I am by no means an environmentalist. But a few years back, I started to take a better look at the climate crisis and my environmental impact. Sure, my carbon footprint might not be the ultimate destroyer of the planet – I’m looking at you Exxon Mobil, Amazon, the commercial fishing industry 👀 But small change is still change right? Little things can spark other little things which spark medium things which spark a larger thing………
This topic is something I heavily debate with the people around me. Ask my little brother what he thinks about me trying to encourage the rest of the family to go vegetarian and he’ll give you some spiel about even if all 5 of us stopped eating meat there wouldn’t even be a dent in the progress on reversing the climate crisis. But I say whatever to the haters. I’m going to do my little part until the day I die because then at least I know I did what I thought I could.
So in honor of Earth Day, I thought I would share some of my favorite tips, resources, and products that I enjoy as a bare stepping stone into helping the planet.
- Eat plant-based!!! I went vegetarian on January 1, 2017, during my freshman year of college. It really didn’t start as an environmental action plan though. It was a personal mission of can I do this? and for how long? and then my self-disciple kept it going until the next thing I knew, I was 4 years into eating meat-free. And eventually, somewhere in those 4 years, I took note of the benefits of eating plant-based and the impact it can have on the environment as a whole, and so my diet took on a whole new mission. Fun fact, if everyone skipped meat for just one day, the U.S would save 100 billion gallons of water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide. SO SEE LIL BRO, CHANGE!!!
- Follow @earthrise.studio & @happytohealthyou!! There are tons of accounts on Instagram that you can follow if you want to get informed on the climate crisis and environmentalism. But I recommend starting with just these two and then more! Earthrise was co-founded by former British YouTubers Jack & Finn Harries who I’ve been following since 2013 and then they’ve transitioned their careers into full-time environmentalists. Earthrise shares various stories, research, and resources on the climate issues we face so it’s a great dose of education on my feed. Happytohealthyou, on the other hand, is a personal blog from a biotech scientist, climate advocate, and lifestyle guru living in SF. I follow her more as a source of relatable doses of information on the human impact and for positive upbeat vibes needed on my feed. Ultimately, her content just makes me feel good and inspires me in little ways to be more sustainable and eco-friendly. These accounts really balance themselves out in a good way too because earthrise is super educational whereas happytohealthyou is a day-to-day human showing the life of someone focused on the environment. Perfect for an introduction to making changes. Go give them both a follow!
- PRODUCTS. This is a list of all the little swaps I’ve made of my everyday routine items that can make small to mighty impacts. By this point, you have to have heard of the single-use plastic crisis. Every day 28,000 tons of single-use plastic is disposed into our oceans and as far as fast fashion goes, the fashion industry is the second-largest polluter, with the average person throwing away 81 pounds of clothes annually. Here are some of my favorite products and brands I’ve switched to purchasing/using recently that have a better environmental impact.
- by Humankind – by Humankind is a personal care brand that reduces your plastic product use. They have lots of products other than the toothpaste you can check out, but I’ve recently switched to purchasing and refilling my toothpaste tablets. Regular tubes of toothpaste are so wasteful because 1. it’s hard to empty them all out (squeezing every last bit out lol) and 2. they then often can’t be recycled. by Humankind will give you a glass jar for toothpaste tablets you bite up to make your toothpaste and then brush away! Plus, if you subscribe, you can get them refilled every couple of months in the same jar to continue reducing, reusing, and recycling!!
- Rael beauty – Rael beauty uses non-toxic, organic, natural ingredients, and zero-waste solutions. Again, lots of products on their site to try, not ALL entirely zero-waste but I recently purchased their organic cotton reusable pads for period care. You wash and can reuse after every use to cut down on how many pads you throw away every time your cycle comes. I had my brother do the math of on average how many periods I’ll have in my lifetime and subsequently, how many products I’d go through and it was well into 50K. Now, I haven’t yet used these pads, but I’m excited to try and make a small step in reducing my waste:)
- Myro – Myro deodorant is refillable, plastic neutral, and natural deodorant. You purchase your first refillable deodorant case and scent pod then every time the pod runs out, you’ll get sent new pods to refill the case. Cuts down on the number of plastic deodorant cases you’re using every year. Will caution, because it’s a natural deodorant, you’re body will take a minute to adjust so I recommend reapplying a few times a day as you get started but soon enough, you can go back to your regular usage.
- Dirt Don’t Hurt – Dirt Don’t Hurt is a black-owned family business out of San Diego that makes an assortment of oral and skincare products. I switched to purchasing their bamboo toothbrushes with charcoal-infused bristles. The charcoal-infused is just for fun 🙂 but the important part is that the bamboo toothbrush can be composted once you’re done with it! No more throwing away a plastic toothbrush and adding it to the landfill.
