Sustainable Existing: Recent Episodes
Sustainable Existing
I am seventeen years old and have begun to take the journey to make more sustainable choices. My mission is to create awareness and encourage others to make the switch to more sustainable items. I hope to prove that it doesn't matter your age and that it doesn't take loads of money to make more environmentally conscious choices.
Staying in theme to last episode on eco-friendly travel, I thought I would highlight eco-friendly accommodations around the world. We are not at the point where travel is a safe option because of this virus, but it is good to keep in mind traveling consciously when you eventually plan your next trip. Like I said before, the environmental problems the earth is facing simply don’t go away because you are on vacation. On top of the things to remain conscious about that I mentioned last week, it may be beneficial to stay in an accommodation that will support and make its effort to contribute positively to the environment. I apologize in advance if my pronunciation is incorrect.
When out and about and especially on vacation, it is easy to get lazy and make the more “convienient” choice. It is important to stay aware and alert of your choices when you aren’t in the comfort of you house. Environmental issues don’t go away because we go on vacation and it is important to be aware of them. Eco travel is about creating a low to minimal impact on the site and cultural practices of the place you are staying, have a positive impact on the local economies of the places your visiting and encourage sustainable choices to those around you.
In this week’s episode, I explain how to make three different beauty products at home: sea salt hair spray, body butter and sugar scrub. All of the ingredients were things I had at home. The great thing about making beauty products at home is that the ingredients are typically multipurpose and can be put into various product. It essures you being able to use recycled packaging as opposed to buying new products online or at a store, both eco-friendly companies or not. Making your own products is not only sustainable, but also more affordable.
I overall don’t have a complex skincare or makeup routine. I wash my wash usually at least once a day, and the most makeup I wear daily is just mascara. Even with the few products I use, I want to make a difference to more sustainable options once I need replacements. A lot of plastic and cheap products I've become concsious about came from my makeup organizer and everyday products I use. Obviously I will use the products I have to the fullest, but when it comes time to replace them, I want to make smarter decisions.
Somewhat separate from sustainability is minimalism. The main idea of living a minimalistic lifestyle is about living with less. Having this mindset you tend to live your life based on experience rather than worldly possessions. Having a minimalist mindset is beneficial when going to lead a sustainable lifestyle because only having purposeful things in your life will limit the number of things you are buying, therefore limiting the items that need to be produced. In this episode, I want to give a list of things you may want to stop buying
Green washing is when a company uses marketing techniques to make consumers think they are purchasing products that are eco-friendly and sustainable, so they continue buying from their company when in reality they actually make little change. In this episode, I talk about several different methods to determine if a company is green washing and what you, as a consumer, can do about it. Change starts with us, no matter how big or small. If everyone thought small change wasn't worth it, there would be no change.
In last week’s episode, I talked about fast fashion and its environmental impact. This week, I want to share tips and tricks on how to build a sustainable and ethical closet. This is not me encouraging you to get rid of all the clothes that you own and buy an entirely new wardrobe. The biggest piece of advice I can give to anyone is to take care of the clothing you already own. Just by making slight changes in your life involving clothing, you can protect the environment (and you pockets) by making conscious choices as a consumer.
Fast Fashion occurs when companies and brand outsource their clothes to developing countries in order to produce clothing with also paying incredibly low wages. This term is also used to describe the fast turnover of trends and styles that these companies are able to sell at cheap costs. These companies release poor quality clothing into their stores every few weeks as opposed to having 4 “seasons” of high quality clothing. Your irresponsible choices are only hurting yourself and the environment. It is our responsibility to get educated and an fight against fast fashion
In this episode, I show how to make reusable shopping bags and produce bags from old t-shirts. I also end the episode on explaining where I currently am in my sustainable journey.
I started this project to prove that more eco-friendly choices are possible no matter your financial background. On this podcast and on my journey as well as yours, I’m here with you to tell you that even small choices to better the environment are important and necessary for the betterment of this planet. I wanted to go into sustainable swaps you can make right now that are little to no cost. Most of these swaps are items you can already find in your home, items that you can make at home and also mindsets you can work on developing.
This episode includes things you should know about sustainability before starting your journey and well as my interpretation of the 6 R’s of sustainability
My name is Lexi and I am seventeen years old. I am a Girl Scout and have created Sustainable Existing for my Gold Award. This is an 80 hour project I take part in from now until the end of June 2020. My mission is to create awareness and encourage others to make the switch to more sustainable items. I hope to prove that it doesn't matter your age and that it doesn't take loads of money to make more environmentally conscious choices. I hope to create a community to share ideas, so I encourage follows to reach out to any social media, my email, or through the website.