When I am not at work, paddleboarding or cooking I’ve been doing a bit of research… mostly reading posts done by zero waste bloggers, passionate ocean lovers and environmentalists. And from that I am gathering more information and increasing my own understanding of what it means to live a low-er impact life.
This lifelong journey is more than just my story about how or why I ‘quit plastic’. My ultimate goal is to live a low-waste lifestyle. True “zero” waste is a lofty goal unless you are 100% self sufficient, which I am not. Trash is inevitable in some shape or form… think of your rubbish like the tip of the iceberg, only a fraction of the waste produced is visible to us, the consumer, the rest is lost in manufacturing, hidden below the surface. I am aware that just because I completed a #plasticfree food shopping trip, there was inevitably waste created for those products to be made available to me.
So I have come to think of it as a low waste living! As my first step, I committed to stop buying “stuff” and instead I use what I already have and carefully consider what I want and need rather than compulsively consuming. Then I made the choice to completely refuse plastic and now I only choose foods and other goods that aren’t processed and come without packaging or the option for me to package it in my own containers or bags.
This low-impact lifestyle means relying on ourselves more to fulfill our needs and relying less on corporations for conveniences they sell to us and try to tell us we need. There is many environmental issues I want to address, choosing to change my lifestyle to lessen my negative impact on the environment is about so much more than just no plastic packaging; I try to take into consideration where my food comes from, how did it get there? What waste was created upstream to have it here? Was it sustainably sourced or farmed? There’s a lot to consider, but don’t get overwhelmed.
Through my research I stumbled upon some information from a paper published in March 2017, “Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications and Guidance,” the American Psychological Association defines ecoanxiety as “A chronic fear of environmental doom.”
Anyone else think ecoanxiety is what they’re experiencing?
If you and I are in the same boat then taking some action will help you retain your sanity. Just choose one step you can take now to reduce your carbon footprint— for me I chose to focus on plastic consumption, since this month is #plasticfreejuly, but I also choose to eat foods from lower on the food chain, and consume less meat and dairy.
If you live in the city maybe try to take public transport or carpool more often or maybe even bike or walk to work… I’m just a bit to isolated for those options to work for me.
Maybe find an environmental organization you’d like to volunteer for or do advocacy with?
Then you take another step. Form good habits. Repeat and keep going. Don’t give up.
Check out the Zero Waste Chef, Kathryn’s post for the truth about zero waste living, this is worth a read my fellow eco warriors! https://www.goingzerowaste.com/blog/the-truth-about-zero-waste-living
Remember to take care of yourself. Don’t let your activism—which does not garner results overnight—lead to burnout.
Word from the wise ‘Zero-Waste Chef’
