I donāt know whatās your take on Sustainability but I would not consider myself as an Ecologist, at the opposite of my dear Mother who would buy Ā« bio Ā» hardware if this would exist – and donāt get me wrong, she would be right to do so.
I feel being an ecologist nowadays is either being a Greta-clone when previously it was a hippie-style leaving in the French lands with goats. I respect both of those people-types but I simply donāt recognise myself in it. So whatās my style? Could it be that I am more sustainable than I think? I felt the needs of a quick check-up, hereās what itās look likeā¦
1ļøā£ First, Iām not driving. š¤
That for sure should bring me a ton of green points. No, I never done my driving licence, as much as this could surprise some of you, dear readers. I know how much this would be useful, but when I see how things are evolving, I am guessing I will not have to wait much longer to finally have a car with driver. Well, an artificial one. Iām not Miss Daisy, either. Well not yet, maybe š Now, if Tesla and the Fiat 500 could have a cute pinky self-driving baby car together with big eyes and lot of room to put stuff, let me know. I would love a self-driving-cutie-car.
+ 30 points
2ļøā£ I am buying local.š
Yes, the grocery mall is literally facing my flat. Hard to do more local right? But hey, I hear you asking about Strawberries at Christmas coming from who-knows-where? Well, I just donāt buy them. Or so rarely that it does not count, as my rule is always checking where the fruits and veggies are coming from. To promote short-consumption chains and virtuous cycle? To promote our local framer? I wish it would be true. The reason behind is so much more basic. Truth is, local and seasonal veggies and fruits just taste so much better. š
+ 10 points
3ļøā£ I am sorting my wasteā¦ ā»ļø
ā¦ Each day better than the previous one. First because my city has instaure since few years something becoming a big hit in Switzerland: the concept of the taxed garbage bag. You might wonder what it is. Well take your normal garbage bag, make it white, print your town logo on it and increase it value of 1600% per bag (I am not kidding) – what ever size you might use. So of course you want to treasure your garbage bag like it would be diamonds and only bin whatās really necessary. Iām sorting card box, glasses, batteries, some days better than others, but in general I am pretty proud of myself.
+ 10 points
4ļøā£ Iām trying to avoid food waste š„.
And I find a new life to my leftovers. Itās beginning to be almost a game. I am a huge fan of culinary shows and am really happy to see food waist empowerment is now a thing. Especially on American shows, thanks to Food Networks and Netflix where I can find them. Speaking of Netflix, have you seen the show Ā« Best Leftover Ever Ā»? Itās exactly the spirit. Inspired by those Leftover Muses, I made my very first chicken Enchiladas with leftover from a spicy noodle soup with Asian flavour, and Italian Tomato Sauce. It was SO good.
I was pretty happy with myself for having:
- A) having learned a new receipt
- B) made this from scratch
- C) using wisely my leftover.
Pretty nice, right?
+ 10 points
5ļøā£ I am trying to switch my beauty products for at least sustainable one š.
Well, I do but not all of them. I do love the fact that finally cosmetics brands are making sure their products are cruelty free, sustainable and some of them even go for 100% natural. This is trendy, what the customer wants, I am all in. I however havenāt found a great 100% natural make up corresponding to my habits. For instance, I love having almost fake lashes and for that I stick to my Ā« Better than Sex Ā» mascara, which at least is cruelty free.
But I start to find great new solutions. Brands, as I said, are following the trends and thatās really great. A good sign, we go to the right direction for a better respect of our Mother Earth (hey, itās the only planet where you find chocolate, letās cuddle it). For me a beauty / cosmetic brand needs to be sexy and funky. Therefore I love brands like Lush or Ritual or Kiehls, when it comes to natural solutions, but thereās so many I havenāt had the opportunity to test every single products. Whatās youāre favourite?
+ 10 points
6ļøā£ I could not pass over a good bubble bath š.
Oh yes I know, itās not good for the planet. I donāt say I take only bath – I donāt, but when itās a freezing winter time or a very stressful day or when I am really tiered, I would always go for the comforty bubble dream. I try to compensate when I take shower and never take more time than necessary (we anyhow donāt have that kind of Italian Paradise Shower anyway). But still I know, itās not my best eco-friendly behaviour.
– 20 points
7ļøā£ I do not travel by plane āļø .
I simply donāt have (presently) the necessary budget for it. And as I am not diving itās hard to take the car and do a road trip. I donāt say I donāt want to, sometimes I am dreaming of lovely destination or of the availability of going seeing some friends aboard, but itās not yet the moment.
+ 20 points
8ļøā£ I almost have put LED lights everywhere at home š” .
The coolest part is they now are doing such great design LED lights that it gives great charm to your interior. And although I have more lights, my electricity bill hasnāt raised up as crazy. So even if the price is slightly higher, the return on investment is totally worth it! The difference of life between LED and classic lights bulb is up to 100% more time! So if you sum up: great design and choice of styles, less electricity consumption and more life-time: you are totally a winner there!
Speaking of LED love and efficiency: I even started to find alternatives to batteries at Christmas when it comes to LED-batteries tinsel. I found fake-ish batteries that you can plug to electricity and was so happy with the result! You might say, Ā« Or you could go with rechargeable batteries, too Ā». Well, indeed, I could have go that direction too, I just havenāt bought any.
+ 10 points
ā”ļø Outcome: 80 / 100 ā
Hey thatās not bad, right?! I am not up to go to a climate march but I TOTALLY support that type of actions. I was spoken earlier about Greta Thunberg as young example but we should not forget the amazing Jane Fonda who always have fight for what she believe. With the COVID she found great alternatives to her FireDrill Fridays which are very impressive. Thatās what I feel about eco-bio-sustainable actions: you should do what you feel is right for you. And if you wonder if I was very objective in my pointing system, Iāll say no, I just tried to be honest with myself on what I do or donāt. And that been said, what would be yourās (score)? šš¤š
Bonus ideas to try:
- š Buying products with less plastic wrap, wrapped around them
- š Recycling your waste, and follow local initiatives. Here in Switzerland we are all about PET recycling. Itās very common and youāll find PET recycling bins everywhere you go. Did you know that you can use PET for new PET bottles, yes, but as well for making new kind of fabrics? They use it to do garments.
- š Drinking tap water. Obvious but sometimes good to remember.
- š Stop running water when you brush your teeth and you donāt need it.
- š Do meal without animal protein. You might not be a vegetarian and thatās ok and I am not trying to convert you, nor making eat Tofu if thatās not your thing. But think about this: a simple Tomato salsa with Spaghettis, is veggi, the same for a tasty Safran Risotto. So what are you waiting for? š¤© š
