Be more sustainable

Make a Change.

By 2050, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by weight. #plasticpollutioncoalition

Single use plastics are used for everything nowadays and have grown on society as something so convenient and taken for granted. We all know they are practical and being the couch potatoes that most of us are we fell in love with how easy "disposable" feels like. Worse, we have become slaves to a pathological consumption world and often forget that "the best things in life aren't things" and for what? was is that void we are trying to fill? everything we need to be happy is already inside us. What bothers me the most is how people fail to understand that it is not our right to live on Earth but it is our PRIVILEGE. As such, we should live with the most respect and compassion for other beings and the planet in a balanced lifestyle. Disposable plastics are overwhelming our planet, causing some serious damage on ecosystems, particularly when it comes to marine life. As nice as beach clean ups sound it doesn't really present as a solution if we just keep using and discarding them again.. So you see, we must act NOW and solve the problem at it's root. Try to think how you can change your own consumption ways, these are some of the tips I use myself to cut off or avoid plastic

♻️Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Repurpose & Recycle 

Ill Never Grow Up

1. Menstrual cups & reusable pads

Menstrual cups are one of the best things to have happened to me!! I made the change around four years ago and have never felt better about being on my period. It is estimated that a woman will use around 8 to 17 000 disposable pads or tampons in a lifetime and some of the plastics used in them can take up to 500 years to decompose.. Let us remind ourselves that this issue basically concerns half the human population and therefore the impact is very significant.

Disposable pad pollution I found at the beach

I use the MeLuna cup which I LOVE and seriously recommend because they are made in TPE (hypoallergenic material); come in several shapes, sizes, models to suit every body type, age etc. and aren't tested on animals, yay! I also have reusable pads from Precious Stars that I like to use occasionally, a brand created by Bryony Farmer super cool girl you can check her on youtube.

2. Bamboo toothbrush & natural toothpaste

We use toothbrushes on a daily basis and switch them out every three months or so, the most common is to buy a plastic one from a supermarket or pharmacy but there are plastic free options! I started my bamboo toothbrush journey last year and have been using Bam & Boo and Babu brands and I love both. As for toothpaste I have been using Georganics natural toothpastes (charcoal & spearmint).

Sleepy but happy

3. Solid shampoo and other unpackaged goods

Why are soaps, shampoos and lotions enclosed in unnecessary plastic? usually for publicity and marketing purposes, which is really annoying.. Also some exfoliating products contain plastic microbeads which is a big NO. 

I absolutely love stores like Lush, its like walking into a fluffy rainbow dream of color and perfumes. One of my personal favourite products is the solid shampoo Seanick. One thing I really want to try as well is doing some DIY for soaps, shampoos, deodorant, toothpaste and lotions.

4. Shop at local markets

I love going to local farmers markets because you usually find the real "bio/eco"  products. Lettuce with some snails? carrots with tops and dirt? unpackaged free vegetables and fruits? yes please!
This is not always easy to find in the big cities.. When I was studying in Faro (Algarve, Portugal) I used to buy weekly fruit and vegetable baskets from Da Sua Horta. In the past few months I was living in Roscoff, a very small town in Brittany (France) and I went every Wednesday morning to the local farmers market in Roscoff and every once in a while to the Saturday market in Morlaix, it was my vegetable heaven.

Carrots from Da Sua Horta

5. Reusable things

Glass jars or containers for pantry storage, drinking bottles in glass or stainless steel, bee wrap for sandwich wraps. While living in France I noticed that they take very seriously cutting down plastic, you rarely see plastic bags in supermarkets, stores or local shops. Almost everything goes in paper bags, which is amazing. Try to choose paper bags or bring your own reusable bags to stores, you can even get a vintage or trendy tote bag! 

 

6. Refuse straws

Did you know that plastic straws take around 200 years to decompose??

There are of course exceptions, but for most of us straws are really just not essential at all. I know they look nice in juices and cocktails but luckily they make reusable straws now! So unless for some medical reason or disability you need a straw (which I completely understand) go straw free :D

In Portugal a group of girls founded this movement: Claro Cascais that is fighting plastic in Oceans!

7. Clothes, clothes clothes!

Quality clothes vs cheap clothes| The problem with synthetic cheap clothes is that they contain microplastic fibers (also questionable man/child labour situations!!). Microplastic fibers get washed into wastewaters (currently they aren't removed from wastewater treatment plants), end up in the ocean and enter the food chain.

Image taken from here

I personally still struggle with this one since I'm young and juggling finances. I am not at all a shopaholic and don't care too much about fashion but I still enjoy a little shopping for myself. I am starting to avoid cheap clothes with synthetic fibers and investing in more local craft or brands that produce sustainable clothing.
Donate & use second hand| Passing down your clothes to younger siblings, family, close friends or to people in need is a great way to reuse clothing! One of the advantages I have found of always being the smallest is that a lot of my friends have given me clothes that don't fit them anymore over the years. This statement is still true at 25 years old, I know right, so weird but I love it!! Every time it happens it's like a mini shopping spree. Vintage shopping is quite trendy, I have seen some amazing markets and stores for this in London, and also vintage kilo sales and trade markets in Copenhagen.

Microplastics found in bivalves from Estuário do Tejo, Portugal on a microplastic pollution project I volunteered for.

8. Presents

Why buy that lovely wrapping paper for 5 seconds of ripping lust?
I like improvising wrapping gifts with fabric, ribbons, and totem or paper bags and I usually reuse the wrapping paper that I get in presents for somebody else.

Offer more meaningful gifts something useful, lasting, of good quality, an experience or maybe something symbolic. Children don't need a million plastic trinket toys that they loose interest in weeks and end up loosing at the beach or the park. Give them something that defies their mind and creativity: puzzles, books, wooden toys, science kit, arts & crafts, sewing kits, camping gear, sports stuff!! If you give your kids less but more quality things you have the chance to teach them to value, appreciate and take care of their things and at the same time the planet.