What is low impact living?

Zero waste is a phrase I see a lot on social media now. Since the climate crisis has rightly become big news there is a growing movement to eliminate our impact on the planet. I certainly understand the desire to live this way and while I admire anyone who has managed to achieve a zero waste lifestyle, I don’t believe it is actually possible for the majority.

I’m afraid for most of us and certainly those with children, zero waste is out of the question. If I’m being pedantic I would even say just existing creates waste although who knows, if we get through this crisis a perfect circular economy would be the nirvana. However, for the foreseeable future, there are just too many expensive roadblocks for the average family to negotiate a zero waste household. How so? Here I’ll give you just two examples although for me, there are many more.

I dream of buying a plug-in car but it would have to fit a family of five. A plug-in car of that size is out of my budget right now so until I can afford it I drive a petrol-powered vehicle. I try to limit my driving but since we moved my three children are now in three different schools, elementary, middle and high-school. One child cycles to school and one walks but unfortunately one needs to be driven to school every day. There goes my car-free days. In terms of renewable energy, yes we invested in solar panels for our house in the U.K. However, as you may know we now rent a house in the U.S. and sadly this house doesn’t have solar panels. Hey not everyone can afford to do that, although some local councils will help with government incentives it’s still not a priority for many homeowners. When Mark and I did our loft conversion on the U.K house we skimmed off the budget to add solar panels. Sure it would have been nice to get new hardwood flooring and some premium luxuries but in this case, solar panels were more important. At the time, I knew a lot of people who spent tens of thousands of pounds on renovations but never once considered reducing their carbon footprint in the process. Sadly it just wasn’t important to them.

And so the list of personal priorities emerges, financial decisions based on zero waste are gradually pushed further down. Would I rather choose the zero waste option? Hell yes! It bothers me greatly that my hands are tied, often unnecessarily. WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY ! Too right we do, it ain’t that new yet it’s deliberately held very far from our grasping green fingers by none other than Big Oil. The Guardian reported (via The Climate Accountability Institute) that ExxonMobil has released 41.90 billion tonnes of carbon and methane since 1965. EXXON and other fossil fuel giants spend $BILLIONS on advertising to refute the science on greenhouse gas emissions and the terrible damage it’s doing to our beautiful blue and green home. This is a fact. Big oil corporations are also advertising how wonderful they are at preserving the environment which is a bold face lie. However all is not lost, now that we know their game we can stop them with legislation brought about by our commitment to protesting. Sounds tough? It’s not, you can protest in many ways – give a tenner a month to your favourite group, join a march, write to your local member, drive less, carpool, use public transport or better still if you can afford to buy a plug-in car DO IT! Do it for both of us! Let’s kill the wests addiction to oil one carbon burning vehicle at a time.

Big Oil has the majority power right now but that won’t last, I feel the winds of change blowing. Since other powerful companies such as Google and of course, Tesla have boarded the renewable energy train more companies will see the value as kinks are straightened out and they’ll jump onboard too. Certainly, prices will drop but more importantly the average homeowner will learn how bloody amazing it is to power not just your car but your entire household from the clean renewable energy resources of this incredible Earth.

Until that time we can all tread a little lighter through LOW IMPACT LIVING. Low impact is when you make small changes to reduce the carbon footprint of your every day life.

Why bother making small changes?

Saying all that makes you wonder – Why should I bother with small changes like reducing my single-use plastic and meat consumption if solving the climate crisis ultimately falls to fossil fuels? O.K that’s a fair question but here’s the thing, small actions DO add up in a couple of ways, you’ve probably heard the phrase “It’s only a straw, said 7 billion people”? Yep, there’s that. Also, and this is the kicker, there’s THE MESSAGE. The message is the impact that millions of consumers create by changing their shopping habits. For example when half of shoppers say they no longer want plastic bags, government first legislates the shops to charge for them then when that’s a success (because who wants to pay for a plastic carry bag?) they legislate to ban them altogether since they know it’s what most people want. Ergo the shops stop giving out plastic bags. As this trend spreads, the global production of plastic bags drops and eventually, as demand ceases to exist so do plastic bags. Obviously plastic comes from oil right? So you see how this goes. Although it seems slow, the impact of the conscious consumer is very great indeed. It’s all connected, all of it.

