Hey, Green Junkie!
2022 is right around the corner and often we spend these last few days setting intentions for the new year or thinking about what we want to improve in the coming months.
If you have “be a little more green” on your intention list (and I sure hope you do) then I wanted to give you some quick and easy ways you can have a greener lifestyle in the new year.
And don’t worry, these tips are not expensive, outlandish or anything crazy.
They’re simple, straightforward and mostly completely free.
Here’s what to expect:
- How to be smarter about your clothes
- Why you should stop using traditional batteries
- How to save the planet by changing up your shower
- I explain how sometimes going old school is better for planet earth
- Eliminate one of the biggest wastes in your home
You’ll discover that and so much more in this episode.
By the end of this episode, Green Junkie, you’ll be well on your way to making 2022 your greenest year yet.
If you love this podcast be sure to leave a review and share a screenshot of this episode to your IG stories. Tag @greenjunkiepodcast so I can shout you out and publicly say thanks.
Thanks for listening and being here.
Your green bestie,
Xoxo Stephanie
Previous Episodes Mentioned:
Episode #2: Five simple ways to reduce waste
Episode #3: Stop putting your food in the trash
Episode #6: Sustainable bathroom tips
Episode #7: Green grocery shopping
Episode #16: Eco-friendly ways you can deal with unwanted gifts
Resources:
Sources:
https://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/a-green-new-year/
https://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/detox-your-home/
https://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/sustainable-fashion/
https://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/gift-guide-2021/
https://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/10-green-new-years-resolutions
https://greenthatlife.com/green-new-year/
https://theecohub.ca/20-smart-practical-eco-friendly-new-years-resolutions-that-you-can-keep/
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Episode 17 Transcript
0:07 Hi, Green Junkie, I'm your host Stephanie Moram and today I'm talking about ways that you can live a little more green in 2022.
0:16 With the new year is just around the corner. I thought this would be the perfect topic for any green junkie, planning out New Year's resolutions for 2020. Have you thought about adding some green goals to your list? Do your part for the environment in 2022 by using and wasting less, and you will set an example for those around you. Simply recycling more, using less plastic, and driving around less are all easy ways to reduce your impact on the environment. Whatever you decide to do, add more greenness and the planet will thank you for your efforts to jumpstart on your green journey.
0:51 Today, I'm going to give you green ideas and inspiration that you can incorporate into your everyday life. You don't have to do them all by any means. Try adding these slowly – eventually they will become second nature. If you love learning new ways to reduce your impact on the environment, please subscribe to the Green Junkie Podcast wherever platform you get your podcasts. That way you'll never miss another green living episode. Now let's get started.
1:20 My first tip is one of the easiest ways to go green and help the environment that's to bring your own reusable bag with you when you're out and about. Start with bringing your own grocery and produce bags – you can get some really nice small organic cotton ones. So I really suggest that you get some produce bags. They're so handy for impromptu shopping trips and you can slowly add other reusables to your on the go goodie bag, such as cups and mugs and utensils and glass containers for takeout. Glass straws or cloth napkins. Keep your usable bag by the door or in your car, so you do not forget it – because leaving your bag at home is not helping you when you get to this door. So make sure you have it in a place that you will remember to take your bag.
2:06 Number two tip, detoxing your home. There are various simple and effective ways to reduce your exposure to different toxins inside your home. I'm going to give you a couple of suggestions to help detox your home. So the first way is to take off your shoes. I know so many people don't like to take their shoes off. But just think about what is ever on the bottom of your shoes you're tracking in to your home. Dangerous pollutants from outside can be harmful to us. Wherever you step. Remember that is what you're bringing into your home. So a couple of suggestions. If you don't want guests to take off their shoes, you can buy little covers for shoes that they were in the house. That could be one way or just put a sign up that says please take off your shoes. It's becoming more and more common that people take their shoes off before coming into the house.
2:54 Another tip is to ditch the nasty chemicals and petroleum based cleaners in your home and make your own eco friendly, homemade products. It's super easy to make your own products, you can just do water and vinegar, add some essential oils and use that as your all purpose cleaner.
3:11 Number three, the next tip may sound hard to stick to but don't be afraid to take it slow. Again, all the tips that I'm giving you throughout this podcast are just suggestions. You don't have to do them all some of them might be more difficult, but like I said – take it slow. Your health, wallet and the environment will thank you for it later. So next year in 2020, try to cook meals from scratch as much as possible and plan meals ahead. Start with just one or two days a week or batch cook on weekends. Having home cooked meals is invaluable when having family meal time. Processed packaged, convenient foods are dripping in wasted energy, oil, water and trees. What is also tragic is that this store bought food contains little no nutritional value, and it's usually artificially sweetened, preserved, flavor enhanced, and it's just a chemical shitstorm at times. So yes, I buy prepackaged foods – I do. But I really really try to make as many home cooked meals at home. So I'm getting really good foods in my body as well as my family's.
