From Wasteful to Tasteful

My journey towards a less wasteful lifestyle started after going down a youtube spiral and stumbling upon videos from Lauren Singer, the owner of Trash is for Tossers. Until this point I had known a little bit about being sustainable, but for me it had always been pitched as something for hippies to do and not something practical to do in the city. After staying up all night reading articles and blogs, watching documentaries and writing lists of all the ways my flat could be more sustainable, I was feeling really inspired but when I pitched the ideas to my flatmates they were not keen and I quickly threw the idea of change into the too hard basket.

I still made some small changes towards being more sustainable, like trying to remember my reusable bags, getting a reusable coffee cup and participating in meatless Monday’s but in general I was still living a very wasteful lifestyle.

It was when I moved in with my partner that I really started to make some big changes. Growing up in what my mother believes must be a hippie family, my partner was brought up vegetarian, valuing sustainability and minimalism and this made me believe we could make some really effective change. Having the freedom to make our entire apartment a less wasteful area meant that sticking to our goals felt more realistic.

We now make an effort to use our purchasing power effectively, to purchase from companies which value the environment, purchase products with minimal waste and where possible to buy local. As a consumer we need to let companies know that we want sustainable options, and as more and more people use there purchasing power to make this stand, the big companies will need to listen and it will become easier for everyone to live more sustainably.

Of course we are not perfect, and we are still near the beginning of our journey but we don’t see any problem in that, because the truth is you could always do better. Being too focused on the ideal state can be the enemy of making progress. So instead, we chose to live by the mentality that everything we do better makes a difference and sometimes that does mean waste but it is about choosing the better option.

Our hope is that through this blog and store we will help those already on their sustainable lifestyle journey and those who have not yet started it to shop locally, consciously and with purpose, to help people realise everyone is overwhelmed by all the changes we should be making but that by making even one change, by starting a conversation about waste with just one person (even if they think you are weird for trying), you are making a difference. The key is to remember that a journey to less waste is a process, and like any huge change it takes time and it's ok if you forget every now and then - we're all human. Everything you do still makes a difference and what you are doing is also inspiring others to make a positive change.