Sustainability? Where?
- Woman In The Middle
- Jan 26, 2020
- 4 min read
How dare you? We live in the age of Greta Thunberg. Love her or hate her, she's telling it straight. I strongly believe young people change the world, not boomers or bummers. However, what can an older young person (like myself) do to help the young generation change the world?
While I cannot change the quality of air outside my window (!), I am listing here all the things I have implemented in the past couple of years. I am sure that there are other things I could be doing and I am looking forward to your suggestions. Be kind.
1. Buying used clothes
I discovered quite a long time ago that buying new clothes doesn't really do it for me anymore. It seems like they've taken the fun out of it by making all clothes look the same. At least to me. Everywhere I go, there are the same boring brands and cuts. There is nothing new and exciting. Moan moan moan. The 90s were great in that respect, btw. So buying second hand can have its rewards. However, I do have a little bug bugging me. Buying second hand clothes does not mean they stop producing new clothes. They are still putting out loads more onto the market. So is this really helping?
2. Recycling
I do take the clothes that I don't wear and cannot donate (because they are horribly worn out or stained or whatever) to H&M as they are running a recycling program. I just load a sack and take it. They give you a small voucher for your next purchase, but I do it because it's just easy. I drop it, and they take care of it. Or so I thought.
Trying to link the details of their program to this article, I discovered that the Recycle With H&M page, under Sustainability, is actually not that, but this. Go figure.
3. Swap programs
A few months ago I helped a friend organise a clothes swap event. It turned out to be really fun, as everybody was really interested in the story of the garments rather than just swapping up and go. It was therapeutic in a way to present the back story of a dress that you can't wear anymore and make good wishes to the next owner. We would say things like, "oh - this dress is lucky because I wore it on a very special day but now it doesn't fit me anymore and you can have it, you look gorgeous in it." - and actually mean it. There was a good vibe, it was surprisingly successful.
Mind you, for the next event, I don't know what to take for a swap since I am not buying anything new that won't fit me.
4.Use a shopping bag
I don't get plastic bags anymore. Not even for vegetables. However, I find it hard to figure out how to NOT use plastic bin bags for our garbage. How? Anybody? Greta?
5. Recycle the cooking oil
Yes, I do. It's disgusting, but I do it. I used to call those people on bikes to collect it, but they are very slow in responding so now I take it to a recycling point myself. However, there are still people in the world who sadly don't know that cooking oil is recyclable.
6. Stop food waste
Since I discovered Jordan Page, I have changed a lot in how I approach my grocery shopping and now I even dabble in meal planning. Go me. I clean my fridge on a regular basis and try to use up the food that is about to expire. It's not like I didn't know I was supposed to do that before, I simply didn't focus on it. I cleaned the fridge whenever I felt like it, throwing out expired food like crazy. Bad bad bad. Now I cook and freeze in small bags and generally waste A LOT LESS. I use up what I have in the fridge, freezer, pantry.
7. Stop buying cleaning supplies
Cleaning the house using the microfibres with water and supplementing with bicarbonate soda + vinegar for other things like the kitchen sink and pot stains.
8. Support the Sustainable
I am supporting any initiative that is conscious of the environment. My friend I helped organise the Swap Fair with is going to launch a sustainable fashion brand. She became an ambassador for Re/make and as soon as she will bring a new baby into the world, she will continue her journey to make this thing real (watch this space for details).
The world definitely does need more initiatives like this. Like Repair Cafes. Or package-free aisles in the supermarket.
I do believe that it's not only the consumer that needs to change but also the makers, the companies, the providers. Making the plastic bags more expensive in the store is not going to stop people from using them, it will just make more money for the producer. And I will say this again: the fact that I am not using something, doesn't mean it's not ending up in a landfill. It should not be made in the first place.
If the new generation of entrepreneurs are focusing on developing alternatives, then I feel we have a standing chance for the future.
What else are you doing that I am not? What more can we do?
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