4:23 Have you ever heard of Meatless Monday? So let's talk about eating organic. The average person consumes animal meat every single day. Sometimes as often as every meal. consuming animal meat is not ideal for your health. And when I say not ideal for your health – I am vegan. My family eats meat. It's more do you really need to eat it at every single meal? Is there a way that you just reduce it to one meal a day? There are so many great plant based recipes out there. You can actually go to my blog goodgirlgonegreen.com and you can find some recipes. What I wanted to note is United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the meat industry generates nearly 1/5 of the artificial greenhouse gas emissions accelerating climate change worldwide. For more than transportation, the water needs of livestock are tremendous far above vegetables or grains. For an example, an estimated 1800 to 2500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef, where soy tofu produced in California requires 220 gallons of water per pound.
5:31 Another pointer when it comes to eating organic is remember to wash your fruits and vegetables as much as possible. Just because something's organic, doesn't mean that it doesn't need to be washed, because in organic farming, they do use some pesticides that are approved by organic agriculture. So you want to make sure you wash off all your residues. And when it comes to meat, if you are going to eat meat, look at eating grass fed meat, look at eating sustainable meats, look at supporting local farms that truly care about sustainability and truly care about, about treating cats, the animals being killed, totally get it. But before that, they truly do care about the livelihood of that animal and give them the best life the past possibly could before it becomes food on your plate. So that's a whole other topic. We're gonna save that for another day.
6:22 Number five, food waste isn't just wasteful. It's also a huge contributor to climate change. It makes me uncomfortable almost – whenever I see people waste food, I really, really dislike food waste. Instead of throwing away uneaten foods, consider freezing or try repurposing food for future meals. proper food storage is also super important when it comes to keeping stuff fresh. So a quick Google search, you can find out the best ways to keep your fruits and veggies fresh. Another way to minimize food waste is by reducing the amount of food you actually buy. So you won't waste as much food if you don't buy as much food. Sometimes we go to the store and we have these big plans of eating all these fruits and vegetables. And then when we get home we're like, Ah, we're gonna do takeout pizza tonight. And then the lettuce and the cucumbers all end up getting wasted. So try to be a little bit creative with your leftovers. And with food that potentially you didn't get to eat during the week. And also buying less is going to be super helpful.
7:27 A couple of tricks are strawberries, or any sort of berry if you don't finish them, put them in the freezer for smoothies, bananas, any sort of fruit and vegetable that you're not about to eat, put it in the freezer, make a stir fry, add it to the smoothie before you decide to compost it or throw it in the trash. If you want more tips and tricks on food waste, you can listen to episode three to learn more ways to reduce your food waste.
7:53 Number six, try to avoid fast fashion and buy secondhand. Instead of buying new consider purchasing pre love or pre owned items. The secondhand market is totally booming, making it possible to purchase pretty much anything you want at secondhand stores, thrift stores, or even online. When you decide to go clothes shopping, try to choose timeless styles that won't go to style in the next six months. So that's if you are buying new, try to get stuff that are going to last choose high quality materials. A few of my favorite online secondhand shops are Poshmark. Another one I really like is Let Go. And there's a bunch of other really good online secondhand stores. If you actually go to my Instagram, I did a reel recently all about the best on line stores and I will link it actually in the show notes and it's a couple of suggestions on resale sites.
8:50 Also, did you know the fashion industry is the second largest polluting industry in the world after oil and gas. So try to buy secondhand as much as possible. We are going to buy new, I buy new stuff. But whenever possible, looking at secondhand can really impact the environment in a very positive way.
9:11 Speaking of clothing, tip number seven is to wash your clothing less. How often do you actually wash your clothing? Every time you wear something do you wash it? The best way or one of the ways to reduce your environmental impact is to do your laundry less. Wear your clothing two or three or more times before you actually wash them and rely on cleaning products like vinegar and hot water before you reach for any chemicals like bleach. One of my favorite laundry soaps is actually called True Earth and it's a laundry strip. I take one little strip I drop it into the washing machine and boom that is my laundry detergent. Or if you have a refill station or a bulk station store near your home you can bring your own containers and refill your laundry. And this way, not only are you washing your clothing less, you're using less detergent and you're using a more sustainable and green laundry detergent.
10:12 Next up on the same topic of clothing. How about you learn to sew and repair your clothing more number eight, as we become more conscious about our impact on the planet one simple and effective way to go green next year is to learn something new that will positively affect the environment. Choose to be greener and 2022, by learning how to sew buttons and holes to repair your clothing. There is a deep satisfaction that comes in sewing something the surge in sewing in recent years has gone hand in hand with the popularity of homemade goods. Also choose organic cotton to sew with and save and reuse your scraps start learning how to sew a button. I think this is so important. My kids get holes in everything, I get holes in stuff buttons fall off, and instead of rushing out to buy something new, or even secondhand, repair it before you get rid of it. I think it's just one of these things that we stopped doing over the many, many years that our grandparents probably did, and kind of got forgotten along the way. So take care of your clothing.
