each item and really ask myself, “Is this necessary? Why do I still have this?”
Eliminating items can be a difficult process, and it’s not going to be quick. It will feel like a mess when you first start, but it gets easier. And the likelihood, is that you’re going to re-evaluate your items repeatedly over time.
Marie Kondo uses her KonMarie Method in which, she will tell her clients to take all of their items out and lay them in a large pile, for each category. She created this step in the process, so the client could see everything they had accumulated. We’re good at hiding our clutter. We hide our clutter in drawers, cabinets, and inside of other items. Laying everything out in the open can feel embarrassing, even shameful. But it’s a good thing, because everyone is good at hiding their possessions.
To this day, I STILL will walk around my house and go through each drawer, cabinet, shelf, etc. to make sure I still find all my possessions necessary.
My main goal when I started my minimalist lifestyle, was simplicity. I wanted more room and less stuff. I wanted more time in my life, and less stuff to take care of. I wanted non-toxic products in my home and that took time to research and educated myself on alternative solutions. I wanted to feel like my walls were breathing and my spaces were tranquil. That was my ultimate goal. In order to get to that point, I had to break down where my routines and spaces were not bringing me that tranquility.
More time in my life, meant that I could enjoy life and not feel pressured to run errands or maintain a possession. I could go to the beach more, go on more hikes, spend more time with family and friends, or simply enjoy doing nothing… but more.
Living a minimalist lifestyle doesn’t necessarily mean to purge all of your possessions. The concept is to really only keep items that matter to you; the rest is unnecessary. Hopefully this post will help you start living a minimalist lifestyle, if you’re looking to start one. I will say that starting this lifestyle was one of the best decisions I had ever made in my life and there’s no going back to what it was before.
Towards the end of each year, I like to think about what goals I’d like to set out for myself for the following year. Each year lends itself to different points in my life so my goals change as I change and get older. I tend to break down my goals into three categories: daily goals, weekly goals and yearly goals. This is what I came up with…
Daily Goals:
Spend more time outdoors. Learn to enjoy nature again. Make a habit of taking a weekly walk outside. We have become so used to live in our houses and in our cars, many people have no idea what nature looks like anymore.
Take Care of yourself by scheduling time for yourself. Even reading a book for an hour a day counts!
Exercise your body for a happy mind, or maybe a quick morning meditation.
Keep a journal.
Read a book or a magazine, take a break from technology.
Get enough sleep.
Weekly Goals:
Make your home efficient. By now, I assume most of you have switched to CFL lightbulbs – so it’s time to take home efficiency to the next level. Check your house for heat loss (there are companies specialised in this if you don’t feel expert enough) and make it your DIY project to fix them. If you haven’t yet, lower the thermostat during the night. The ideal temperature to sleep is around 16 degrees Celsius or 60 degree Fahrenheit. If that’s too cold for you, do it in steps – half a degree less each month. You might realise you even sleep better – and you will see it on your heating bill!
Pick seasonal and local fruits and vegetables. While it can be tempting to eat strawberries in winter, when they have been imported from halfway across the planet or grown in energy-hungry greenhouses, they’re hardly sustainable. Do some research into what is naturally grown in your area in the season, and prefer these. This way, you’ll also rediscover the pleasure of meals changing with the seasons!
Take your bicycle out of the shed. People who re-start cycling to work and/ or the supermarket often say that it’s lovely to rediscover their neighborhood that way. In fact, unless you live in a very mountainous area, this could be the most relaxing resolution you take!
Use public transport more. Granted, in the middle of the mountains or when there is half metre of snow outside your door, cycling sounds less appealing. If that’s the case where you live, start using public transport to go to work and the supermarket. If public transport connections are poor in your area, then it’s time to wake up the local campaigner in you and ask for it – make 2018 the year when your community stood up for sustainability.
Take recycling to the next level. You probably have two different bins in your kitchen, sorting your waste to have it recycled. It doesn’t end here though. In 2018, try to reduce the amount picked up by the garbage truck. If you have a garden, start your own compost. When you’re at the supermarket, prefer products that are not over packaged (you know the one: plastics wrapped in plastic, itself wrapped in cardboard…). If there are too many of these items in your local supermarket, time to start campaigning! Write to the store manager and express your concerns – and convince your neighbours to do so as well.
Yearly Goals:
Become a toxic-free household. This might take a while in research, so plan to do it over the whole year. From beauty products to clothes detergent and computer parts, we have become used to toxics products in our daily lives. Time to stop it. When buying new products, check what they are made of, and pick the one that will have the least toxic residues.
Keep your electronics for the year. New cellphone? Must absolutely have the latest iPad? How about the newly released gaming console? Our consumption of electronics is reaching records. Make a break, and promise not to buy new electronics this year, unless the one you already have breaks down (and when it does, ensure it is recycled properly!).
I usually push my daily goals because those goals are habit forming. When it comes to the monthly goals, I’ll set time aside on the weekends to work on them. The yearly goals are scheduled where I’ll tackle them by picking a day of the week and focusing on one yearly goal. The good thing about the way the goals are organized, is that the daily goals are the hardest to tackle, but you get to continuously work on them throughout the year. The daily goals are more focused on personal reflections, so it’s a nice reminder to not forget about taking care of yourself on a day to day basis. These are my goals that I’ve come up with, What are some of your goals you’d like to reach in the upcoming year?
Check out some other Sustainable New Year’s Resolutions from some other fellow bloggers:
Design Life Hacks 