- Last Object – Last Object is an initiative to buy that product for the last time you’ll ever need to and that it’s a lasting product!! So I recently bought their Last Swab, a reusable alternative to your everyday cotton swab. Just wash and rinse the ear swabs every time you use it and it’s ready for the next use. Last Swab is actually meant to replace 1000 single-use cotton swabs and is stored in bio-based carrying cases with tons of colors to pick from for your enjoyment 🙂
- For Days – For Days is all about closing the fashion loop and has zero-waste, organic basics. Plus, carbon-neutral shipping and eco-friendly packaging! Every item is 100% recycle and they’ve created a SWAP program where you can return an item anytime to get recycled and then purchase a whole new item! CLOSED-LOOP SYSTEM!!
- Girlfriend Collective – I am obsessed, to say the least. The Girlfriend Collective is slow fashion that sells athletic wear and other basics! I recently purchased a couple of leggings and bra set as well and I absolutely love the fit, the feel, and the company itself. They’re eco-friendly, 100% recycled packaging, and every item is made from recycled materials whether it be post-consumer bottles, recycled fishing nets, leftover cotton waste, etc. Plus, they have a wide range of sizing and models on their site for you to be able to really envision what each item will look like on no matter what size you purchase! Absolutely love!!
- Pacha soap – Pacha Soap is ethically sourced, all-natural soap bars. I switched out all my plastic soap bottles in my shower and bathroom for bar soap to cut down on the waste. I’ve found a ton of different bar soap brands I like and this is just one amongst them. Their initiatives and proceeds also go towards clean water programs, hygiene education, and sustainable small businesses worldwide.
- Oat milk (NOT ALMOND) – Ok, so this one I add just as a simple conversation on nut milk alternatives that are now more of a trend. First of all, a good start to switch away from dairy milk. A single glass of cow’s milk uses more land and three times the greenhouse-gas emissions as any plant-based alternative. However, that means people have switched over most commonly to almond milk. I did too when I first stop drinking dairy milk because almond milk was the thing at the time. HOWEVER, I soon learned the detrimental environmental impact of almond production. It takes approximately 15 gallons of water to produce just 16 almonds. 16!!!!! ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME!! Now there’s plenty of other types from just oat as well – rice, hemp, soy, coconut – but oat for me is the winner. It performs very well on sustainability metrics and unlike the niche hemp and flax market, the rice milk water-guzzler, and the soy that being a vegetarian who already eats lots of soy tofu and a woman who doesn’t need more estrogen in her diet, oat is the winner. Plus its flavor is 😋
- Reusable coffee pod – As a coffee lover but a lazy one at that, I love my Keurig. But using those pods that you can buy at any supermarket for the machine is super wasteful. Instead, most machines now come with a reusable pod that you can refill with coffee grounds and rinse after each use. I even dump out the coffee grounds into my compost bin in the garden for an extra environmental touch!
- Watch some documentaries!! I love movies and I love a good documentary. There’s been a few within the past couple of years that I would really recommend if you’re at all interested in learning about some of the bigger issues that are causing the climate crisis.
- Seaspiracy, directed by Ali Tabrizi – I just watched this one a couple of weeks back. Inspired by the 2014 documentary Cowspiracy looking at veganism and vegetarianism, Seaspiracy focused on the ocean and the unsustainable fishing industry that is mistreating our oceans more than your plastic straws (which btw, let’s still not use those, opt for a glass or metal straw instead).
- David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet – I have such a respect for Sir David Attenborough and his life dedicated to helping the planet. This documentary dives into the unsustainable rise of the human population and the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere. Now, this one, I remember crying while watching because I just couldn’t believe how much wildlife and land we have lost over the past 9 decades due to the increase in the human population. I’m not saying we need to get rid of people a la Thanos style, but it really is something to consider that if the population keeps growing the way it has in recent history and if we don’t make other changes along with it, we’re going to see some really negative results. AND MY GOODNESS I WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE MY GRANDCHILDREN COME INTO A WORLD THAT’S NOT BURNING.
- My Octopus Teacher – An Oscar-nominated film that dives into the intelligence of octopuses and the filmmaker’s relationship with one Octopus over the course of a year. More so just fascinating because never once have I really thought hard about the life of an octopus but yet we’re losing them a lot due to our restaurant enjoyment.
- 2040 – A scary thought! 2040 is all about what the world will look like in less than 20 years if we don’t reverse the climate catastrophe. Discussing worst-case scenarios but also provides details of eco measures that already exist and that we can continue to push forward to not reach that point.
I feel like there’s definitely more I could add but I’ll stop at this for now. Sometimes, when I think about the damage that has been done and will continue to be done to the planet, I get really sad and it’s hard to not get so negative about the situation and the impending doom! Which is why I share this today more as a celebration of this Earth and if I can convince just one person who reads this to make a change, well then I think I’ve done my part to spread the word. Happy Earth Day everyone, but remember, EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY SO LET’S TREAT HER RIGHT!!!!