Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to say our goodbyes to our good friend, Plastic Toothbrush, who died recently after a battle with bamboo and a clash with Climate Change. But he died doing what he loves most: polluting the environment, and contaminating the ocean.
A love letter to Zero Bar SA
I remember our first time. You were so gentle and comforting, and for the rest of the day I thought of you whenever I ran my fingers through my hair. Not only did you make me feel good about myself, but you made me feel confident in my sustainable decisions. I was careful though, while I saw you everyday, I was hesitant to see all you had to offer. I liked the blue. I liked the familiar.
Toothpaste
Last year we decided that we would try some more ethical brands of toothpaste. The reason being that toothpaste tubes are generally not-recyclable and the commercial toothpastes often have harmful chemicals in them. We have subsequently tried three and I have two more (locally-sourced, unlike the others) for us to try. I thought I would do a little review of the ones we have used so far.
Beauty Product Journey
Disclaimer: I am still not doing this one properly. Goodness, I still have so much I would like to achieve or do better but small steps, right? For a long time I used makeup that was cheap. I LOVE makeup and never go out without some makeup on, but I also couldn’t justify spending massive…
How do we do this sustainability stuff during Covid-19?
Food is now stored in plastic, then covered in plastic and then wrapped in plastic and we pick that food up with our single-use-glove-covered hands while we breathe through our single-use masks and sanitise our hands with our single-use bacterial wipes. Plastic pervades our lives now not only because it’s the norm but because it is perceived to be safer. Is it safer?
Covid and me
Howzit Covid. Hello lockdown.
But I am privileged. I kept my job. I love my husband and he is the most fun. I have a great house. I didn’t suffer under the new restrictions. Sure, life was different; it was trickier; I felt a little out of my depth, but how dare I feel sad. How dare I feel hard-done-by. I have always been ready to face my privilege – I mean, the fact that I can write a blog about making sustainable purchases and environmentalism is in itself a privilege.
But I wasn’t okay.
Going Vegetarian
Eating a vegetarian diet is one of the best things you can do to stop climate change. Eating a veggie diet means 2.5 x less carbon emissions than a meat diet. A chicken breast takes over 542 litres of water to produce, which could fill up your bathtub 6.5 x. By eating vegetarian food for a year you could save the same amount of emissions as taking a small family car off the road for 6 months.
Toiletries
One of the things I discovered about living a green lifestyle is that once you start thinking about making a positive change to your lifestyle, that kind of thinking (that reduce-the-plastic mentality) you start to notice how plastic has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. This can be super overwhelming because it is SUPER hard to find alternatives.
Listen to the youth!
I am an English teacher and my kids had to do speeches recently. They had to choose a social issue and essentially persuade us (the teachers) to be on their side. I will do proper stats, but of all the speeches we’ve listened to so far (about 50), the majority (like 80% or more) have…
Safety Razor
Yes. That blade is sharp and if you have kids, it would not be advisable to leave the razor or the blades lying around. There are loads of videos online about how to use them that will scare the shit out of you – “angle the blade like this or you will die” is how I felt afterwards but I can honestly say that it is now so easy and simple and I very rarely knick myself – in fact, I would even say I cut myself open less.
Save the Sunflowers 