This year I want to add more voices to my blog. I find that storytelling brings us together; it encourages and inspires us to move throughout life in new or motivated ways. So with that said, I have Talia here, sharing with us some earth-conscious habits she’s adopted, with some inspiration and tips to guide us when trying some of these habits this new year!
About Talia Smith-Muller:
Talia is a writer who lives north of Boston with her husband, Ben, and Goldendoodle, Trudy. When she's not working as a copywriter for Berklee Online, she is enjoying nature, and messily looking for ways to help preserve it. Talia and Hakeemah went to preschool together in New Jersey, and reconnected online, bonding over art and sustainability.
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The new year is a time for reflection and for setting new habits into motion.
As I look back on my Earth-conscious strides from the past year, I realize that some habits burned me out pretty quickly, and some actually stuck. The habits that have stuck are the ones that make me feel more connected to a community, and ones that feel fulfilling beyond just quelling my environmental despair.
With that said, I'm going to share four of my eco-friendly changes that I’ve made, offering some universal tips and resources that you can implement nearly anywhere!
1. Shop Second-Hand First
There are so many reasons to love thrifting, from the thrill of finding unique items, to the money you are saving compared to buying new, and the fact that you are keeping existing items circulating and out of landfills.
The majority of the clothes that I bought over the past year were second-hand, and it’s because there is a wonderful consignment shop near me called Worthy Girl. Funny enough, a lot of the items I have purchased from them was through their Instagram stories and live sales, which has been a game-changer in a pandemic shopping world.
In general, thrifting via Instagram is something I never thought was possible, but has introduced me to so many small businesses across the country, and has brought tons of beautiful items into my closet. Some of my favorite Instagram thrift stores are Tonal Thrift, Flowers and the Vintage, and Sandhill Thrifted Goods. For even more discounted clothes, I’ll go to Savers, Goodwill, or my local thrift store, though it does require a bit more digging.
The overall mindset change is that if I need something, I’ll check to see if I can buy it second-hand first.
While I’ve discovered so many second-hand options that I love, I don’t beat myself up when I need to buy something new. I'm nearly six feet tall, so it's really hard for me to find pants that are long enough for me at a thrift store, though I have gotten lucky a few times.
2. Listen Up and Read Up, but Make it Easy
When life gets busy, it’s easy to put our eco-efforts on the backburner. Something that has helped me stay engaged and fired-up about the environment is having news on the subject automatically show up in my podcast app and in my newsfeed.
This way, while I’m cooking, cleaning, or going for a walk, I could also be learning something new. Additionally, I started following social media accounts that talk about sustainability, so that when I’m mindlessly scrolling, I’m also learning the latest in environmental innovation and policy, in between posts about cats and Pete Davidson.
Podcast Recs:
Social Media Recs:
3. Start Thinking about Food Waste
Growing up, I had a tumbling composter where we would throw our food scraps. It’s not for everyone, but I really enjoyed the process of repurposing rotting food into soil for our garden.
Not to mention the benefits of lightening the garbage you put out at the curb, and the methane gas you are diverting from the atmosphere. Living in an apartment for more than five years, composing was not really possible. I considered an indoor vermicomposting bin, but my husband was not too crazy about the idea of raising worms in our home. Fair.
I learned that my town offers composting pickup, where you can throw your scraps in a bin and they will pick it up once per week for about $10 per month (Check out this database to see if there’s a composting service near you!).
I decided to invest in this service, but my overall mindset change was around food waste. Having a composter is not an excuse to buy more food than I need and let it go bad.
I learned that the freezer is your friend when it comes to keeping produce fresh, and that a lot of food scraps can be eaten (this cookbook Six Seasons has great recipes that involve using the entirety of a fruit or vegetable), turned into vegetable broth, or can add nutrients to your house plants (rice water is like DIY fertilizer for your plants!).
I learned a lot of this through NPR’s Life Kit podcast! Check out these episodes:
Whichever route you take, just being more aware of the amount of food that goes to waste in your household is a great way to make the most of the resources we have, which is good for your wallet, the environment, and the food system.
4. Eat Local (or Local-er) Ingredients
There were a few pieces of media that really inspired me to start supplementing my food from the grocery store with food that is grown and raised locally.
The first was a Netflix documentary called Gather about food sovereignty in Native American communities (which I highly, highly recommend!). And another was a TikTok video from Alexis Nikole Nelson who identifies as a Black forager.
Nelson brings up an example that hit way too close to home, literally, which is that eating an avocado while living in Boston has much more of an environmental impact than bow hunting a deer in your backyard.
This is when you take into account how much energy it takes to ship an avocado to Boston and to keep it fresh. She says, “Make your food decisions on reducing harm to other humans and other animals, and to the environment.”
And most importantly don’t worry about getting this perfectly right, because in this modern world, it’s nearly impossible to make perfectly ethical food choices.
My search began looking for a farm co-op with fresh vegetables, but I couldn’t find anything in my area that would work for me (but maybe there is a co-op near you!).
In the summer months, I stop by our farmer’s market, but I wanted something that could work year-round. I decided to enroll in a meat delivery service every other month that brings sustainable meat to my door. I like that these animals are raised humanely, that the produce is not traveling terribly far, and that it is supporting local farmers in the New England area. It’s also good for my dog who gets raw chicken feet and chicken liver out of the deal!
Search your area for a solution that works for you and your budget. This might be shopping or volunteering at a local food co-op, going to your local farmer’s market, signing up for a sustainable food delivery service, or researching the seasonality and origin of the food you buy at the grocery store.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned in the past year is that sustainability efforts must be sustainable. Our individual efforts are important, but not as important as collective action to change environmental policy.
But one way we can get engaged in collective action is finding an in-person or online community where you can share and find joy in things like thrifting a cool sweater, sharing an interesting podcast, or making a recipe with local ingredients.
Signing off,
Talia
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