11:16 Number nine it looks like we're on a roll with the whole clothing topic. Did you know homeowners in the US throw away about $4 billion annually to drying their clothes. Unfortunately, heating your dryer is one of the most energy intensive appliances in your home. But the sun and the wind are absolutely free, and air drying your clothes is a simple strategy you can use to simply reduce your household energy consumption in 2022. During the winter months when it's cold and wet, it could be a challenge for families to have to air dry their stuff but try hanging your clothes near a window a radiator, other indoor heating sources to increase efficiency inside your home to heat your clothing. I hang dry pretty much 90% of our clothing I have two drying racks. everything dries on there. I don't use the dryer very often. And speaking of the dryer, try to avoid dryer sheets because they are not your friend. They are concentrated with chemicals and heavy fragrances and eco friendly option would be to use wool dryer balls. And if you really really want to send you can add some drops of essential oils on the dryer balls and then use that in your dryer. I love my dryer balls they work so so well.
12:29 Number 10 super short and sweet. Buy Nothing. Consider trying to not buy anything. And if you do need to buy something, buy only what you need in 2022 and reduce impulse buying.
12:45 Number 11, one person's trash is indeed another's treasure. There are many thrift stores, homeless shelters and other nonprofit agencies that would be happy to take your unwanted items. So donate as much as you can. Perhaps you've received a gift this holiday season that you aren't fond of consider donating it to a thrift store or a nonprofit or a homeless shelter. Listen to one of my podcast episodes number 16. For eco friendly ways you can deal with unwanted gifts.
13:18 Number 12. Reduce your shower time. One simple change you can make in the bathroom in 2022 is to cut down on shower time and reduce your water consumption have a purpose when you get into the shower. Don't just stand there start scrubbing as soon as you're under the nozzle. That way you develop a quick and easy routine for getting lathered up and washed off. Many women including myself alternate the days that they wash your hair. I think I only wash my hair once a week. Some of you might be grossed out and that's okay. I'm okay with only washing my hair once a week. But that can be another way where you reduce the amount of water that you're using. Because you're not washing your hair every single day. You can wear a shower cap if you don't want to wash your hair. And that way your hair isn't wet and you don't have to wait waste electricity on blow drying your hair all the time. But making small changes to your water usage is a great place to start for a green New Year. Why waste money and create landfill waste when reusable batteries are available.
14:18 So my tip number 13 is to try to use reusable batteries as much as possible. A safer choice for the planet is often a wise choice for your wallet to as many as 3 billion single use dry cell batteries end up in landfills despite the fact they can release toxic metals such as lead and mercury. Prevent 2000 batteries from going to the landfill by purchasing rechargeable batteries that have a USB cable to recharge them. If you're taking if you take good care of them, you could reuse those batteries at least 500 times.
14:54 So my last tip which is number 14 And one of my favorite tips – stop using paper towel. The one use disposable and throwaway culture is destroying our planet. As convenient as paper towels are they contribute to deforestation, climate change and toxic waste, choking our oceans wildlife and over flowing landfills. Luckily, there are many eco friendly alternatives to paper towels on the market. My personal go to when hunting for paper towels solutions with Swedish towels. They are awesome. I cannot tell you how awesome they are. They're stiff when they're dry. And then you use them to wipe up any kind of liquids and they absorb so much liquid. It is insane. They're made of plant based cellulose, sustainable cotton. They make them a complete star in the kitchen. They are really that amazing. They last for months. I've had mine actually for years. They can be washed and reused over and over again, you can wash them in the washing machine, you can put them in your dishwasher if you have a dishwasher. And they're compostable when they fallen apart and you can no longer use them anymore. So when you do wash them, you just kind of let them dry and then you just keep reusing them over and over again. If you don't want to use the Swedish towels, no problem, you can use cloth but instead of rushing out to buy cloth, new cloth towels, you can use old T shirts or fabrics you might have around the house and use those as an alternative to paper towels cause towels are used as a sustainable replacement for people towels in so many different homes. They are the original gangsters of waste reducing cut up old like I said old cloth T shirts. Whatever it is, before you end up putting that cloth in the trash anyway, you may as well use it as a paper towel, you can't get more sustainable or zero waste than using old cloth or old T shirts as a towel. And if you really want to buy new, consider investing organic towels with natural dyes that are compostable, and also you can reuse over and over again.
17:11 Many people feel overwhelmed judged for even guilty when they can't do it all I have to believe in they're like forgetting your reusable container or throwing away a banana peel. Remember that whatever positive contribution you make the planet better than sitting, twiddling your thumbs and do nothing and hoping for the best. My hope is that at least one of these Zero Waste tips can help you live a little more green and 2020.
17:37 For more inspiration on how to live a greener lifestyle, you can listen to my other episodes, including episode number seven, which is all about green grocery shopping, episode six sustainable bathroom tips and episode two five simple ways to reduce waste. Stay connected with me on Instagram at Green Junkie podcast. And don't forget to subscribe to the Green Junkie podcast on the platform you're listening to.
17:59 For direct access to meet your green living expert. Click the link in the show notes where you can ask me questions and get a customized plan on how you can live a greener life. If you're curious about zero waste, living sustainable fashion, or wondering how to read food cleaning a product label, I totally got you covered up on a one on one call with me as your personal greeting Google and pick my brain. I want to thank you for taking the time to listen over the last couple months to my podcast. I truly truly appreciate it. Here's to a greener New Year. Happy New Year and see you next Tuesday.
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