Can You Fit All Of Your Rubbish In A Jam Jar?
Yesterday when trolling through the Stylists backlog, I stumbled across an article that I can genuinely say peaked my interest in a huge way.
One of the first images you are instantly drawn to is of a jam jar filled with what seems like useless crap (you do later find outfit is indeed that) which after further reading you discover is actually the amount of rubbish that a young woman by the name of Laura Singer has accumulated over the past two years!
If you're anything like me, right now you're finding this really hard to believe. I collect that much rubbish in a day let alone two years. But after reading the entire article you'll be amazed if not at least a tiny but inspired by what Laura did.
Laura and I are similar people she studied environmental studies at university, I'm studying Environmental Technology (basically a fancy word for sustainability). Laura considers herself a 'green girl', I consider myself.... relatively green. We both have an interest and care for world around us and occasionally nag other people to do the same but one of the key similarities between us is that neither of us when we actually took the time to self reflect were doing much more in terms of greening the planet compared to the average person.
Ofcourse we both recycled, bought organically when we could probably even went through phases of resisting the urge to buy new clothes for the month but realistically don't most people at some point do the same?
This is where Laura's story really inspired me because she actually made a lifestyle choice to change this by committing to producing zero waste (except for that tiny jam jar you see).
You're probably wondering how this is all possible - I mean we have so much stuff that its really difficult to imagine how we will make the transition. Some reassurance it is all about baby steps, Laura's lifestyle change is extreme and it did take her 2 years and so it's not expected to happen overnight but here are some steps she took towards making it happen.
Soap vs Showergel
Plastic toothbrush vs Compostable and sustainable toothbrush (greenshop.co.uk £2.86)
Face wipes vs Organic coconut oil (ocado.com, £4.75) and reusable cotton pads (etsy.com)
Plastic bottles vs Reusable bottles (selfridges.com, Contigo 0.5 litre bottle for £12.95)
Try organic vegan make up and beauty products from Aveda, Neal's Yard and Spiezia Organics
Don't worry you're not in it alone, I'm going to take these baby steps with you and see how it goes! Even if we are making little changes, we are still moving in a positive direction! You can check out The Simply Co for some pre-made sustainable products that are one a click away!
Good luck and let me know how it goes in the comments below and I'll let you know about my progress too!
Happy Greening!