It stands to reason that what we do does indeed matter, even so-called small actions taken against pollution make a difference. Picking up litter, refusing single-use plastic, these are merely habits to flip. However, removing single-use plastic from modern life entirely requires more effort.

This past year my family has changed a lot of its regular plastic habits. Amazingly once we made that commitment it just snowballed automatically. Now everywhere I look I see more plastic that has to go. Finding alternatives is getting tricky so I thought I’d ask what swaps you’ve made? Knowing you, dear reader, friend of Earth and fellow eco warrior, you’ll have some great ideas to share.

*Every day 28,000 tons of single-use plastic goes into our oceans and that’s only 54% of the total amount of plastic we dump. If we can at least eliminate single-use plastic we have a better chance of enjoying a healthy Earth. Recycling alone does not work…

what have you done for me lately?

So said Earth to me. In a bid to share ideas, here are a few changes I’ve made to our household. Please share yours in comments below, I love getting new ideas!

Firstly let’s address the hairy elephant in the room – Hahaha!

More than a decade ago I stopped shaving my armpits and legs during winter because I realised disposable razors are doing a great deal of harm to the planet. However this last summer I thought, you know what fuck it, I’m not shaving at all anymore!

Absolutely nobody said anything to my face and I’m pretty sure hardly anyone even noticed…except my 12-year son who did notice and actually said to my horror – “Mummy you know Women are supposed to shave their legs? You need to do yours they’re very hairy.”

WTAF> Erm no Jas, I don’t know who raised you my boy but that’s not how it works.

13 easy ways to live with less plastic

• BEAUTY KUBES SHAMPOO

Shampoo and conditioner plastic bottles are such a scourge on the environment because we go through so many and they aren’t usually recycled. To be perfectly honest, I’m ashamed it’s taken me so long to make the switch. I tried this bar style  shampoo but prefer the crumbly cube brand because it best suits my colour damaged hair. Both lather equally well and are simple to use. It’s merely a matter of trial and error as with any shampoo I think. There are plenty of solid brands out there so no reason why you won’t find one that works for your hair type. In terms of cost, this method appears expensive when in truth it is actually about the same.. no waste or over-use as with the liquids.

• BEAUTY AND THE BEES CONDITIONER

Love love love this solid conditioner so much! My hair has never felt so lush. This is an Aussie product made in Tasmania. Professor Fuzzworthy (I like saying that) offers samples so you can try these products before you commit. Although let me tell you, of all the swaps I made this is by far the most glorious. My hair loves this conditioner, it feels better than ever before. The strange thing is it never occurred to me how versatile beeswax is until I noticed how many natural beauty products can be made with it. This isn’t breaking new folks, Professor Fuzzworthy has been hand producing its organic, chemical-free products since 1993.

• MY MYRO DEODORANT

A refillable plastic case I can accept. This deodorant is Vegan. Gluten, soil and mineral oil free and smells delightful. Importantly it works brilliantly too! Subscribing to regular refills makes MyMyro more cost effective and the case is quite cute too so you want to keep it. You can choose from five groovy colours.

• TOOTHPASTE TABLETS

Delivered in a paper envelope, absolutely zero plastic. Simply bite down on a pill and brush. I keep mine in a ceramic cup on my bathroom cabinet. Unfortunately my children didn’t get along with this concept at all. I kept noticing the pill, still in tact in the sink after they brushed. In the end I conceded and bought them David’s toothpaste which comes in a metal tube. You know the type, like we had as kids? You need the little key to wind the last bit out at the end but the tube is recyclable. In fact I don’t know why we ever changed to plastic ones but I guess I could say that about a lot of this stuff, right?

• SMARTLINERS PERIOD PADS

Although I no longer get a period, I have two daughters. The eldest is already using these organic cotton, washable pads with great success. She hasn’t had any leaking even on heavy days wearing them to school. I’m proud to also report to other Mother’s of girls, that she manages to rinse them herself. After a rinse in the sink the pad goes back into its little cotton bag and in the wash with the dark load. When my younger daughter gets her period she will start with these too. In time I’m hoping to introduce them to the menstrual cup.

• DROPPS DISHWASHER & LAUNDRY PODS

Naturally I was already using biodegradable dishwashing liquid and laundry detergent but this stuff is quite a step up from that. Dropps as a company is the real deal, authentic and ethical. Sounds expensive right? Aha that’s where you’ll be surprised to learn how cheap organic can be! After an initial test run of one months supply I was blown away by how well this plant based product works. Now I have a rolling subscription for both which means it’s not only cheaper but it’s lightened my load at the supermarket too.

• WHO GIVES A CRAP TOILET PAPER

Once again I was already using recycled toilet paper but Who Gives a Crap goes the extra mile…by a mile! Yes it’s recycled loo roll but this is not from trees, it’s from bamboo i.e. sustainable. In addition to saving trees, 50% of profits are donated to help build toilets. So to the price – shockingly low if you buy bulk as I did. $52 for 48 rolls. Wait what? That’s about $1.08 per roll AND FREE DELIVERY! It’d be stupid not to do this, right?

• WAX WRAPS

Three years ago I hadn’t even heard of this stuff. Two years ago my cousin gave me some as a gift when she visited from Australia. I’ve been a fan ever since. I still occaisonally use tin foil but I always try to re-use the piece as often as possible before I recycle it. We’re a family that does packed lunches every day so I sometimes run out of wax wraps. I guess I need to buy more? You can also DIY wax wraps if you have the time and inclination, this would make an excellent school project don’t you think?

• WHEAT STRAWS

These are ideal for kids parties, trimmable to size and won’t go soggy. 100% biodegradeable and compostable. This is a no-brainer obvs. What can I say, if you’re here you already ditched plastic straws and know about the paper and stainless steel alternative. Just last week I read the Italians have come up with a straw made from pasta molto bene! Although I must mention, my children have taken it upon themselves with absolutely no prompting from me, to stop using straws altogether. As they say, Der just drink from the cup.

• FRUIT & VEG BAGS

Usually I carefully place my fruit and veg straight into my shopping trolley but let’s be honest that can be a proper faff with small pieces. My girlfriend bought me reusable mesh bags for my birthday which is quite frankly a game-changer. Thanks mate!

• BAMBAW MAKE UP PADS

As a Make-up Artist I went through a mountain of tissues, wipes, cotton pads and cotton buds. Shameful to recall how blasé and wasteful I was with these items especially considering how concientious I was in other areas of conspicuous consumption. Oh how I’ve grown. Indeed this is the entire point of my post, to learn and do better. I gave up tissues and wipes eons ago but only switched to re-usable make-up remover pads and bamboo swabs this year. Better late than never right? Let’s get them out of circulation and out of the oceans STAT!

• WOODEN TOILET BRUSH

Say goodbye to your yukky big chunk of plastic loo brush with this wooden one. I just bought the brush sans holder because it was cheaper on its own and I needed two. We have two toilets in this house so one brush sits in a small terracotta plant pot I had laying around (after I killed its inhabitant) The second one is in a large washed out pickle jar which actually looks quite cool if I say so myself. A little creative thinking saves money and resources, right? I like to find multiple uses for what could be regarded as junk.

• REUSEABLE RAZOR

For those of you who don’t fancy the extra fur there are reusable safety razors on the market. At $34.50 this appears to be an expensive alternative to disposeable razors doesn’t it? Now hold on one seccypoo looks can be deceiving. This is the perfect example of why we shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that plastic is cheaper. When you look carefully here there’s no contest. This zero waste safety razor is delivered free and comes with 10 replacement blades. Additionally the brand provides a blade take-back program that includes a hemp bag and envelope to return used blades. What’s more replacement blades are just 35 cents each! So if I decide to start shaving again, this is what I’ll use. Alternatively there’s always waxing or laser hair removal alhough both of those options are painful and costly.

Thanks for reading gorgeous ones…. I hope you like the products and don’t worry if some of the websites don’t convert to your country just do a quick search for where you can buy them near you. When I discovered Beauty Kubes on Instagram I found it on a U.K site so I emailed them and they promptly emailed me back with the U.S supplier.

*Disclosure – Thank you to Organic Basics for gifting me this gorgeous bra and knickers set. For more info on Organic Basics and it’s outstanding eco-credentials you can read my post here